July 2019 - 83O
ne camera, one lens, and one
flash, if you’ve got these in your
kit bag you can create powerful
portraits. Some important things you
must be familiar with in order to achieve
ideal illumination of your subject is to
know how to bounce light from your flash,
use flash modifiers and most importantly
learn about F-stops, shutter speeds and
ISOs. The idea of using one light to create
better photos isn’t a new one. It’s also the
starting point for many photographers
who learn to use one light and later on
to use multiple sources to create the
scene that they want. Every amateur
photographer fears using anything other
than natural light. One of the main reason
is that they have a feeling that using
artificial lights such as off-camera flash
and strobe light is way too difficult and
requires deep technical knowledge. To
rule it, you have to perceive lighting ratios
and learn to make mental calculations
of light from different sources. Every
beginner should at least learn and give
it a try. Most of the early attempts may
be unsuccessful especially using remote
triggers with off camera flash. It is
uncertain too, especially when shooting
under pressure for the first time. You may
also overexpose the image with your
untrained and inexperienced eye when
you start practicing. In this article, it is
explained how you can use a transmitter/
receiver, or transceiver system to achieve
simple dramatic portraits using only one
flash. Below is a step-by-step guide on
how to get you started.
Specific Coverage Of Your Portrait
Subject
When using a single artificial light
source, you’ll need to consider thatthis source is adding light to the scene
that doesn’t exist. So with that in mind,
you need to be able to envision what’s
going on or what might happen with
your exposure settings. Now there are
many ways that this can be done. You
can bounce the lighting off of a ceiling
or wall – this is a common tactic used
by wedding and event photographers
because it’s quick, cheap and effective
enough for what they do. But at the
same time, these photographers are
forever aware of their surroundings.
They’ll know if a ceiling is too high,
a wall is right behind them and low
enough for them to bounce the light
onto someone’s face etc. But more
importantly, they also keep in mind the
colours of the surrounding walls. If a wallis white, it’s going to bounce off white
light. However, if the wall is red or yellow
or any other colour, then your image will
have a hue of that colour when the light
is bounced off of it. Whatever you’re
using though, you’ll need to ensure that
your subject is covered with enough
light to the point that it matches your
creative vision in your head. And again,
this is how specific lighting coverage
bounces against your creative vision.
If you don’t have that, then start
to envision one and get inspired by
people and the locations that you’re on.
Essentially, go back to the drawing board.
Once you observe everything and have
an idea, then pay keen attention to the
scene and figure out how you can get the
images you want to create. It’s a method
that many location shooters do. Practice
at home with different flash intensities,
flash angles, different ways to bounce
lights and so on to get to perfection.Large Light Modifiers
Light modifiers are what shape the
light that you’re working with. There
are walls and ceilings that were talked
about, but light modifiers do a lot more
than just that. They direct and change
the intensity and spread of the light vs
letting it spill out everywhere. It’s a fact
that can’t be argued: a softbox will direct
light forward onto a subject. In contrast,
light being fired out onto a ceiling will spill
everywhere. To that end, light modifiers
are really all about shape, intensity and
coverage. Further, light spilling is light
that you have no control over and can’t
effectively help you tell the story you
want to in the image you’re creating.
Light modifiers, and specifically the
ones that you want to work with when