N-Photo - The Nikon Magazine - USA (2019-07)

Studio-like results

YOU DON’T NEED LOADS OF KIT TO GET

RESULTS WORTHY OF THE STUDIO

Flash photography gives you complete manual control

over the look of your photos. If you’re new to flash photography then a

good stock exposure setting for studio-like results is 1/200 sec, aperture f/8,

ISO100. From here you can adjust either your aperture or your flash power until

you hit upon the right look for your image. Those on a budget can get great

results with a couple of speedlights and umbrellas, as used in our main image,

left. For more options and higher output, consider getting a studio starter kit.

These usually include a couple of studio flashes, umbrellas and softboxes.

photographers. But manual control needn’t
complicate things. In fact, in some circumstances
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Flash photography is a perfect example of this.
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can be hard to understand what is going on with it,
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any issues that can occur. By contrast, in Manual
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output of the light then get on with taking the shot.

Controlling output
There are a few ways to manually control the

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on the light. With a Speedlight the settings usually


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instead that shows the strength of the light in stops.
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means more light, which in turn opens the door to
faster shutter speeds, lower ISOs and narrower
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by moving them closer or further from the subject.
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distance between light and subject gives you four
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Flash and exposure
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the function of the light itself, which is really rather
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combination with your exposure. When we use a
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and the second is with the available light in the
scene. The resulting image is a combination of these

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Left: Two Speedlights

fitted with silver

umbrellas were used

here. With manual

output control, we were

able to overpower the

ambient light so the dim

basement surroundings

become almost

completely black.

Below: To create this

shot we begin by

working out a manual

exposure that

underexposes the

ambient light, resulting

in a moody sky – then

we sim p l y p i c k o u t

our subject with an

off-camera flash set

to 1/2 manual power.

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Harmonious lighting

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to the shadows, or we can overpower the ambient

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Trial and error

For sure, there’s usually some guesswork and a few

test shots involved in hitting the right output, but if



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using auto modes, but it can save you time in the



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photography, there’s a decision to be made:





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which can be invaluable in fast-paced or





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MANUAL PROCESSING

The manual approach to photography



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It might take slightly longer to

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using auto modes, but it can

save you time in the long run

MANUAL FLASH