First Off-Camera Flash

jmtonkin · Sep 22, 2014

Hey all,

I got my flash back from Nikon (the flash tube went out), so I was finally able to play around with all the stuff I have recently bought for my flash. The day I got my umbrella and stand in the mail, my flash went out, and I got my triggers the next day, so everything has been sitting here collecting dust!

Anyway, this is my first time playing around with my flash off-camera, and I'd love for your feedback! I went out after classes today, and took these shots of myself. I am pleased with the results, but I'd love your input!

Thanks!

Derrel · Sep 22, 2014

Not too bad, pretty good exposure levels over the majority of the entire scene. Nothing Earth-shattering, yet significantly better than on-camera, direct, straight-ahead hotshoe flash.

jmtonkin · Sep 23, 2014

My goal in these was to get a well-balanced exposure, balancing ambient and flash as best as possible.

Once I get proficient at that, I will try to get a little more creative in my lighting. As a learning experience, what would you have done differently to get a more "Earth-shattering" shot?

Derrel · Sep 23, 2014

I think you did a pretty good job on the ambient/flash balance, so your goal was realized. Earth-shattering? Oh, I dunno...maybe hire a hot bikini model??? Lol. But seriously, I think what you did was to achieve your goal, which is a good thing. As for Earth-shattering, a man in a polo shirt and jeans, and a cinder block wall is a pretty tough combination of items to create Earth-shattering images. It would require some really cool props to take that shot up very high.

Learning lighting is a process of trial and error and testing, experimenting, and evaluating. I think this was a successful experiment if the goal was balancing flash + ambient.

I think a good approach might be this one: same subject and location, Mount the camera on a tripod, stand RIGHT against the wall, back touching it, and then aim a flash from 11 o'clock and right near the wall's surface, and angle it steeply down toward 5 o'clock, to create a crisp shadow of yourself, and then use different shutter speeds to control the ambient light to flash balance.

Another fun one would be at night. Camera set to f/11, aimed horizontally, from about 20 feet away. Use multiple pops of the flash to light yourself: aim one pop of flash at your feet, then take a step to the side, and illuminate your middle section, then take another step to the side, then aim it at your face. THe flash will need to be around 1/8 power or so I would estimate, and the camera at a low ISO value.