The fourth essential creative option is the flash.
The flash is the most powerful accessory you can use. Since photography is all about light after all, and the flash is all about making light happen, it would seem then an obvious pairing: photographer and flash. Yet, many people sadly (even some professionals) avoid the tool, thinking it’s too difficult to wield or that they need an expensive one to do their images justice. Happily, none of that is true.
The flash is the single most creative option you have as a writer of light and (believe it or not) an incredibly easy tool to master.
Portraits With Just One Flash
The Flash
We’ll start by pointing out what should be obvious. The price of your flash is irrelevant so long as it illuminates your message perfectly. Don’t fall into the money trap. Light is light after all. The brand or model makes no real difference. Either it can illuminate your message or it can’t. What matters is that you have control over it, that you can clean it with a polarizer and that it offers enough creative options to match your vision.
A simple (less than $40) manual flash does just that. It’s also amazingly simple to master. A manual flash usually has two very easy-to-understand settings: On and Off. It will also have equally easy-to-understand controls, one button that is marked with a plus sign (+) and adding more light, and the other with a minus (-) and adding less light. If you don’t already own a flash, this inexpensive manual flash will do the job.
Visit the Shop Photography Essentials page for our recommendations for an inexpensive manual flash and other photography accessories.
The real confusion however swirls around why we use the tool. Most believe the flash is there to remove shadows, to be used only occasionally. We have a different point of view. We ask our students to keep it with them (on their person) at all times. We suggest a simple water bottle holder attached to a belt or the outside of their camera bag to hold it. We ask them to use it not only in the shadows but in the brightest light they can find as well. We want them to forget about what they see and focus on lighting their message uniquely with their flash. To create the amazing and to strive for perfection in their camera.
Oddly enough, a flash is NOT just about eliminating shadows, it’s about creating light and freeing your vision. Without a flash, you are shackled to what you see, you’re regulated to compromise, tied to adherence and a slave to the status quo. With a flash however, your imagination is free to explore what could be and examine the world from a more artistic standpoint.
Flash Basics Introduction
Familiarization Assignment
- Switch your flash to manual control (check your flash manual if you need to).
- Read in your flash manual/pamphlet (or search online) to learn what exposure times are offered by which ‘power’ settings on your flash.
- Locate the ‘test’ button and light on your flash.
- Choose the fastest exposure time your flash offers by choosing the lowest ‘power’ setting.
- Aim your flash at something in front of you and fire.
- Look close at the exposure offered.
- Choose the longest exposure time your flash offers by choosing the highest ‘power’ setting.
- Aim your flash at something in front of you and fire.
- Look closely at the exposure offered. It’s obviously quite different. Keep in mind however that both exposures are the same ‘brightness’ — it’s just that one lasts quite a bit longer than the other.
Off-Camera Flash
By taking the flash off camera, you will gain the distance needed to be truly creative with your flash. You will also be able to create more dramatic and flattering shadows and begin modeling your light like an artist.
There are several ways of getting your flash off-camera. We recommend going wireless by using a radio transmitter and receiver set. There are many types of wireless options on the market, some costing hundreds of dollars each. For a manual photographer, however, expensive transmitter/receivers aren’t necessary. These Cowboy Studio sets cost less than $20, are extraordinarily easy to use and do not limit your creative freedom … as other options do.
Visit the Shop Photography Essentials page for our recommendations for inexpensive wireless options.
What you need to know
Flash Sync Speed
Your camera’s shutter speed is limited when using a flash. Look in your camera manual now (if you haven’t yet) for its flash synchronization speed (flash sync speed). You can not employ faster shutter speeds than the sync speed when using a flash unless using very expensive accessories. If you do, then the moving curtains of your camera’s shutter will block the light from striking the sensor making the flash virtually useless.
Accessibility
To get the most from your flash, you have to master it. You need to give yourself time to learn all it offers, how it works and (more importantly) you have to grow your vision to incorporate it. The flash is not something you pull out only when there are shadows present. It should be carried on your person, not in your camera bag. Put it in your front pocket, in a water-bottle holder, in your purse, strap it around your waist, hold it in a free hand. Do whatever you can to make it as available (and accessible) as possible.
Extra Batteries
Your flash works because of the batteries you put inside. Don’t think (for an instant) that one set will be enough. When shooting, always carry an extra set just in case. You’ll be glad you did.
In Review
A flash adds light, that’s all it does. It’s not a difficult tool to use manually. Choose the exposure time (power setting) that will illuminate your message perfectly, aim your flash at what you want brighter and fire. That’s really all that’s to it.
Key elements:
- An increase of the power setting on your flash does not make the illumination offered brighter, it makes it last longer.
- You must work at or below your flash sync speed in your camera when using a flash (or use a specialized flash that offers a high speed sync option).
- You’re more likely to work with a flash that is on your person, than one that is in your camera bag. Accessibility is key to using your flash well.
- Extra batteries are quite important when using a flash. You’ll go through them and you’ll do it quickly.
Next: Essential Creative Option #5 – The Fader
This is post #6 of 16 of In Camera Magic: The 12 Essential Creative Options, a free online photography course for creating spectacular images right in the camera.