Thoughts on Flash Photography
Derek Smith • 18 January 2023
White Angel
Photo By: Derek Smith
Clock 1
Photo By: Derek Smith
Clock 2
Photo By: Derek Smith
Bounce Card
Photo By: Derek Smith
We all know that light is an essential element of a photograph, and when light levels are low, adding flash lighting can be an aid to a successful image, permitting higher shutter speeds, and lower ISO settings.
Managing light from flash can at times be problematic, photographers can very well struggle with camera settings, and managing the power output of the flash unit.
In a studio environment where a subject is relatively static, an off-camera flash unit in a large soft box, mounted on a stand, can be positioned above, and slightly in front of the subject, the soft box creates a soft wraparound light effect. The first task is to set the camera to shoot in “Manual”, choose the lowest ISO setting (usually 100, 160, or 200 depending on camera). Then adjust the aperture to a mid-range value, personally I find that f/8 suits my camera and lenses. The final camera step is to adjust the shutter speed to remove any ambient light in the room, a test shot taken in this way should show a black screen, the lighting will be supplied by the flash unit only. Once the camera is set to the optimum settings, DO NOT adjust anything on the camera, all that remains is to switch the flash unit on, and adjust the power output until the test shots give the correct exposure, I suggest starting at perhaps 1/8 power, then adjust the power up or down until the exposure looks correct on the test shots. The image of the model Angel demonstrates what can be achieved.
In a more dynamic photographic environment such as a wedding, a social event, party, or a family gathering in a house, where the subject(s) can be moving around a flash unit on a stand is simply not a practical solution. On-camera flash can be your saviour in this situation but can be more difficult to control the light from the flash, the biggest pitfall is the unflattering “deer in the headlights” lighting effect where the power of the uncontrolled flash gives a very defined overexposed image.
As an example, look at these two images of a clock, both are taken at the same camera settings, shutter speed 1/180 (camera flash sync speed for the Fuji X-T20), ISO f/2, and ISO 200, and with the flash set for TTL, the first very obviously shows evidence of the use of flash with blown-out highlights, the second image has more controlled lighting. What then has changed? The camera settings are exactly the same, the distance from the subject remains the same, and I used the same Fuji XF 35mm prime lens in both instances, the difference then is that instead of pointing the flash head directly at the subject, I have swiveled the speedlight flash head around to point up at the ceiling, the light bounces off the white painted ceiling and gives that softer light on the clock. This technique of bouncing the light, can also work by swiveling the speedlight head to a nearby wall, or any reflective surface. One drawback of this method is that when photographing a person, the eyes may look dark, if this is the case pop out the bounce card on the speedlight flash head which just adds a little light into the eyes to create a catchlight.
Flash lighting can also be used in daylight to photograph a person in bright sunshine against a bright sky, but this requires a different technique, known as High Speed Sync (HSS). Assume for a moment that you would like to take a portrait at an aperture at f/1.8, for subject isolation, and a blurred background, setting the exposure for the ambient light of the sky leaves the subject looking underexposed, now if you have a camera, and flash unit compatible for using HSS, the shutter speed can be raised from the standard flash sync speed (varies by camera body / manufacturer 1/60 – 1/250) to something like 1/4000, maintaining the ambient light of the sky, with the flash correctly lighting your subject, a couple of test shots will need to be taken to assess how much flash power is needed to correctly expose the subject.
Tips on buying a hot shoe mounted flash speedlight – ensure the light is compatible for your camera make / model, a swivel head provides more options, as does a “bounce card”, and some cheaper models may not have the option of High Speed Sync.
Louth Photographic Society
Good Morning, All, Last week at the club member Chris Birchmore gave a presentation on MPP cameras which included some of Chris's collection of cameras and prints taken. There is a report on the evening on our blog page. Thank you Chris for an interesting evening. This week, Wednesday 1st April, we are holding a local and open PDI competition the local subject being nature, please if you haven't already, send your entries to Harry before midnight tonight. Members Steve Chapman and Dave Turner have volunteered to judge. Also on the Wednesday 1st April our Louth Photographic Society 70th anniversary exhibition will be open to view at the Louth Museum. Regards Graham
Chris Birchmore gave an informative, and interesting talk and demonstration of his medium format film cameras. at the beginning of the evening Chris gave a potted history of the origins of the MPP cameras he was showing us. The cameras take a 5 x 4" film stock, and looking at the cameras it seems incredible that photographers in the recent past could take excellent photographs with these. The MPP cameras were often used by the British Armed Forcies during the Second World War, and throughout the 1950s, and 60s, and some of these medium format were still being manufactured in the 1970s. The prints that Chris showed taken with these cameras were of excellent quality, with an amazing depth of field. Many thanks Chris for a fascinating evening.
