EGO DG N U G C

C A B M U E R A C L

FLASH EGO DG N U G C types of C A B M U E R A C L

Built-in flash/ HOTSHOE HAMMERHEAD ring and Studio Flash pop-up flash FLASHGUN FLASH macro flash

• All compacts, and most • Hotshoe-mounted • Bracket mounted + • Ring flashes fix around • Typically used in a DSLRs, have a built-in flashgun Hotshoe enabled the lens, with a connector professional studio flash to the hotshoe, and although can be used • Multiple flash modes eg. • Multiple flash modes eg. provide a flat, even light outdoors as well • The flash is a small and TTL, manual etc TTL, manual etc on the subject. low-powered • Ultimate control of • Option to swivel and • Option to swivel and tilt lighting in photos • Only direct flash the flash head the flash head • Studio flash are much • Not powerful enough to • Optional wireless • Main advantage is extra more higher powered cover large groups of operation flash power than small flashguns people or great distances • Studio flash attachments include: , brollies and reflectors to not only control the power of the light but also the quality, spread and hardness of light. EGO DG N U G C when to use flash C A B M U E R A C L

INDOORS DAYTIME Light painting FREEZE MOTION OUTDOORS

This is the most obvious time We’ve all been there when you’re Light painting is opening your The cool thing about flash is that to use a flash, but I thoroughly shooting into the sun and your ’s up for a long it allows you to freeze the motion recommend that you experiment subject is just a silhouette, to fix enough time so that you can of a photo with a short burst of with bounce flash to get a much this use your flash! draw in the darkness with a light light. more natural look. source such as a torch or a flash The flash acts as a second light This works especially well if and effectively paint light onto a Firing the flash at the same angle source and fills in where the you’re shooting in low light like photo. as the lens results in a very dull camera has been underexposed. in the photo above. I couldn’t and flattened image. Long exposures allow you to set the too high Flash is also good for shooting move around the scene without or it would have been too dark, portraits outdoors to lessen the leaving a trail and an external so instead I used a flash and it effect of harsh shadows. flash fired manually will freeze caught the droplet of water at it’s certain bits of light around the peak with ease. frame. This method allows you work with a blank canvas and make up your own light choices and effects. EGO DG N U G C when not to use flash C A B M U E R A C L

big events candid Nightscapes Band/stage/ photography speakers/events if you are standing 30+ metres Nothing says ‘look at me’ like a Unless you’re planning on doing I’d say that most bands don’t from a stage your flash will not big flash attached to big camera some cool effects like Light allow you to use a flash on your reach that far! This is utterly going off in the corner of your Painting, I recommend turning camera as it annoys the band, pointless and the flash will eye. your flash off. Instead of getting distracts the fans and ruins the probably have only reached a a bright overexposed foreground, lighting designers hard work. If you wish to go unnoticed, few metres before maxing out. you’ll end up will a well exposed widen your and raise Instead, you should widen your photo like the one above. You’re much better off using a your ISO. This will allow you to aperture and lower your shutter high ISO for shooting in low light take well exposed photos in low You’ll need to use a to speed so that the camera picks or using a tripod. light conditions, such as indoors. expose for the low light. up more light. Use a wide aperture (eg f2.8), it’ll Flash casts ugly shadows when give your photos a nice shallow shooting bands as you’re on the which means ground and the artist is on the the focus will be on the subject stage, making it a very unnatural rather then the surroundings. angle for the light. EGO DG N U G C pop-up flash - tips & tricks C A B M U E R A C L

No Flash

With Fill Flash know your limits FLASH COMPENSATION YOUR FLASH ISN’T DIY DIFFUSING AND NOCTURNAL BOUNCING

