Using off-camera flash seems like something difficult to do. It isn’t. Once you get over the mental hurdles involved, it is really quite simple. To illustrate, I have an image that I really like that I took this last fall.
This image was really simple to create. I took the couple out of the reception at sunset. Then I set camera to the setting I wanted to expose the background. When doing this, I usually underexpose the background by about 1 stop to create the deeper, richer colors. So the ambient exposure that I set was 1/250, f8 at ISO 400 on my 30D. Next, I decided I wanted the light to hit the couple from the left. Then, I set up flash, which was an Nikon SB-25 on a small lightstand fired directly at them. The flash was set to about 1/4 (might have been 1/8) to properly expose the couple to “normal” density of the skin tones. Finally, I put the groom where I wanted them and told the bride to go get him. Pretty simple! You can see more of my most recent work on my blog.
[...] Original post by Cory Parris [...]
Pingback by Using Flash isn’t hard! | Wedding Plan Tips and Guides — January 28, 2008 @ 5:40 pm
But how do you figure out how far to put the flash and what power setting to use without a lot of trial and error?
Comment by Cal — January 28, 2008 @ 7:08 pm
Hey Cal,
It is just trial and error. You decide where you want the flash to come from, take a test shot, and adjust. Takes less than a minute to figure it out.
Comment by Cory Parris — January 29, 2008 @ 10:57 am
Cory
Good advise here. I too take the flash off, and in most cases use 2 flashes and fire one remotely. It’s not hard, it does take a new mind set and approach. I guess a lot of wedding photographers are not brave enough to give it a go.
Another good way of getting different light is to use a mono pod and attach a remote trigger to it…
Cheers
Peter
http://www.absoluteandalivephotography.com.au
Comment by dancewicz — January 31, 2008 @ 8:42 am
Great advise
Comment by Angela Smith — August 24, 2008 @ 3:13 pm