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Using grids with flash for a spot of light

March 10, 2017 Neil vN 4 Comments

Using grids with flash for a spot of light

My preference is for softer, flattering light. When I use off-camera flash, I really try to use a softbox if at all feasible. It's easier to use in that you have leeway in how your subject is posed.  For with a smaller, harder light source, you have to be much more specific about posing. A bigger light source is therefore easier to work with when you shoot fast - such as at a wedding. But there are times when you just want to light up a portion of the scene, or want to specifically light your subjects. The photo above is an example. I am  Read more inside...

Portraits with shallow DoF & high-speed sync flash

December 7, 2016 Neil vN 7 Comments

Portraits with shallow DoF & high-speed sync flash

High-speed flash sync (HSS) has two primary uses - being able to get to a fast enough shutter speed to stop action, and for shallow depth-of-field. Other than that, I rarely stray higher than max flash sync speed. So for me, it is a conscious decision to go to HSS. Or not. For these playful portraits of my friends, Irene and Michael, I wanted to use the shallow depth-of-field with specific intent. Irene and Michael are at the core of a performance group called the Modern Gypsies. Their official website: Modern Gypsies  Read more inside...

Portrait lighting patterns: Loop lighting & Butterfly lighting

November 16, 2016 Neil vN 6 Comments

Portrait lighting patterns: Loop lighting & Butterfly lighting

In the article on available light portrait photography, I mentioned how I posed Anastasiya, so that the spot of reflected sunlight created a butterfly lighting-pattern. While most of us associate lighting patterns with studio lighting, the thought-process in how to use available light or bounce flash or continuous lighting, remains the same. It has to do with how we pose and position our subjects in relation to the light. And it also depends on how we position ourselves. I want to show some straight-forward  Read more inside...

Photo shoot with Off-camera flash – Adapting to opportunity

June 19, 2016 Neil vN 15 Comments

Photo shoot with Off-camera flash - Adapting to opportunity

One of the fun elements of the Photo Walks in NYC, is looking for opportunity, and being ready for any serendipitous moments. We were photographing Claudia, using the Profoto B1 TTL flash (affiliate), and a 3' octa-box as our off-camera lighting setup. Of course, we could also shoot available light ... or sweeten it with a touch of off-camera flash. We have options in how we use light. It's all part of the adventure of looking for great photos. In this instance, there was this reflective metallic wall on three sides of  Read more inside...

Gear list – Starting out with off-camera flash

May 20, 2016 Neil vN 17 Comments

Gear list - Starting out with off-camera flash

You can get great lighting with just on-camera bounce flash when shooting indoors, as shown in this related article - Lighting with bounce flash. But at some point you might want more flexibility and consistency. Or you might run into problem scenarios with bounce flash, such as colored walls and ceilings. Or you might run into a situation where you can't use any bounce flash at all, and the available light isn't ideal. Then it is time to step it up with off-camera flash. Starting out with off-camera flash photography might seem  Read more inside...

Improve your portrait photography: Lighting with bounce flash

May 16, 2016 Neil vN 22 Comments

Improve your portrait photography:  Lighting with bounce flash

For a straight-forward but effective portrait like this, there are just a few things that have to come together ... all within your control as the photographer: Framing / Composition  This is mostly as simple as looking at the edges of the frame in your camera's viewfinder, and then deciding how much head-room or breathing room you want to allow. Also look at the background, and exclude what doesn't add to your photograph. In this example, it was easy enough, working in my studio which has a grey wall. So often  Read more inside...

Softboxes with speedlights

February 21, 2016 Neil vN 43 Comments

Softboxes with speedlights for on-location lighting

Off-camera flash is the easiest way to create dynamic lighting - and using a speedlight with a softbox, is on-location lighting at its most elegantly simple. For most of my on-location portraits, I like to travel (fairly) light, and my lighting of choice is a speedlight, wireless transmitters and a softbox. The softbox is either held up by a light-stand (which I weight down with my camera bag), or held up by an assistant (with the softbox on a monopod.) I like TTL flash - it often gets us there faster than manual flash. But for  Read more inside...

Gelling flash for Incandescent light / Tungsten light

February 18, 2016 Neil vN 37 Comments

Gelling flash for Incandescent light / Tungsten light

The color temperature of the light from a flash / speedlite is around 5400K. While the actual numerical value might have little meaning to many photographers, it does mean that light from a flashgun will look a lot cooler than the light from an environment would with tungsten/incandescent light. That warm glow of tungsten light, which is around 2800K but varies a lot in actual value, makes the flash appear too cold, or too blue. However, if you simply adjust your white balance so that the flash appears neutral, your background  Read more inside...

Bounce flash off a dark ceiling

January 10, 2016 Neil vN 19 Comments

Bounce flash off a dark ceiling

A recurring topic on Tangents is how to bounce flash in pretty extreme situations. With a related article - bounce flash outdoors with a reflector - I showed some images from an event at a New York restaurant. I intensely dislike direct, hard on-camera flash. Yet, this venue had all kinds of corners, and no place to effectively place off-camera flashes on light-stands. The venue had an interesting ceiling. And with "interesting", I mean tough. The ceiling was dark, with black panels at different angles. Here are photos of the ceiling and walls, to  Read more inside...

Bounce flash outdoors with a reflector

January 9, 2016 Neil vN 23 Comments

Bounce flash outdoors with a reflector

There are occasions where you really need to work fast with flash - time might be tight, or it might just be too cold outside to linger. After photographing John's surprise 50th birthday party, John and Stacie and I went outside to Columbus Circle for portraits of the two of them. After the high of the party, I wanted to keep the momentum as well by working fast. And since it was mid-November in New York, it was nearly certain that the late night air would be nippy. I didn't want to use direct on-camera flash - I wanted that diffused  Read more inside...

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Recent Comments

  • Jonathan Soltero: Interesting, I have heard similar explanations from other photographers. They realize they could...
  • Neil vN: There is a distinct possibility of banding when using the electronic shutter. Some cameras are more...
  • Neil vN: Hi there Rick, Thank you for the kind words. As far as I know, Amazon automatically bumps up the price on...
  • Rick: Neil, I was having problems with my somewhat new Nikon z6ii flash not working correctly (or so I thought) and I...
  • Simon vail: Thank you for the post. I’d like to ask if you experience banding when using electronic shutter under...

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