{"id":37422,"date":"2017-01-20T23:04:04","date_gmt":"2017-01-21T03:04:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/?p=37422"},"modified":"2020-06-12T17:31:00","modified_gmt":"2020-06-12T21:31:00","slug":"which-direction-to-bounce-on-camera-flash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/which-direction-to-bounce-on-camera-flash\/","title":{"rendered":"Which direction to bounce on-camera flash?"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Which direction to bounce on-camera flash?<\/h1>\n

When photographing any kind of portrait with on-camera bounce flash, my main consideration is that I want flattering light. For example, this photo of the bride dancing with her dad, I want flattering light to illuminate her face. It should be obvious that I decided to bounce the flash towards camera-right, so that the light comes in from that direction. I don’t want to light up the side\u00a0of her head. I want to light up her\u00a0face.<\/p>\n

This means\u00a0that as the couple rotate, I will continually adjust the direction that I bounce my flash into. This is an important point – the direction that I have the flash pointed to, keeps changing as people move. It’s never really static unless my subject is static.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tExplaining this with\u00a0a bit more detail:<\/p>\n

When photographing a portrait, whether with one or two (or more people), using on-camera bounce flash, you have to consider the direction<\/strong> that you want to bounce the flash in.<\/p>\n

You want to avoid just bouncing your flash in a generic way, without thinking how you want the light to appear .. or worse yet, just shoving a plastic diffuser over your flash, thinking that will give you better light from your on-camera flash. It is easy for us to do so much better than just\u00a0thoughtlessly using a generic flash modifier.<\/p>\n

This is also discussed in detail in my book,
On-Camera Flash Photography<\/a>.\u00a0 (Amazon USA<\/a><\/em>\u00a0\/\u00a0UK<\/a><\/em>).\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>

\n\t\t\t\t\t\"On-Camera<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>
<\/div><\/p>\n

As mentioned in the tutorial\u00a0on bounce flash photography<\/a>, I bounce flash into the direction that I want the light to come from. This\u00a0implies that I don’t keep my flash pointed only in one direction for the entire event – instead, I am constantly changing the direction that the flash-head points into, to match the direction I want the light to come from.<\/p>\n

This in turn implies that as the couple rotates during the dance, I will continually twist the flash-head to point in the appropriate direction. Sometimes to camera-left; sometimes to camera-right; sometimes just over my left shoulder, and sometimes just over my right shoulder.<\/p>\n

I usually favor the woman if both their faces are visible. This is also an important point – I favor the person who would be better served with flattering light.<\/p>\n

And just for those who can’t quite make the jump, I need to make it clear that\u00a0this is useful advice for any kind of portrait where you use bounce flash … and not just weddings.<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

Camera settings & photo gear (or equivalents) used for these photos<\/h2>\n