For this weeks blog I want to explore the wonderful world of flash photography and encourage you all to get involved, if you aren’t already. If you’re anything like I was, you’ll have bought a flashgun around the time you got your latest camera because, well, you needed one in your arsenal. When it arrived you may have pointed it in auto mode at a loved one, given them eye burn, looked in misery at the resultant image and decided to leave it on the shelf to gather dust. I don’t really remember what changed or why, but suffice to say, I don’t ever take the thing off anymore. It’s been this way for two or three years now. Daytime, night-time, twilight… almost all conditions benefit from a little bit of extra light in my opinion. Put it this way, would you rather have more light (where you want it) in your scene, or less when taking a photo?
Warberry Copse - would’ve been a very different shot without flash
So how do you actually get going using flash? My advice is to never use TTL or any auto functions. Annoyingly, my Godox V1 has a tendency to toggle from manual mode to TTL when I hold my face to the viewfinder. My face clearly needs altering in some way to prevent this… although that’s not a request. Anyroad, the point is that sometimes I accidentally take a TTL shot and it never ever ever turns out how I want it. Ever. Of course if you are shooting events or something of that ilk, then auto modes have their place, but in the context of fine art work, you will surely want total control to achieve your vision. The obvious advantage of placing your flash in manual mode is that you’ll very quickly learn what settings work, and when. As daunting as that may sound, it's actually ridiculously simple… at least the way I do it. Here’s my tried and tested *secret* method honed to perfection over the weeks, months and years:
If you’re pointing at something more than two or three meters away, night or day, put the flash on full power. Review the resulting image and if there’s any areas burnt out, turn it down a stop or two.
If you’re pointing at something less than two or three meters away, night or day, put the flash on ¼ power. Review the resulting image and if there’s any areas burnt out, turn it down a stop or two.
Thats it. I almost wish I was kidding.
Now that I’ve distilled the sum of my battle-ground tested knowledge of flash work into two bullet points, I think you owe it to yourself to give it a go. If you’re shooting with a large latitude film, such as Portra, you could probably apply the full power / quarter power method and get away with it, as the highlights will look after themselves… although this advice is dished out with a healthy slice of Caveat Emptor, as my love affair with film ended just before the flash obsession took hold. Whilst I’m being honest, I should say that I’ve moved on slightly from the bullet points above, and can usually tell what power to set the flash on depending on where my subject is in relation to me… but the above framework is most often where I start, as it just works. Which is jolly nice.
Southampton 2 - flash bought some welcome illumination to a very grey day
That was the beginners tutorial, but here is how to level up with your flashing: As experience grows, I am getting better at working out how much I should underexpose the scene given that I’m adding extra light from the flash. Often though, it's a trial and error process. I’ll explain more: When shooting with flash there are two exposures to consider. Your flash exposure and the ambient light exposure (i.e the sunlight, streetlamps etc). In reality, I find this is more important when shooting indoors, especially at night… when outside, day or night, I find it doesn’t seem to make so much difference, so I often set the shutter speed as the meter suggests. To deal with indoor exposures very simply, I might underexpose the camera settings by one stop and let the flash add in the rest of the light. However sometimes to get the creative effects I want, I’ll need to take a few shots to get the subject and then the surroundings correctly exposed. First alter the flash settings until the subject is lit as you want from the flash. Once you have this dialled in, don’t alter the flash settings. Next look at the ambient lighting in that image and work out if you want to lighten this (in which case increase the exposure by a stop) or darken the surroundings (you guessed it, decrease exposure by a stop). Review this image and see if you need to increase / decrease ambient exposure, or if it’s just right, in which case Goldilocks will be delighted with you. Keep going until you have your mini Gregory Crewdson masterpiece on your SD card. Extrapolating this process further, you can play endlessly with the possibility of using multiple light sources, and therefore multiple exposures, to set correctly before you create the image you have in your head. It’s one way to achieve a more cinematic feel to your work; after all, part of the ‘cinematic look’ is through the use of multiple light sources, each adding to the visual complexity of the scene… just like they do in the movies.
Ash Hill Road 6 - it took multiple attempts to dial in the correct flash followed by ambient exposure
I get a lot of commentary about how insanely powerful the flash I use is, with one comedic soul suggesting that I must be carrying sports stadium floodlights in my pocket. Although I’d dearly love this to be true, I’m about to debunk that theory once and for all :) Here is the flash gear I use:
Mostly a Godox V1 on camera
Godox AD200 with H200R round head attachment and EC200 extension lead with X1 trigger
More power is always welcome, and this is particularly true in the daytime. Often, I find I don’t need the power of the AD200 at night and prefer the portability of the V1. I also get locked into rhythms with my photography, so a while ago I’d be using the AD200 for almost everything, but I’m deep in the V1 groove currently, so there. Having said that, there is a look that I can achieve with the AD200, that I can’t with the V1. It just looks more polished somehow, more radiant. Just more. But it’s also more to carry and more involved. Sometimes less is more (no more mores).
I hope this has been helpful and inspired some of you to dust off your flash. It opens up a whole new world of creative possibilities that, in reality, I’m only just starting to delve into. When you look at portrait or product photographers, they really go to town with their lighting and equipment… but why shouldn’t the banal be given as much attentiveness and be lit like a supermodel?
Tips:
When buying a flash go for much power as you can afford in the form factor that works for you
Go for a flash with a tilt / swivel head so you can bounce the flash off walls to give a softer feel to the light
Consider having the option of off camera flash as it adds a *lot* to your lighting options
Work in M mode, always… its easier than you think
Good luck with your flashing folks!