{"id":11139,"date":"2012-06-21T23:20:29","date_gmt":"2012-06-22T03:20:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/?p=11139"},"modified":"2019-10-07T23:15:19","modified_gmt":"2019-10-08T03:15:19","slug":"adding-rim-lighting-to-available-light-with-off-camera-flash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/adding-rim-lighting-to-available-light-with-off-camera-flash\/","title":{"rendered":"Adding rim-lighting to available light, with off-camera flash"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Adding rim-lighting to available light, with off-camera flash<\/h1>\n

Off-camera flash need not be all that complex as it might appear to you if you are new to this.\u00a0During a lunch-time conversation, a friend told me that she felt intimidated by the on-location flash photography by other photographers. The way to use multiple-flash setups seemed impenetrable to grasp. How would one go about and where do \u00a0you even start. This made me wonder – just how complicated should photography lighting be? I don’t think it has<\/strong> to be complicated. It just has to be enough to be effective or solve a problem.<\/p>\n

With on-location photography, my starting point is usually where I consider if I can improve the existing light with flash (or video light). What do I need to add to make it just a little bit better? And does it need something more to make it even better? The final image needs to look good. Tall of this is an iterative thought-process, rather than a compelling desire that I have<\/strong> to use every flash that I own.<\/p>\n

This straight-forward portrait of Anelisa,was taken during an\u00a0personal photography workshop<\/a>\u00a0in New York. It might be a good example where off-camera flash was used for the tiniest bit of sweetening of the light. A bit of rim-lighting to separate Anelisa\u00a0from the black doorway.<\/p>\n

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We started off under this awning of a building, where the available light coming in was very flattering – open, clean light.<\/p>\n

But I thought it needed a little something. She needed separation from the dark door frame.<\/p>\n

A speedlight on a monopod would do the trick. I set it to 1\/32 power at first, and then took it up to 1\/16 power. I could easily adjust the manual output of the Canon 580EX II via the\u00a0AC3 ZoneController\u00a0on the\u00a0FlexTT5 transceiver<\/a>\u00a0(affiliate<\/em>), which sits on the camera. \u00a0Of course, the \u00a0Canon 600EX-RT Speedlite<\/a>\u00a0(affiliate<\/em>)\u00a0makes it so much easier too with the built-in radio slave. Check my review of the\u00a0Canon 600EX-RT Speedlite<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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I stuck the light-stick to the door with a bit of gaffer tape so it wouldn’t fall over. A small roll of\u00a0gaffer tape<\/a> (B&H<\/em>), is very useful thing to have in your camera bag. It’s also useful for temporarily mending your trousers when you split them at an event.<\/p>\n

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camera settings: 1\/100 @ f\/4 @ 100 ISO
\nCanon 5D mark II; \u00a0Canon EF 24-105mm f\/4L IS<\/a>\u00a0 @ \u00a085mm<\/p>\n

I felt that this is all the photograph needed to elevate it a little bit. No need to show off crazy skills with lighting. Just an uncomplicated sweetening of the available light. That’s a good place to start. No need to feel that you’re lost because you don’t know how to set up multiple off-camera flashes. If you feel intimidated by off-camera flash, then start at the simplest starting point – enhancing the existing light with just one speedlight.<\/p>\n

The pull-back shot:<\/p>\n

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Check out the Sexy New York Photographer stance there with the foot swept out!<\/p>\n

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Photo gear (or equivalents) used in this photo session<\/h2>\n