Take your best photos with these five essential tips for using off-camera flash. Plus, advance your photography with off-camera flash techniques when you enroll in award-winning photographer Neil van Niekerk’s online Craftsy class Off-Camera Flash Photography for just $39.99 today— that’s 50% off for Phoblographer readers!
Editor’s Note: This is a sponsored post from Craftsy.
Know how your equipment works.
Before you get started and before your model ever arrives, make sure you know how your equipment works. Be certain that you know how to adjust the intensity of your off-camera lights and that your wired connections or wireless triggers are working properly. There is nothing worse to kill your confidence and the confidence of your model, than having to fool around with your equipment during the shoot.
Set up before the model arrives.
It’s difficult to be creative when you are worried about your gear. Have an idea of what you want to accomplish and set up accordingly. In addition to knowing how the stuff works, having it all set up in advance will allow you to use your time to make your model look good and not on putting together softboxes or cutting up gels.
Use reliable triggers.
There are a variety of ways to connect your camera to your off-camera flash. There are many wireless (radio or infrared) triggers that are very reliable depending on the range you need. Nothing beats the reliability or economy of old-fashioned wires.
Control the room temperature.
Some off-camera flashes can get quite hot if you are using them in rapid bursts or with the modeling light turned on. You never want your model to get too warm or to start sweating, so take note of the room temperature. If you think the lights will warm your room up, set the temperature a little bit cold to start.
Identify general ratios.
When you use several off-camera flashes, they will typically be set at different intensities from one another. Your main light will be the strongest, fill light will be a few stops below that, and background light below that—for example. If you have an assistant or someone to stand in for your model, you can get these ratios set ahead of time, or at least pretty close so you are set up before the model arrives.
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How do you prepare for an off-camera flash shoot?
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