{"id":51661,"date":"2023-07-15T14:33:04","date_gmt":"2023-07-15T18:33:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/?p=51661"},"modified":"2023-12-08T02:14:41","modified_gmt":"2023-12-08T06:14:41","slug":"short-lighting-with-on-camera-bounce-flash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/short-lighting-with-on-camera-bounce-flash\/","title":{"rendered":"Short lighting with on-camera bounce flash"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"short<\/p>\n

Short lighting with on-camera bounce flash<\/h1>\n

In the recent article \u2014 The simplicity of on-camera bounce flash<\/a> \u2014 the flash was used as fill light to “clean up” the light and give a sparkle to the eyes. In that scenario, as fill-flash the flash didn’t really add directional light or shape the light on our subject. Where on-camera bounce flash is our only \/ main light source, then we can get creative with the direction of light and shape an interesting, dynamic light pattern on our subject. We can even create short lighting<\/a><\/strong> for our portraits created with only on-camera bounce flash. To get the beautiful directional light you see in this photo \u2014 where you get Short Lighting<\/strong>, and that gradient from light to dark on the broad side of the face \u2026 for that you need to bounce your flash with specific intent.<\/p>\n

As part of my presentation \u2014 a home studio setup with speedlights \u2014 held at the semi-annual Camera Show at Unique Photo, I decided to take a quick detour into on-camera bounce flash photography as well. I wanted to show how good on-camera bounce flash could look when done properly. You can get close to studio quality portraits with on-camera bounce flash.<\/p>\n

A few (strong) hints:
\n\u2014 bounce your flash into the direction you want your light to come from;
\n\u2014 get rid of those plastic on-camera bounce diffusers. They work AGAINST you most of the time, stopping you from getting amazing results.<\/p>\n

The model and I were standing at the front of the classroom, and I bounced my flash into the white board to camera left, close to our model. However, (and this is important), \u00a0to block any direct flash from hitting our model, I used a piece of black foam that I tie to the underside of my flash. Yes, it\u2019s the infamous Black Foamie Thing<\/a>. The BFT is a simple piece of black foam that I use as a flag to control how the light spills from my on-camera flash. For more info on that, follow the link to the Tangents blog \u2014 there are a number of articles on exactly that \u2014 how to get this result with minimum fuss with just an on-camera flash.<\/p>\n

I bounced my flash to an area on the white board next to and above our model. The BFT acted as a flag and blocked any direct light from my from flash. This way only light bounced off that specific spot hit my subject. As simple as that to create beautiful dynamic portrait light with an on-camera flash.<\/p>\n

If you need visuals to help understand how this works, here is a very thorough hour-long tutorial video on How To use On-Camera Bounce Flash<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Our model here is Martina<\/a>, and she\u2019s just a dream to work with. If you are a New York based photographer, I would recommend reaching out to her if you are looking for an exceptional model. \u00a0And yes, the inspiration was Leeloo. Multipass!<\/p>\n

Camera settings: 1\/200 @ f\/4 @ 1000 ISO
\n(For demonstration, I wanted to pull down any available light so that it doesn\u2019t register much. Only the flash.)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Photo gear used with this photo session<\/h2>\n