{"id":1539,"date":"2009-09-02T06:07:05","date_gmt":"2009-09-02T10:07:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.planetneil.com\/tangents\/?p=1539"},"modified":"2017-08-11T10:11:59","modified_gmt":"2017-08-11T14:11:59","slug":"bounce-flash-vs-video-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/bounce-flash-vs-video-light\/","title":{"rendered":"bounce flash vs video light"},"content":{"rendered":"

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bounce flash vs video light<\/h1>\n

With the recent posts on using video light for stills photography<\/a>, the question comes up why one would want to use video light over flash.\u00a0 Two of the main advantages are that you see exactly what you’re going to get; and also that video light gives a certain dramatic quality.\u00a0 With video light the fall-off to the edges of the spot is fairly abrupt.\u00a0 But it is exactly this quality that lends itself so easily to giving you that\u00a0dramatic lighting.<\/p>\n

With\u00a0the photo at the top, I use bounce flash to light the model .. and the entire scene.\u00a0 That’s the advantage \/ problem with bounce flash – it tends to open up the entire scene.\u00a0 In the next image however, I used video light for more dramatic effect.<\/p>\n

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Camera settings for the image at the top, using bounce flash:
\n1\/160th @ f4 @ 800 ISO<\/p>\n

Camera settings for second image (with video light<\/a>):
\n1\/80th @ f3.5 @ 1000 ISO<\/p>\n

With the image where I used flash, I purposely chose a fairly high shutter speed to reduce the effect of the ambient light .. thereby allowing the flash to dominate and open up the image much more. Of course, there aren’t just these two options in lighting the scene.\u00a0 There are 101 ways of getting good results.\u00a0\u00a0 And even in setting up the first image, I could’ve used a completely different combination of settings.\u00a0\u00a0 I could’ve let much more of the available light register by choosing a slower shutter speed and wider aperture ..\u00a0and reducing the TTL flash exposure by dialing down the flash exposure compensation.<\/p>\n

And that’s the beauty of\u00a0playing with lighting .. so many more options open up.\u00a0 Your choice.<\/p>\n

Back to those two\u00a0images at the top –\u00a0here are the available-light-only images for comparison:
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With the flash image you can see that in my choice of settings, I pushed the available light levels down in comparison to the eventual flash exposure.\u00a0 I did this by choosing a higher shutter speed immediately.\u00a0 But the aperture and\u00a0ISO\u00a0values\u00a0also play a role here.<\/p>\n

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This is 60% cool venue; 20% hot model; and 20% the\u00a0video light<\/a>.
\nWhoever was responsible for the interior design here should take a lot of the credit.<\/p>\n

Back to the video light – as you can see here, the way that the video light is concentrated and gives a spot-light effect – there<\/em><\/strong> is the dramatic appeal.<\/p>\n

equipment:
\nNikon D3 \u00a0\/\/ \u00a0Nikon 24-70mm f2.8\u00a0 \/\/\u00a0 SB-900 speedlight
\nLowel ID-light and accessories<\/a><\/p>\n

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related articles<\/h2>\n