Off-camera lighting – continuous light or flash?

When we think of off-camera lighting, we usually immediately think of off-camera flash. But there is another option: off-camera continuous lighting. One main advantage that continuous light for portraits has over flash is the WYWIG aspect – what you see is what you get. It is easier and faster to position the light to better effect for your portraits. This of course is only viable when working in relatively low light. In brighter light, you’d obviously be better of using proper flash photography.

With a photo session in New York, with a model, Lisa, I decided to use the Profoto B10x flash (B&H / Amazon) as purely a video light.

The Profoto B10x is a fantastic little portable studio flash — it is compact, yet powerful. For me, the main advantage over the previous B10, is that they increased the maximum continuous light output by 30% …. so now it’s not just a versatile flash unit, it is also a viable continuous light. The main advantage working with continuous lighting, is that you see exactly what you’re going to get.

I met up with Lisa and my assistant for the day to get a series of portraits of her around dusk, and deeper into the evening. Because the continuous light of the B10x has variable color balance from 3000K to 6500K – like many currently available video lights – I could more easily match the existing light sources. With flash, you might have to resort to using filters to match (or enhance) the existing color balance. So that’s another advantage to using video light / continuous light.

Oh, and the B10x is bluetooth connected to an app with which you can control and change your settings on the unit.

With this photo session, I decided to use a small umbrella instead of a softbox. Mostly because an umbrella collapses much quicker than most softboxes.

The one disadvantage to an umbrella in this situation would be that umbrellas tend to scoop wind. It is harder work for the assistant to hold the flash and umbrella on the monopod.

The photos has only had minor skin retouching because I wanted to show what was possible directly out of camera, or rather, directly out of the RAW processor … because I do correct the WB and some exposure inconsistencies where needed.

I used the Sony 85mm f/1.4 GM lens on a Sony A9 camera, and the Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 GMii on a Sony A1 body. (I don’t like changing lenses.)