Digital SLR Photography - UK (2020-01)

LIFTYOURSUBJECTFROMTHEGLOOM

OFTHEIRSURROUNDINGSWITHA

BURSTOFCONTROLLEDFLASHUSING

ANOFF-CAMERAFLASHGUN

OFF-CAMERA

FLASH SKILLS

O

FF-CAMERAFLASHhasbeenpopular

fordecades,butit wastheadventof

wirelessflashtriggersthatreally

transformedthetechniqueintoanindustry

ofitsownright.Nowadays,forany

studioflashmodifiertherewillbea flashgun

versionthat’smoresuitedtothesesmaller

andmoreportabledevices.

OriginallyyouwouldhavehadtousePC

synccablestotriggeroff-cameraflash,but

wirelesstriggersrangingfromlessthan£20

allthewayupto£200+havemade

off-cameraflashcheaper,easierandmore

convenient.Despitethisexplosionof

availableproductstoassistyouin your

off-cameraflashphotography,the

techniquesandlightingstylesremainthe

same.So,in thisguidewe'llcoverthemost

popularoff-cameraflashtechniquesthat

everyphotographerneedstoknow.

Whenlearningtouseanykindofflashit’s

alwaysrecommendedthatyoubeginwith

onelightandgettogripswiththisbefore

movingontomorecomplicatedset-ups.

In fact,evenif you’rea lightingexpert,it’sstill

consideredbestpracticetoonlyuseas

manylightsasyouneed– nomore,noless.

Startwithonelight,andif youcan’t

achievetheeffectyou’reaimingforwithjust

thisanda reflector,it’stimetoaddanother

lightandsoon.So,withthisin mind,we’re

goingtoshowyouhowtomakeyour

subjectstandoutfromtheirbackground

using a single off-camera flash.

WHENLEARNINGTO USE

ANYKINDOFFLASHIT’SALWAYS

RECOMMENDEDTHATYOU

BEGIN WITHONE LIGHT

1 )SET-UP:A smallsoftboxaimedat themodel’sfaceis

enoughtolightthiswaist-levelportrait.A largersoftbox

ora reflectivebrollywouldhavebeenaseffective,but

placeit closetoavoidilluminatingtheenvironmenttoo.

2 )FLASHSETTINGS:Whenshootingwithoff-camera

flashit’salwaysbesttoshootin manualmodesoyou

havefullcontroloverexposuresettings,whether

shootingin manualorTTLflashmode.Flashpower can

beadjustedaccordingtothechosensettings.

3 )WITHOUTFLASH:Withthecamerasettothedesired

settings,thebackgroundhasbeenunderexposedbytwo

stopstohelpaddcontrastwhentheflashgunis used to

illuminatethemodelandmakeherstandout.

4 )USINGOFF-CAMERAFLASH:Theburstofflashhas

liftedthemodelfromthebackground,whiletheselected

manualcameraexposureascaptureddetailin the

background to stop it from becoming too dark.

Thereasonforthissimpleyethighly

effectivetechniqueis thatit addscontrastto

flatnaturallightandmakesthemodel‘pop

out’fromthegloom.It alsomeansthatyou

don’thavetocrankuptheISOratingto

providea shutterspeedfastenoughto

supportthefocallengthtoavoidcamera

shake.ByshootingwithISO100,andby

usinga reasonablyfastshutterspeed– not

necessarilyasfastasthecamerasyncspeed

• thebackgroundwillremaindarkbutwith
  detailstillvisible,butthemodelwillbewelllit
  in a flatteringandeye-catchingway.
  Toachievetheeffect,you’llneedone
  flashgunona stand,ideallywitha softboxor
  brolly.Positionthelightat 45°tothemodel
  andaskthemtoturntheirbodytowardsthe
  light slightly so the model picks up more

lightwhentheflashfires;evena slightturn

oftheheadcanmakea hugedifference.

Simplyselectthecamerasettingsyou’d

liketoshootwithbecausetheflashpower

outputcanbeadjustedaccordingly.Forthis

portrait,weusedmanualmodewithISO100,

a 1/100secshutterspeedandanapertureof

f/2.8.Sinceit wasa dullday,andtoensure

shallowdepth-of-fieldhelpedblurthe

background,f/2.8wastheidealchoice.The

flashwassettoTTL modebecausetheflash

triggersused(GodoxX-ProTTL),supportthis

functionality.If non-TLLtriggershadbeen

used,thepowersettingof theflashwould

havebeenmanually.Forthisscenario,we

testedexposureandtheoutputneededto

matchtheflashexposuredeterminedby the

TTL system was one-quarter power.

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PhotoMasterclass

62 DigitalSLR PhotographyJanuar y 2020