Unlike an external flash unit, your Flash compensation makes your Your flash isn’t for using only One of the main disadvantages of pop-up flash gets its power from brighter or darker when it is dark! One of the most your camera’s pop-up flash is the the camera battery itself. by adjusting the intensity of the useful functions of your camera’s harshness and intensity of the light. flash. Using flash compensation pop-up flash is the ability to Because it is sharing this power You can soften the flash light by will help you achieve the proper use it as a fill flash, especially in source with the other functions of diffusing it. Eg using using tissue and assist you in broad daylight. the camera, its power is severely paper or thin cotton. Simply tape getting around the limitations of limited. In order to not consume Using a fill flash can really make the mock-diffuser to your flash, your built-in flash. the camera’s battery life, the a difference in your images and fire away! built-in flash is not nearly as Your camera does not always by lightening dark shadows, While the pop-up flash on your bright or far-reaching as one choose the optimal flash power brightening , and creating camera is fixed, you can also from an external flash would be. when firing the pop-up flash. depth. bounce the light using a small Because of this limitation, you If your photos are coming out white card. Hold the card at a 45 need to be aware of the working with an overexposed subject, degree angle in front of your flash, range of your pop-up flash. adjusting the flash compensation and take your shot. The light should can change those blown-out hit the card, bounce to the ceiling, highlights into a photo with and spread out into a nice soft correct exposure. light. EGO DG N U G C hotshoe flash - modes C A B M U E R A C L

ttl/ettl Manual strobe/ Rear-curtain multi flash sync

TTL (through the lens) takes For correct manual flash Stroboscopic flash (Multi Mode or Rear curtain sync is a process the guesswork out of flash exposure, 4 things need to be Repeating Flash) is a feature that where a speedlite flashes when the photography. controlled and balanced: allows for a series of flashes to second curtain is about to close. be fired continuously in a single This method works best for long When you press the shutter 1. Aperture exposure. exposure or moving subject shots. release, a TTL flash will fire a 2. ISO pre-flash before the actual shot, This freezes a moving object on By default under normal conditions the camera will then measure 3. Distance (from the flash to the frame multiple times. the camera triggers flash when the pre-flash with the ambient subject) first shutter curtain reveals the light level to calculate the power entire sensor area. 4. Power needed in the actual flash for the People like to see blurred motion shot. Any of these four things can be with a frozen subject at the end of used to control the amount of Many photographers enjoy being its path, rather than its start. light falling on your subject. able to snap photos on a whim without having to worry about Photographers can control the making adjustments. output of their flashguns by adjusting any of these settings. EGO DG N U G C fill flash explained C A B M U E R A C L definition WHEN TO USE FILL other fill flash FLASH options The term ‘fill-in’ or ‘fill’ is used in photography to indicate the use of additional lighting to brighten shadow areas or darker areas in a scene. • When the light source is not Remove shadows In very bright light or direct sunlight the range of contrast from black directly on your subject to white is too large for the digital to resolve. Dark areas • When your subject is too dim become black and lose detail. ‘Fill-in’ light is used to brighten the darker areas so the camera can capture the detail that would have been lost in • When the sun is behind your pure black. subject • When your subject is in shadow What’s the • When the light is too faint to get problem? a good exposure

The biggest problem you’ll come across is when the ambient light Side fill/Off camera fill source is behind your subject Dont use too much and all you’re getting in return is flash! a silhouette. On auto mode, your camera will likely see all the light coming into the camera and think that it doesn’t need a flash, when in reality, it does.

HOW TO FIX IT

Fill flash! Use your flash to control Nature and/or macro how you want the light to hit the subject; you can have the flash Experiment will how much flash on or off the camera, as well as is needed to expose your subject changing the power output of the correctly. The best results for flash itself. a good exposure is a balance between ambient light and fill flash light. EGO DG N U G C bounce flash explained C A B M U E R A C L definition Why USE bounce What can you FLASH bounce light off? Bounce Flash refers to flash that is bounced off of a ceiling, wall, or other object before it reaches the subject. This is accomplished by pointing the • Softer light - when you bounce A ceiling flash at the other object instead of the subject. your flash, the light is coming to This is the most common bounce Because bounce flash is diffused by the distance is travels before reaching your subject in a diffused way. of them all. Just tilt your flash to the subject there are generally less shadows and harsh glares when using • Red eye will not be an issue since the ceiling and take the picture. bounce flash. the light is coming far off the The ceiling will act as a huge The flash can also be modified in by bouncing the flash off of a subject-to-lens axis. , bouncing the light softly colored surface. on your subject. • You will avoid harsh shadows. Because the light travels further than a straight flash shot and is diffused, • Today’s modern DSLRs and more flash power is required to get the same exposure as a straight flash flash units can calculate the THE WALL shot. light power you will need for In this method, you swivel your the bounce, so you don’t have flash 90 degrees sideways and to make recurring measures to bounce off the nearest wall. correct for the bounce.