Good Morning All Last week at the club we held a committee meeting, which was very productive, we made the final arrangements for the exhibition, charity night, and studio evening as well as other items on the agenda. We are holding an Exhibition opening night at Louth Museum on Friday 17th April celebrating 70 years of Louth Photographic Society. There will be a small buffet and cold drinks available, if any member would like to donate a bottle of wine to the occasion please hand it to Harry at one of our club nights. This week, Wednesday 25th March, member Chris Birchmore will be giving us a presentation. The following week is a local competition, with the categoriess of "Local Nature" (up to 25 miles radius from St James church) and "Open" (unlimited mileage) please send your entries to Harry before midnight, Sunday 29th March. Members Steve Chapman will judge the Nature category, and Dave Turner the Open category. Regards Graham
Good Morning All Last week at the club we held our monthly PDI competition judged by Martyn Wrigg, the standard of entries was very high and well done to Tony Gaskins for a first in the Architectural Detail and Derek Smith for his first place in the Open. All the results are on our website under competitions. This week, Wednesday 18th March we will be holding a Committee meeting, just committee members for this one. The following week Chris Birchmore is the speaker for the night. Harry is now accepting entries for the PDI local competition, with the categories of "Local Nature" and "Open". We judge this competition in house so if you would like to judge one of the subjects please let me know. Regards Graham
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A PDI (Projected Digital Image) competition was held last night with the categories of "Architectural Detail", and "Open". Martyn Wrigg was our judge for the evening, and he competently judged the submitted images, although he diid surprise with some of his choices of placing, but that's a judges perogative. Martyn complemented members on the quality of the images presented, which had made some of his decisions difficult. First placed was "It's a Fixer Upper" in the Architectural Detail section, and "Dervish Musician" in the Open section. Congratulations to Robin Begley, who as one of our newest members submitted some impressive images, achieving a 3rd place in "Architectural Details", and 2nd in the "Open" category. All the results are now posted to our website Competition page.
Good Morning All Last week at the club member Steve Chapman gave us an insight into his life and especially his time at Ilam Park in Derbyshire photographing for the National Trust. Steve showed us many photographs he had taken of the people involved with the trust and the Peak District. The second half was dedicated to Steve's own work, some superb aircraft photography as well as many other subjects. There is a report on the evening on our blog page. This week, Wednesday 11th March we are holding a PDI competition, with the categories of "Architectural Detail " and "Open" to be judged by Martyn Wrigg of Barton. The following week is a committee meeting for the committee members only on that evening. For newer members we have two committee meetings a year. Regards Graham
Last night Steve Chapman presented a selection of images from his archives. Steve had previously been a volunteer photographer for the National Trust, and he showed many photos from the Ilam Park Estate, Dovedale, it was interesting to see some of the "behind the scenes" photos. The Jacobite reenactment battle scenes were amazing, the uniforms showed great attention to detail, and there were some real characters among the reenactors. After the break Steve showed some of his general photography, he has a great photographic eye, as some of his photos showed with different colours, shapes, and leading lines. Steve has taken many photos of agricultural machinery, and risked life and limb to create some close up aircraft photos. For atmosphere, just look at these horseriders at the top of the hill on a cool early morning. For heartstopping imagery look at these children on the side of a building, the children are photos on the side of the building, however, Steve wasted no time in capturing this stunning image. Many thanks to Steve for a fascinating evening.
Good Morning All Last week at the club I gave you a PDI (Projected Digital Image) presentation showing photographs I had taken on my travels last year, following up with some past and present photographs of Binbrook. I hope you all enjoyed the evening and maybe saw parts of England you hadn't seen before. This week, Wednesday 4th March, our member Steve Chapman will be showing us photographs he has taken. This is Steve's first time showing the club his work so will be a very good night. Harry is now accepting your PDI's for the next competition, with the categories of "Architectural Detail" and "Open". The closing date is Friday 6th March. Regards Graham
The N&EMPF Exhibition will be on display in Cleethorpes from 3rd March.
