Setting up the Shot - Black & White Kira

Camera - Konica Minolta 7D
Lens - Tamron 90mm Macro
Exposure - 1/200 @ f/2.8
Focal Length - 90mm

Lighting - 2 'Brand X' strobes
Light Modifier(s) - 45" Westcott shoot through umbrella, white reflector
Trigger - Pocketwizards

Setting up the Shot - Black & White Kira

Camera - Konica Minolta 7D
Lens - Tamron 90mm Macro
Exposure - 1/200 @ f/2.8
Focal Length - 90mm

Lighting - 2 'Brand X' strobes
Light Modifier(s) - 45" Westcott shoot through umbrella, white reflector
Trigger - Pocketwizards

Flash Facts – Bounce Flash

One flash rule to remember is that the larger the light source, the softer the light. The smaller the light source, the harder the light. This means that the larger soft light will have softer edges in the shadows and the smaller hard light will have a more defined edge at the shadows. This technique also works very well with ceilings.



One very easy way to turn the small light from your shoe mounted flash into a large soft light source is to bounce your flash light off of a nearby wall. You do this by having the person you are photographing move near a wall or large solid surface, then you rotate your shoe mounted flash so that it is facing the opposite wall and not directly at your subject.



When you fire the flash it is going to bounce off of the wall that it is aimed at and turn into a much larger light source, thus creating a softer edge for your shadows.


One thing to keep in mind when using this technique is the color of the wall. The color of the wall is going to influence the color of the light hitting the subject. By this I mean that if you have a white wall to bounce your flash off of it is not going to be that big of a deal, but if the wall is, let's say red, then that will tint your light with red.



There are a few different way to counteract this light tinting problem. The two easiest way is by either changing the white balance of the flash, or by changing the light from the flash with a colored gel. The exact color and white balance combinations will depend on the color of the area, the wall, and also by what color you want the light to be.


Depending of the color of the surface I will usually start with the white balance for color correction. When it is warm or cool colors changing the white balance is the easiest. I suggest you correct the white balance in camera during the shoot, but you can change it in post as well.

Flash Facts – Bounce Flash

One flash rule to remember is that the larger the light source, the softer the light. The smaller the light source, the harder the light. This means that the larger soft light will have softer edges in the shadows and the smaller hard light will have a more defined edge at the shadows. This technique also works very well with ceilings.



One very easy way to turn the small light from your shoe mounted flash into a large soft light source is to bounce your flash light off of a nearby wall. You do this by having the person you are photographing move near a wall or large solid surface, then you rotate your shoe mounted flash so that it is facing the opposite wall and not directly at your subject.



When you fire the flash it is going to bounce off of the wall that it is aimed at and turn into a much larger light source, thus creating a softer edge for your shadows.


One thing to keep in mind when using this technique is the color of the wall. The color of the wall is going to influence the color of the light hitting the subject. By this I mean that if you have a white wall to bounce your flash off of it is not going to be that big of a deal, but if the wall is, let's say red, then that will tint your light with red.



There are a few different way to counteract this light tinting problem. The two easiest way is by either changing the white balance of the flash, or by changing the light from the flash with a colored gel. The exact color and white balance combinations will depend on the color of the area, the wall, and also by what color you want the light to be.


Depending of the color of the surface I will usually start with the white balance for color correction. When it is warm or cool colors changing the white balance is the easiest. I suggest you correct the white balance in camera during the shoot, but you can change it in post as well.

On camera flash

There are a lot of photographers out there in the world that passionately hate on camera flash. I am not one of them. If done right you can add all kinds of drama and motion by using your on camera flash.



If you set your shutter speed relativity slow (1/30 or slower) and then fire some on camera flash you can get some great effects. Remember that shutter speed controls the ambient light and the aperture controls the flash exposure. So you can manipulate them independently of each other. Here are a few examples.



Motion blur by itself is not always ideal, but with on camera flash you can get your subject sharp and everything else in motion in the frame will show motion blur. Your shutter speed and movement in the frame will determine how much motion blur is in the shot.



