Practical Photography - UK (2020-01)

LEARNTHE LINGO

FLASH TALK

Don’tbe baffledby jargon!We cutthrough

someof themostcommontechnicalterms

usedforflash...

nTTL

TTLmodeis theautomaticmodeon your

flashgun.TTLstandsfor‘throughthelens’

and refersto howthecameraassessesthe

li ghtlevelsin a sceneandthedistancefrom

th e subject,so as to determinetherequired

flashpowerfora particularshot.

nSYNCSPEED

Thisis thefastestshutterspeedyoucanset

wi tha normalflash.Mostcamerashavea sync

speedof 1/200sec,1/250secor 1/320sec.If

yourspeedexceedsthisthentheflashwill fire

whentheshutterisn’t100%open,andpartof

th e sensorwon’tbe exposedto theflashlight.

nHSS

HSSstandsfor‘high-speedsync’andis a

fe atureof someflashguns.Insteadof firingthe

lig htonce,HSSpulsestheflashthroughoutthe

ex posureallowingforfastershutterspeeds.

nBOUNCEFLASH

Thistechniqueletsyoubouncethelightfrom

th e flashfroma wallor ceilingto changethe

di rectionof thelight.

nGUIDENUMBER

TheGuideNumber(GN)refersto howpowerful

th e flashis overa certaindistance.

nREARSYNC

Whenshootingwithslowershutterspeeds–

li ke1/5sec– theflashfiresat theendof the

ex posureandmakesforcreativeresults.

PRACTICALPHOTOGRAPHY.COM 85

FlashKnow-how

lens,andit barelyregistersan impact
when tryingto brightentheshadowsin
a sc enewithstrongcontrast.A flashgunis
aroundfourtimesmorepowerful,giving
greaterreachandbrighterillumination.
Notonlyis a flashgunmorepowerful
thanitspop-upcousin,it alsoaffords
a fa r greaterdegreeof control.Abuilt-in
flashunitis fixedso thelightcanonly
befiredforwards.Mostflashgunshave
a swivelhead,allowingyouto directthe
li ghtin anydirectionyouchoose.This
capabilityallowsyouto ‘bounce’theflash
fr omwallsor ceilingsto createa softer
spreadof lightformoreattractiveresults.
Aflashgunis quicker,too.It usesitsown
batteriesratherthanthecamera’sso has
a fa sterrecycletimebetweenshots.
Whenchoosinga flashforyourkitbag,
you needto ensureit’scompatiblewith

yourcamerabrand.Thisis becausethe

designof theelectroniccontactson

the camera’shotshoevariesbetween

manufacturers.If youchoosea flash

fr omthesamecompanyas yourcamera

it ’s guaranteedto work.If youoptfor

a third-partyflashgun,justdouble

checkit’smadeto be compatiblewith

yourcamerabrandbeforeordering.

WhichoneshouldI get?

Fl ashgunsfromtheleadingcamera

manufacturersarepricedfromaround

£2 00 forentrymodelsand£500-plus

fo r a pro-levelflash.If youfancysaving

a fe wpoundsthenconsiderpurchasing

a third-partyflashgunfrombrandssuch

asNissin,YongNuoor Godox.Theyboast

a hostof impressiveflashfeatures,and

pricesstartataround£50.

Above A separate flashgun is smarter,

stronger and faster than a pop-up flash.

n LCD PANEL
Keep an eye on your flashgun’s
settings, including the mode, flash
compensation and zoom setting.

n TEST FLASH BUTTON

& READY INDICATOR LIGHT

This lights up when the flash

is ready to be fired.

n MODE BUTTON
Here you’ll find the automatic
TTL mode, manual mode and other
firing functions of the flash.

n SYNC CABLE PORT
You can connect your
flash to your camera with
a sync cable instead of
mounting it to the hotshoe
to light your subject from
an alternative angle.

TIP

CONSIDER

THE DISTANCE

The light from a flash will

only travel so far and is

ideally suited to subjects

relatively close to

your lens.