PART 01 // BASIC FLASH SKILLS
LASHGUNSAREESSENTIAL
ki tbagitemsforanyenthusiast
seriousaboutimprovingtheir
photography.Takingcontrolof the
li ghtcanbe a dauntingprospectat
first,butwitha littlebit of practiseit’lladd
animmenselypowerfultoolto yourskillset.
Not onlycanusingflashhelpyouachieve
brightandcrispimagesin low-light
si tuations,youcanalsoovercomestrong
contrastwhensubjectsarebacklit,and
evenfreezeactionwitha burstof light.
WhyshouldI geta flashgun?
Perhapsyourcamerahasa built-inpop-up
flash,andalthoughit hasitsuses,youmay
havefoundtheresultsdisappointingand
the capabilitieslimited.Thisis becauseit’s
not a verypowerfullightsource.Youcan
onlylightup subjectsrelativelycloseto the
In our new FlashKnow-how
se ries,we castan experteye
ov erflashgunsandexplain
how you cancreate more
st rikingimages by adding
lig htto a scene.In thisissue
Ben Davisleads youthroughthe first
st epswithflash...
84 PRACTICALPHOTOGRAPHY
KNOWHOW
nWIDE-ANGLE
DI FFUSER&
BOUNCECARD
Mostflashgunshave
a pull-outpanel
designedto spread
theflashlightfurther
whenshootingwith
a wide-anglelens.
There’salsoa white
bouncecardto help
in creasethesurface
ar eaof thelightsource.
nBOUNCE&
SWIVELHEAD
Thebusinessendof the
flashcanbe rotatedand
pointedin anydirection,
al lowingyouto ‘bounce’
th e lightfroma nearby
surfaceforsofter
illumination.
nAFASSIST
Inlow-lightscenes,theflashguncan
emit a beamof redlightbeforethe
ex posureto assistthecamera’sautofocus
sy stemlockingontothesubject.
nINFRAREDRECEIVER
Receivesan infraredsignalto triggertheflash.
nHOTSHOECONTACTS
Thisis wheretheflashmountsontothe
camerain orderforthetwoto communicate.
The flashgunis lockedin placewitha lever
orscrew-wheel.
nBATTERYCOVER
Mostflashgunsarepowered
byfourAA batteries.
NE
ESSENTIAL
FLASHSKILLS
SERIES!
