Wedding Digital Photography Tips
Using flash more creatively – by Wedding Digital Photography Tips
The simple act of lifting a flash gun from the camera invites fresh creativity.
Although it takes time and thought and effort, it instantly makes available new
picture concepts,
which are different from those created
by available light and better than those in which the flash is attached to the camera,
giving flat lighting. One of the deterrents to using flash in this way is that you
cannot see the result until you view the picture on a monitor or print it. The small
source of light from the head can sometimes cause harsh effects, and there is often
concern about the balance of flash with ambient light. However none of this should
be a problem with modern metering practices.
While a small simple flash that can be switched to give minimal exposure is all
that is needed for fill flash use, creative work really needs a more versatile unit
which will not only be more powerful but enables you to change the characteristic
of the light. Made by Bowens, Lumedyne, Norman, Quantum and Sunpack, these enable
you to change the character of the lighting either adding a soft box or removing
the reflector altogether. This then provides a light source that spreads through
360 degrees. Placed behind a couple, for instance, such a lamp will light up the
background behind them and also shine through the veil.
You can put snoots and honeycomb grids (in some cases the same models you use on
your mains units) over the heads to project a smaller beam. Some models even have
a modelling light built in, but this is of fairly limited use other than for checking
for things such as reflections and shadows.
More than one flash
Sometimes you will have a small flash on the camera as well as a main lamp on a
stand. In this case, the simplest way of firing the distant flash is to have it
plugged into a small receptor cell. It is important that the receptor is able to
‘see’ the flash on the camera, so a short extension lead is handy and enables it
to be suitably placed. A more reliable method, but a more expensive one, is to use
a dedicated infrared system or a radio-controlled signal. The benefit of these is
that they are not susceptible to the flashes of other cameras. If flash cameras
are going off around you, they could fire your main flash a second or so before
you do and it may not have recharged, so you could lose the photograph.
Flash heads do cast rather sharp shadows, but this can be overcome by putting a
small portable soft box on to the head. Several soft boxes are made for this purpose,
even one 235mm (91%in) square will do the trick.
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wedding photography. Why not try one of our other Photography Tips article. Check
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