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Off Camera Flash

Joined
Dec 7, 2015
Messages
348
Reaction score
36
Location
Rogers, AR
I added an off camera flash to my kit for Christmas, yay! I just started playing with it and am testing out the settings, angles, etc.

The gingerbread house was my first subject.

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I think I like the angle of this one better.

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Emily playing guitar

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It was overcast early today so I was playing with lighting a yard decoration.

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Handheld shot and handheld light

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The cat wasn't too cooperative, but I tried to get him as the sun was going down in the woods behind.

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My evening drink :-)

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And GravelGuy

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They look good. What do you think of using a flash this way so far? Easy to pick up? It looks to me that you have done a good job of placing it and getting the power right.
 
Very nice Jennifer! Once you get used to shooting with it, it is hard to go back.:thumb:
 
Thanks for the encouragement. I took a BUNCH of pictures moving the light around, changing the settings, etc. These were the best of the experiments. I also have a little soft box that attaches to the flash. It was interesting to see how low the light was on several of the frog shots. I really had to get the stand up high to get the light in the correct space (was lighting up the railing and the bottom of the frog rather than evenly lighting the front).

Jennifer
 
Looking again, I think this may be a betting picture of the bottle.

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Was a challenge not to get too much bright light from the flash.
 
Looking again, I think this may be a betting picture of the bottle.

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Was a challenge not to get too much bright light from the flash.

Your bigger challenge is to remember to keep an eye on shutter speed for this shot. I thought it was a bit soft and sure enough, you shot it at 1/3 second. I'm guessing hand held too?

For the most part when I use flash I keep it in the 180-250/th second range. Sure, there are always circumstances I deviate from that but that's shot-dependent.

Just keep at it and remember this -
"Expose for ambient and flash your subject".

So in simple terms, shoot the shot to get the ambient light the way you want to portray it. You can make it anything you want, ie: darker or lighter - it's YOUR shot. Once ambient is dialed in, bring the flash(s) in enough to illuminate your subject the way you want. That's usually by increasing/decreasing the power levels and/or changing the distance from the flash to the subject, or is you are using a shoot through vs reflective, vs baffle or double baffle softbox. (that's a whole different discussion)

Also, light 'falls off' VERY quickly, ie: the "good light" is generally about the distance to your subject as the longest side of the modifier/softbox. For example, if you have a 24x36 softbox, your light source to subject will generally be around 36" max. I say "generally" on purpose as there are a lot more variables in there to think about. I've shot my small 24x24 at considerably farther distances with good success.

As always, just ask and we'll all jump in to help! :photo:


.
 
I was attempting to take a photo of the new growth at the end of this rose bush with the macro lens and went in to get the flash. Experimented with different angles and distance from the leaves. I think this is probably the best of the bunch.

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