Flash Know-how
PRACTICALPHOTOGRAPHY.COM 93
U
SINGFLASHMODIFIERSIS AGREATWAY
toelevateyourphotographyto thenextlevel.
Experimentationis keyto discoveringthe
di fferenteffectsyoucanachieve,so here
are threetechniquesto getyoustarted.
THREE CREATIVE PORTRAITS
WITH FLASH MODIFIERS
NEXT ISSUEHOWTO USE
MULTIPLEFLASHGUNS
1
CREATE FLATTERING
PORTRAITSWITH A SOFTBOX
3
GET
ARTY
COLOURS
2
CONTROL THE
SPILLWITH A GRID
The start point for any flattering portrait is to use a softligh
and the best way to achieve this with maximum controlis to usea softbox
wi th your off-camera flash. You’ll need to switch yourcamerato manualmodeto
ta ke charge of the exposure. Begin with your aperturesetting.As you’reshooting
a portrait you’ll want a fairly wide aperture to create a blurry background, so set
your f/number to f/4. You’ll need to keep your shutter speed below your camera’s
flash sync speed, so set it to 1/200sec. You can always decrease your shutter
speed later if you want to let more ambient light into the exposure. Finally, set the
ISO so that the camera is underexposing the scene by around 1 stop. Take a test
shot and have a look – your subject should be marginally underexposed. Next
you’ll need to set up the flash. Switch it to manual mode, set the power to 1/16
and connect your off-camera flash trigger and receiver. Take a test shot to check
it’s working. Now attach your flash to the flash bracket and fix to a light stand.
Connect your softbox and position the light at a 45º angle and a few feet from
your subject. To adjust the flash exposure, alter the power as necessary.
If you like to create
eye-catching effects
in camera rather
th an in Photoshop,
us e coloured gels.
For this portrait,
a full CTO gel was
us ed. This warms
up the light fromthe
flash, giving it an
orange hue, and
matches the colour
te mperature of
tungsten lighting.
To create this
interesting colour
ef fect, switch yourcamera’swhitebalance
to Tungsten. Thiswill keepa correctcolour
balance on the subject, but areas thatare
not lit by flash, such as the shadowsand
background, will take on a cooler huedueto the
di fference in the white balance. To maximisethecontrastin
colour, use a grid to control the light,whichwill helpto prevent
th e flash from lighting the background.
One way to make sure your subjectstandsoutin theframeis
to ensure they are the brightestpartof theimage.Theeyeis
al ways drawn to the lightest areaof a scenefirst.A honeycomb
grid is an ideal modifier to preventthelightfromtheflash
il luminating the entire scene, and instead can be kept to
a relatively narrow area. If you’re only using a grid with your
flash then the light will be quite hard, meaning there’s a sudden
contrast between the highlights and shadows on the face,
with defined subject shadows on the off-side. It’s a more
punchy and striking look than lighting your subject with
a softbox. Set up your camera and flash in the same way as
for a softbox. As the light from the flash isn’t diffused, the effect
is brighter. To compensate for this, reduce the flash power or
decrease your camera’s ISO setting.
