{"id":1756,"date":"2015-01-03T18:41:04","date_gmt":"2015-01-03T22:41:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.planetneil.com\/tangents\/?p=1756"},"modified":"2020-06-12T22:58:05","modified_gmt":"2020-06-13T02:58:05","slug":"flash-photography-how-far-can-you-bounce-flash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/flash-photography-how-far-can-you-bounce-flash\/","title":{"rendered":"Flash photography: How far can you bounce your flash?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Flash photography: How far can you bounce your flash?<\/h1>\n

The question regularly comes up: how far can you bounce your flash? The answer is quite straight-forward: It depends on the power of your flash, the bounce distance (and surfaces), ISO and aperture.<\/p>\n

Power, distance, aperture and ISO<\/a> – the four things that control flash exposure. Yup, we can’t really escape this.<\/p>\n

So how far can you bounce your flash? It depends on\u00a0how far (and reflective) the surfaces are that you are bouncing your flash off; as well as how high you’re willing to take your ISO and how wide you can take your aperture. And obviously, it depends on how powerful your flash is – which is why I would always recommend that you get\u00a0the most powerful flash you can afford<\/a>. There are advantages to this.<\/p>\n

As an example, let’s analyze this image from a wedding, and see what\u00a0went into creating it.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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Here is one of the\u00a0test shots to show what the top image would’ve looked like without the addition of on-camera TTL bounce flash.<\/p>\n

camera settings: \u00a01\/60th @ f2 @ 1600 ISO<\/p>\n

The final image at the top is more though than just adding a bit of TTL flash. It came together through a\u00a0combination of\u00a0 choices and controlling the situation.\u00a0 Nothing there is arbitrary.\u00a0 The choices made were\u00a0in terms of the setting; the composition; the use of flash to augment the lighting\u00a0 and in directing the couple … finally culminating in an image that I\u00a0love.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Choices and control<\/h2>\n

I am usually quite specific about my\u00a0backgrounds<\/strong>.\u00a0 A cluttered background can really bring down an image which might otherwise have worked.\u00a0 So in a case like this, when creating the romantic portraits outside the venue with this couple, I was on the look-out for something interesting to work with.\u00a0 When I saw the\u00a0twinkly lights in the trees outside, I knew that it\u00a0would definitely make a great out-of-focus background.<\/p>\n

I then needed\u00a0to position the couple in relation to the background – and in this case use a lens with a longer focal length to help place them.\u00a0 A wide-angle lens would’ve given too wide a field of view.\u00a0 I need a tighter composition.<\/p>\n

But in how I wanted to position the couple, I also knew the light on them wasn’t ideal.\u00a0 I would have to add on-camera\u00a0flash as a quick fix for the lighting.\u00a0 Since I was working alone, I couldn’t rely on an assistant to hold a reflector or an umbrella \/ softbox.\u00a0 I therefore looked for something to bounce my flash off … and I figured that I could bounce my flash off the outside walls of the venue. \u00a0The wall was about 20-30 feet behind me, outdoors. Even then, I bounced my flash\u00a0at an\u00a0angle, that I could\u00a0still have a measure of\u00a0directional light<\/strong>\u00a0on them.<\/p>\n

These two things then combined to make it\u00a0this<\/em>\u00a0particular spot that I used:
\n– an interesting background, and
\n– an area I could bounce flash off.<\/p>\n

Since I knew I would be losing a lot of light from my on-camera speedlight in bouncing flash off a large wall outside, the short telephoto that I wanted to use, also needed to be\u00a0a fast optic<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The lens I decided on was the\u00a0Nikon 85mm f\/1.4<\/a>\u00a0(affiliate<\/em>) and if I had been shooting Canon, it would’ve been\u00a0my\u00a0Canon 85mm f\/1.2<\/a>\u00a0(affiliate<\/em>).\u00a0However, if these lenses seem out of reach, then both the\u00a0Nikon 85mm f\/1.8<\/a>\u00a0(affiliate<\/em>), and the\u00a0Canon 85mm f\/1.8<\/a>\u00a0(affiliate<\/em>), are excellent and affordable optics that will open up a whole new look to your images if you’re only used to the\u00a0depth-of-field of slower zooms.<\/p>\n

So how far could I bounce my flash? Well, it depends on my aperture (had to be a fast aperture here); and a high ISO (I immediately went for 1600 ISO), and a powerful speedlight … and then a bit of common sense and testing to make sure the final sequence of photos would work.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Photo gear (or equivalents)\u00a0used<\/h2>\n