A person! When not to use This is good when you are out doors and you find someone who bounce flash is waring white T-shirt. swivel the flash head to point to the person • Nothing to bounce from. and shoot. • Not enough flash power – when you bounce your flash the light that your flash provides, need to travel further, you will need a powerful flash. • Smoke! If you are in a smoky area or smake machine, and you try to bounce you might end up with a big picture of white. EGO DG N U G C flash - things to know C A B M U E R A C L

Flash sync speed SLOW SYNC FLASH GUIDE NUMBERS

Most quote a maximum shutter speed Setting the camera to the flash sync speed One of the key aspects of using flash, and at which flash can be used (the X- sync speed) is fine for general snaps but in low light this indeed in marketing a flashgun, is the Guide which is typically between 1/60 and 1/250sec. shutter speed is usually too fast to record the Number (GN). Often used as shorthand to This is because there are times during an ambient illumination, with the result that the indicate the power of the flash (based on ISO exposure when the sensor is partially covered background behind the subject goes black and 100 and a lens of 50mm), the by an opening or closing shutter blind. The any atmosphere is lost. GN can also be used to indicate the correct X-sync is the fastest shutter speed in which the exposure at a given distance when using the A good solution is to set a slower speed, while shutter is fully open for the full duration of the flash in manual mode at full power. maintaing the same aperture. This keeps the flash burst. At speeds above this, the image will flash exposure the same but allows more of the The GN is a good guide to indicate the power of be only partially lit by the flash. available light to be recorded. Of course if you the flash, the higher the GN the more output. go too low you’ll get camera shake, or subject The can used to used to find the movement blur, so you’ll need to either use a AF Illuminator correct aperture using the following formula: tripod, or celebrate this movement and make a feature of it. GN ÷ Distance = Aperture In extremely dark conditions, a red patterned burst of light enables the camera’s autofocus So, if the flash has a GN of 20m and the subject sensors to ‘see’ the subject and focus the lens. is 5m from the flash, then the aperture is f/4 (20 ÷ 5 = 4).

Flash Colour Temperature

Most flash units are balanced to produce the same colour temperature as daylight at noon, ie 5600K. However, there are times when this doesn’t match the temperature of the ambient light – such as shooting indoors, where the light level is tungsten-based. If your camera is set to Daylight or Flash white balance the colour temperature of the flashlit areas will be correct, while the background will be warm. Setting the white balance to Tungsten will produce a correct background but the flashlit area will have a blue cast. Videos

Fill Flash portraits https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tin5q2-yPew

Bounce Flash https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTlBpNrxNLk

Flash photography tips https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRoZwkTj74k EGO DG N U G FLASH WORKSHOP C C A B M U E R A C L

Difused light BOUNCED light - pop-up BOUNCED light - HOTSHOE flash flash Take a photo of an object or person using the following to cover your Take the following photos: Take the following photos: flash: 1. Normal straight flash 1. Normal straight flash 1. Normal straight flash 2. Use a white piece of cardboard to 2. Tilt your flash head to the ceiling to 2. Tissue paper reflect the flash light to the ceiling. bounce the light 3. Opaque plastic 3. Tilt your camera to a wall to Compare the results. bounce the light to the side 4. Coloured cellophane 4. Tilt your camera backwards to bounce the light Compare the results.

Compare the results.