Many professional photographers grapple with lighting issues. You may want your pictures to look a certain way but the insufficient light may just ruin everything you planned for your perfect photograph. A camera flash comes handy in such cases. But a flash can only cover a certain range. You may find some dark spots or uneven lighting even with a flash. But no need to worry because an off camera flash will help solve this problem.
Why Use an Off Camera Flash
You may be taking pictures of a very important event or a moment that seems perfect to capture on your SLR camera, but if the lighting is bad, no matter how good the opportunity maybe, the picture can be ruined. Almost all photographers use an off camera flash to avoid such glitches.
What is Off Camera Flash?
In simple words, a flash can be synched to your camera so that you can take off the flash and place it some angle where you need more light for the subject, however, you will need a separate off camera flash for this purpose. You don’t have to worry about the budget because there are plenty of options that will suit both your needs and your budget. By separating the flash from the camera, you throw up different options in terms of softboxes, diffusing the light using various umbrellas and beauty dishes etc.
How to Use Off-Camera Flash
What is important is where you place the flash rather than what type of flash you may have. By placing the flash at the right angle, you can create a much more natural look to the picture rather than a harsh flat light which is very obvious. When you have the flash and your lens in the same angle, you flatten all the natural shadows and it makes a huge difference to the appearance of depth. By placing the flash where it is required, you only lighten the areas than need light, hence giving a very natural look to the pictures.
What you’ll Need
You will need a external flash unit that preferably goes with your camera to give you more control over the flash when its off camera. Apart from this, you have 4 syncing options for your camera and off flash. These are:
PC Sync Cable
The PC sync cable option will require a flash with a sync cable port and a flash to plug in. Some entry level camera’s don’t have a pc sync cable port, so be sure to check. You will find that mid range flashes such as the Canon speedlite 430Ex III will not have a sync port, in that case you will need a Hot Shoe Adapter. But you will find a sync port in High end flashes and old flashes. The PC sync cable is easy to set up and the cheapest option available.
Off-Camera Shoe Cord
As a professional photographer, you will need reliable metering information which you can achieve with the off-camera shoe cord. It is similar to the PC Sync cable, except that the off camera shoe cord is more sophisticated and enables more information sharing through the cord. It can carry the metering information down the cord to the flash which makes it a popular choice among photographers. An IR transmitter can do this too but the signal between the transmitter and receiver can at times be unreliable.
Infrared Transmitter
Infrared Transmitter is another popular choice for photographers. It works the same way as the off camera shoe cord except this is wireless. The Infrared Transmitter also takes the least amount of gear. The Infrared transmitter fires an assist beam which helps focus on the dark areas. It is a great way of creating a wireless flash over short distances, however to be able to see the flash, it requires the IR beam. These days, you will find many modern cameras and flashes building transmitters into their hardware itself.
Radio Transceiver
Most of the professional photographers use the Radio Transceiver. It is easy to set up and is reliable for longer period of time and for long distances. There are plenty of possibilities for placing the flash with the radio transceiver because it uses radio waves and hence the flash and camera don’t need to see each other. There is no dearth of brands that offer this technology, but Pocket Wizard is most popular among the lot.
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Bonus – Slave Trigger
Using this product for an inexpensive way to create an off camera flash; the slave picks up when another flash of light has been set off and sets theirs off directly after.
The limitation of this method is that you’ll never get the same effect because you need to turn your on camera flash off to make this work. Nevertheless, it’s still a good option for firing off two flashes when the first is already on a sync cord.
Uses of Off-Camera Flash
Once you figure out the set up, its just a matter of time till you find the lighting position to suit your style of shooting. However, here are some tips that can help with your photography.
Fill Light the under-exposed areas
You can fill the areas that the camera cannot capture, with light creating an even exposure. At times due to the dominant light in the frame, certain areas get left out. If you ignore the darker areas, it may look a tad underexposed, so the best way to beat it would be to use your flash in those areas.
To Fill the Room with Light
Another great technique is when you are shooting in a darker room for e.g., you can set up one or two more diffused flashes and fire them pointing at the ceiling, that way it produces more light and creates an even tone across the subject. It gives a soft effect without the obvious harsh flash photography.
Disguised Flash so that the subject doesn’t realize it
At times, it works well to illuminate the subject using flash, without the subject realizing it. So, you can place the flash in such a way that it appears as if the light source is from the subject’s surroundings. That gives a completely different and natural look to your pictures.
Separate your lighting from Ambient Light
A photographer doesn’t always intend to hide the fact that he has used some extra light. In such cases, you can use the right angle and lighting to maker sure that the lighting stands out from the ambient light, drawing the viewer’s attention towards the subject. However, this will largely depend on how you place your lights and the subject.
Using it for Set Lighting
You can try to use the flash to light up the part of the set they are standing in. If you have an interesting background, you can play around with the light in such way so as to highlight the contrast between the background and the subject. However, care should be taken to see that the lighting is good on the subject and there are no unwanted shadows.
What to Watch Out For when Using Off-Camera Flash
The first thing you need to take care of while setting up your flash is the shadows. Take care that the angle of the flash doesn’t case shadows of your subject. For instance, If you set the flash up 90 degrees to the subjects face and set it off then you’re always going to cast a harsh and unnatural shadow from the side of the nose, across the cheek.
To Conclude
With the right off camera flash and the right technique, a photographer can achieve the desired effect for any picture. An off camera flash helps you become more versatile with lighting and its different effects. With a little bit of trial and error, you can play around with the off camera flash positioning and angles and get the light to fall on the subject just like you wanted. An off camera flash gives you control over your lighting and helps you get the desired effect.
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