Burning in color. When you combine flash with longer shutter speeds you manipulate the color saturation and contrast pretty easily. You will use your flash and aperture to control the exposure of your subject. Just like in other situations, your shutter speed controls the ambient exposure. In this instance, when you are using longer shutter speeds, you control how the subject blends with the rest of the frame. The flash will get your subject illuminated and sharp and the longer shutter speed burns in the ambient light. You adjust the shutter speed to choose how the subject and the rest of the frame blend together.



Bounce Flash. This technique is very easy and flattering provided that you have a wall with a neutral color that you can shoot next to. All that you need to do is move your subject near a wall and then turn your flash toward the wall. The light will bounce off of the wall and become a larger source of light which in turn will make it softer.



Another way I enjoy shooting with on camera flash is in manual mode with the flash head zoomed in as far as it can go. I can get the tightest area of illumination without going to a grid or snoot. Then I crank up the shutter speed to let in all of the shadows around the center of light. When you shoot like this your composition gets pretty stagnant, but I like the lighting in this set up so I will change my crop in post to mix it up a bit. I find that my Lumopro LP160 works the easiest with this set up. The manual buttons on the back make changing the zoom and power on the fly fast and easy.



One of the most widely used on camera flash techniques is fill flash. You use fill flash to fill in the shadows on your subject. It is pretty straight forward, but one way to use fill flash is in sunlight. By throwing some flash on a subject when they are outside you control shadows under the eyes so that they do not get lost. You can also turn your subject's back to the sun and use fill flash to balance the shadows with the bright sun behind.

As you can see there are many reasons to use on camera flash. So put a flash in your hot shoe, go out, and light it up.

On camera flash

There are a lot of photographers out there in the world that passionately hate on camera flash. I am not one of them. If done right you can add all kinds of drama and motion by using your on camera flash.



If you set your shutter speed relativity slow (1/30 or slower) and then fire some on camera flash you can get some great effects. Remember that shutter speed controls the ambient light and the aperture controls the flash exposure. So you can manipulate them independently of each other. Here are a few examples.



Motion blur by itself is not always ideal, but with on camera flash you can get your subject sharp and everything else in motion in the frame will show motion blur. Your shutter speed and movement in the frame will determine how much motion blur is in the shot.



Burning in color. When you combine flash with longer shutter speeds you manipulate the color saturation and contrast pretty easily. You will use your flash and aperture to control the exposure of your subject. Just like in other situations, your shutter speed controls the ambient exposure. In this instance, when you are using longer shutter speeds, you control how the subject blends with the rest of the frame. The flash will get your subject illuminated and sharp and the longer shutter speed burns in the ambient light. You adjust the shutter speed to choose how the subject and the rest of the frame blend together.



Bounce Flash. This technique is very easy and flattering provided that you have a wall with a neutral color that you can shoot next to. All that you need to do is move your subject near a wall and then turn your flash toward the wall. The light will bounce off of the wall and become a larger source of light which in turn will make it softer.



Another way I enjoy shooting with on camera flash is in manual mode with the flash head zoomed in as far as it can go. I can get the tightest area of illumination without going to a grid or snoot. Then I crank up the shutter speed to let in all of the shadows around the center of light. When you shoot like this your composition gets pretty stagnant, but I like the lighting in this set up so I will change my crop in post to mix it up a bit. I find that my Lumopro LP160 works the easiest with this set up. The manual buttons on the back make changing the zoom and power on the fly fast and easy.



One of the most widely used on camera flash techniques is fill flash. You use fill flash to fill in the shadows on your subject. It is pretty straight forward, but one way to use fill flash is in sunlight. By throwing some flash on a subject when they are outside you control shadows under the eyes so that they do not get lost. You can also turn your subject's back to the sun and use fill flash to balance the shadows with the bright sun behind.

As you can see there are many reasons to use on camera flash. So put a flash in your hot shoe, go out, and light it up.