my top 20 flash photography tips « Neil vN

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my top 20 flash photography tips

December 28, 2009

Flash photography is one of those subjects that seem daunting from ‘the outside’. It might seem like you’re chipping away at something so big that it might even appear incomprehensible.

I actually do believe that flash photography is one of those subjects where you have to grasp a number of things simultaneously, before anything makes real sense.

So here is my list of Top 20 Flash Photography Tips.

This page has just been added to the main set of pages on flash photography techniques. My intention is that it might serve as a solid starting point in understanding flash photography, with links leading to various other pages within the site. Hopefully it all converges to the same point – some aha! moments where everything seem a lot clearer. And hopefully that page will help some in making flash photography more accessible a subject than it might appear.

As always, your feedback and questions on that page is welcome.

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12 Comments »

I just wanted to say thanks for all your valuable information, Neil. Here is a photograph of my stepbrotherinlaw’s new baby I made quickly at Christmas dinner with an on-camera SB900 bounced with the good ol’ BFT. I am not sure I could have done any better with studio lighting.
http://www.swiftimages.net/families/images/056.jpg

Comment by Mac Swift — December 29, 2009 @ 2:04 pm
Great summary and thanks for the reference links.

Happy New Year and Much Continued Success!

Comment by Libby — December 29, 2009 @ 6:52 pm
Fantastic advice as always – BUT how can I apply it to this observation:

With my Canon 5D2 and 580EXII where I expose a scene in AV mode so the meter scale rests on 0 (for example), I then copy the same ISO/shutter/Aperture readings into Manual mode – but if the 580EXII is turned on the camera meter scale now shows -1 EV. It does not matter if the flash is in ETTL mode or manual – there is a difference in EV reading between AV mode and manual mode.

Turning the flash off results in identical meter reading between AV and manual mode. What gives?

Is this something to do with Canon AV mode algo only using flash as fill but manual mode using flash to light the whole scene?

Thank you
George

Comment by George — December 30, 2009 @ 11:31 am
George .. you’re probably correct there, that this is the way the Canon engineers wrote the exposure metering algorithms for that scenario.

And this is exactly why I shoot in manual exposure mode in my camera – then I don’t have to second-guess the engineers. My settings are exactly as *I* chose them to be. For me it’s a simpler way of working by eliminating the variable exposure metering system.

Yet, I like TTL flash. : )

Neil vN

Comment by Neil — December 30, 2009 @ 7:59 pm
Hey Neil ,

Thank for sharing my thoughts on that.

Have you tried out the new PocketWizards yet?

In my tests with the mini and flex I can confirm that on a 5DII and 580EXII there is a handy boost in power to benefit flash bounce. For example a scene that needs 1/4 manual flash without the PW – requires 1/8 power to get same exposure with the PW fitted. In ETTL flash I found the gain to be an extra +1 of FEC in HSS mode.

Keen to know what others are finding.

Comment by George — December 30, 2009 @ 8:56 pm
George, I did try out the new miniTT1 and flexTT5 modules earlier this year, but my review wasn’t entirely favorable. I haven’t tested them yet with the updated software, so who knows? There might be some improvement.

I’m not sure how you’d be able to get more light from the same unit, if you have set it to manual power. (While keeping everything else constant.)

Neil vN

Comment by Neil — December 30, 2009 @ 9:07 pm
Hey Neil,

Yes it does sound impossible, but it does work. I get noticably more brightness from the Speedlite at the same power ratios when using the new PW.

I’ve done a few more demanding tests where I locked the flash into manual 1:1 power bounced of a dark wall at F5.6 ISO 200 and shutter 200 – distance of around 15ft. Using the PW the extra flash juice manages to give a fairly well exposed shot – compared to a highly underexposed shot without the PW in play.

Things have come a long way with the new firmware. I’ve read your post and all the issues then have been fixed. The recent boosted ETTL pre-flash feature really helps with bounced flash too.

If you are using the 1DsIII you will be able to get 1/500 sync with a Speedlite at full power (not HSS) – the full frame limitations of the 5DII mean only 1/250 is possible before it auto switches to optimised HS mode.

Comment by George — December 31, 2009 @ 9:48 am
Hi Neil,

Max sync speed on the canon 5DII is 1/200. However, if I have the camera and flash in manual mode and I am at 1/200 – I get 2 different flash exposures if HSS is on or off.

It’s like HSS kicks in at 1/200 making the max sync speed 1/160 in this setup.

Have you observed this also? it makes no sense to me.

Thank you

Comment by Den — January 7, 2010 @ 9:57 pm
Den, this is a quirk of the Canon 5D and Canon 5D mark II. I made a comment about this on my page on maximum flash sync speed. I just chalk it up to being a design quirk, and work my way around it.

Neil vN

Comment by Neil — January 10, 2010 @ 4:28 am
Neil,

Have you ever tried using a flash extender in your work. Devices like the Better Beamer provide a 2 stop boost to flash range for free – I imagine this would make the task of bouncing flash more effective?

Thank you

Comment by Den — January 10, 2010 @ 9:11 pm
Den … I haven’t tried the Better Beamer. It looks like it would help with bounce flash photography. But I wonder whether in photographing an event it wouldn’t just be more clutter to carry around. It might be worth checking out though.

Neil vN

Comment by Neil vN — April 25, 2011 @ 2:30 am
You have great articles and tips. I’m glad I found your site where I can learn a lot.

Thanks,

Marko

Comment by Camera Flashes — April 26, 2011 @ 5:46 am