Detail photographs with controlled on-camera bounce flash
A detail photo from a recent wedding — a fairly uncomplicated ring shot. This is straight out camera, sent directly to my phone. No manipulation or editing at all, except for a mild crop to center the image. The light on this ring is entirely on-camera bounce flash, using the Black Foamie Thing. This on-camera flash modifier acts as a flag, and allows me to better control the direction of the light from my bounce flash. I want to bounce my flash into the direction that I wanted the light to come from.
That is one of my key Read more inside...
This is a fairly straight-forward portrait of the bride just as she was done with her prep. But this simplicity might belie the deliberateness in how I shot this. Because the rest of the bridal area was mostly bland walls, I purposely used the busy room in the background to give that indistinct out-of-focus background which is still complimentary. There were spotlights in the ceiling just outside the door, so I asked her to step forward of those lights. They would have been too hard to fight against.
My exposure settings were set for Read more inside...
Video tutorial: On-camera bounce flash photography
I finally put together the really, REALLY big tutorial about on-camera bounce flash photography. It's an entire workshop. This is a long one. An hour's worth of material. It's going to require a bit of stamina.
If you prefer Youtube : Bounce Flash - That one thing you need to know.
Related to this video, is this video where we discuss how Bounce flash photography & The Inverse Square Law interrelate. There's something interesting and unexpected happening there.
And if you are new to the "Black Foamie Read more inside...
Photographing corporate events - flash or no flash?
Mirrorless cameras offering an electronic shutter which is truly silent, is one of the best advantages to using mirrorless cameras over DSLRs. With these types of events, I really do prefer using a silent shutter, so I can take enough photos where the speaker doesn't have odd expressions and weird mouth shapes. You really have to over-shoot to be sure you have enough usable images which you can give to your client. With flash and the shutter sound, at quieter events, I am sure it can be distracting to the speaker to have every Read more inside...
How to make your on-camera flash NOT look like on-camera flash
I was quite honored to be invited by the team at Zeiss Camera Lenses Americas, to take part in their series of Youtube Live events, appropriately called 'Conversations'. My friend, Tracy, who you might remember from a previous "Two Perspectives" video, where we photographed headshots on location in New York. The topic that Tracy asked me about, is one that regular followers of the Tangents blog will be familiar with - How to make your on-camera flash NOT look like on-camera flash. This Youtube Live event was held via a Read more inside...
Event photography where you are photographing speakers at the event, can be challenging in its own way. The problem with taking photos of presenters, especially if they are animated, is that you have to take a LOT of photos to get a few where they look good. You don't want to give your client any photos with awkward expressions. This means you have to take so many photos just to get a few keepers. But shooting a ton of photos with flash becomes intrusive after a very short while. I therefore prefer to do the majority of photos of speakers at events, Read more inside...
Before we get into this review of the Canon 470EX-AI speedlite (B&H / Amazon), I need to mention that I wanted this review video to be more than just a listing of the features of this flash. We therefore also delve into bounce flash technique. So there is something here even for those photographers who don't shoot Canon, or have no real interest in getting this flash. So please do check the video out.
I was really curious to get to play with the Canon 470EX-AI speedlite (B&H / Amazon) for a review, Read more inside...
With the tutorials here on how to bounce flash, the questions inevitably come up - what if there is nothing to bounce your flash off? What if there are dark ceilings? Well, these limitations do affect how I use flash at events - but I still work according to a few set guidelines that give me the best results with bounce flash.
I bounce my flash into the direction that I want to come from, regardless of whether there is a white wall or ceiling. It really is all about the Direction of Light.
I also shy away from using any of the Read more inside...
An elegant portrait of a delightful young woman, Supriya, taken at her Sweet 16 party. With events there isn't always the opportunity to use involved lighting setups, and to keep the interest of your subject, you need to shoot fast. Yet the results need to look top-class. For this I most often revert to on-camera bounce flash. How to bounce flash - this is a topic we have covered thoroughly here with previous articles. This time I want to I want to highlight an aspect of that - the direction of bounce flash - and this is best served by showing correct and Read more inside...
Many of the tutorials and articles on the Tangents blog deals with getting the best from your on-camera flash. My approach has always been one of - what technique would give me the best light? Of course, there are so many different scenarios we could find ourselves in - so we have to adapt to where we are, and what we want to achieve.
With on-camera flash, I've always pushed back against the idea of there being a single do-everything device that will make your flash photography look better. Specifically with light and lighting, We Read more inside...
