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Master f lash on location
Balancing flash with natural light will give your outdoor portraits a genuine lift, but careful positioning of a second flash and the use of modifiers to shape the light will really make things pop
Last issue we looked in detail at the art of balancing flash with natural light, which gives you lots of control over your portrait lighting on location. Essentially the skill is to position your subject out of direct sunlight, or turned away from the sun, so the contrast on their face isn’t too high, then manually set your aperture and shutter speed so the backdrop is well exposed, and finally apply just the right amount of flash to fill in the shadows. Once you’ve got those basics licked, you can get more experimental, adding more flashes, changing the position of the lights, and altering the way that they’re modified – how the light they fire is shaped
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to fall on the subject, which affects the strength of the illumination and the quality of the shadows. Adding a second flash (or a third, fourth etc.) to your on-location set-up can feel like a big stumbling block for some, but there’s genuinely no need for it to be complicated – it’s not much more effort than triggering a single flash. The make and type of your second flash doesn’t need to match the first either – you can easily use a cheap accessory flashgun from eBay or one that’s been sitting in your loft for years and no longer works with your camera. That said, there are many advantages to having consistent kit, particularly when it comes
SET-UP With two flashes firing you can achieve beautiful effects, like the strong hair lighting shown here. A flash and reflector are used in the key and fill light positions with another directly behind the subject.
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LIGHTING ACADEMY FLASH ON LOCATION
to making sure the lights are kicking out the same power and that the light is of a consistent colour – the temperature can vary between models. You’ll also find it’s easier to get to know a single type, rather than several models with different settings and inputs.
There’s a world of ways to shape light from your flash…
WHICH MODIFIER?
Triggering extra flashes With an additional flash in place, it needs to be triggered simultaneously, so this might require buying additional receivers to complement your existing transmitter, but not always: so long as the flash you’re using has a slave function it will detect
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any burst of flash and fire the gun automatically. Check your gun’s spec to see if it’s capable of slaving – it’s not available on all units, so infrared or radio triggers are generally a safer option – the latter being preferable as they don’t require line of sight to function. All triggers will require setting to the same frequency. We used two Atom 360 heads, both of which come with Wavesync Commander radio triggers, and setting the channels is as simple as switching each to the same number. Also vital when working with multiple flashes are lighting stands, which will help you position the height and angle of the flashes more accurately.
BALANCED LIGHTING By positioning the flashes at a similar distance and angle either side of the subject and using the same power settings, lighting is even and contrast is kept low. The additional light source gives more illumination than a reflector, so if you want even lighting and have an extra flash, use it.
SOFTBOXES can be square, rectangular or octagonal, like the one pictured here – the key is that they all include material in front of the flash which the light is fired through to diffuse it. In this way, shadows on the subject are softened, but it’s important to remember that the light is still more directional than, say, an umbrella. That said, less power is needed as the light isn’t reflected.
BEAUTY DISHES are firm favourites for portrait photographers, softening the light, reducing hard shadows and leaving distinctive round-shaped catchlights in the subject’s eyes. Via reflection, this is achieved with less power loss and fewer hotspots than a softbox. With Lencarta’s Atom modifiers, the internal deflector screws into the middle of the folding Octa softbox.
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LIGHTING ACADEMY
FLASH POWER & MODIFIERS With both flashes triggering correctly, you’ll be off and running and able to create a huge range of two-light effects. Here we’ll run through two looks – a clamshell effect where the light is equally balanced from both sides of the subject giving an almost shadowless look, and two variations on simple back or hair lighting which complements the main light to give the subject a nice, natural separation from the background. Balanced lighting with flash One of the main advantages of using two flashes over a single light and reflector set-up is the ability to throw perfectly balanced illumination on the subject, reducing the contrast and providing the
most flattering portrait results. A reflector can help with this, to an extent, but it’s nowhere near as easy as using a second light because you will lose some light via the reflection. After positioning your subject, set your flashes to either side of them, making sure their distance is the same and, for the softest results, use similar diffusing modifiers on each, like umbrellas or softboxes (see below). We used a Lencarta Hemisphere and a reflector dish fitted with a diffusing panel. For the most natural-looking results, position the height of your stands so that the flashes are firing at the eye level of the subject or slightly higher – below eye level will give an underlighting effect that’s less pleasing.
LIGHTING STANDS WILL HELP YOU POSITION THE HEIGHT AND ANGLE OF THE FLASHES MORE ACCURATELY UMBRELLAS can be used either in front of the flash (‘shootthrough’) or more commonly with the flash turned away from the subject and the light reflecting off it (‘bounce’). The effect of a bounced umbrella is to spread the light in a very wide, diffused fashion, and in this way it looks very similar to daylight, so it’s a good choice for outdoor work. Bouncing the flash in this way will require more power to be used, however.
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Whenever you fit a different modifier to your flash, it’s not only the style of lighting that changes but also the strength of the illumination on the subject. Modifiers that diffuse and spread the light, like umbrellas, beauty dishes and softboxes, require more power to achieve the same brightness on the subject as a naked burst. Conversely, modifiers that channel the light, like reflectors, spill kills, snoots and honeycombs, need less because the light is being focused.
HONEYCOMBS slot into the light and are used to channel your flash into a small area, although not as small as that produced by a snoot. This is, of course, very useful when you need to direct the light onto certain parts of the subject, just as we did when lighting the model’s hair in the shot on page 63, although they’re more commonly used when working on low-key effects that require strong contrast.
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FLASH ON LOCATION LIGHTING ACADEMY
BOOM Getting the light into this high position is beyond the reach of most lighting stands, so try having a helper hold the flash on a boom, like the Lencarta Atom Boom arm (£40) or attach it to the scenery using a GorillaPod or something similar.
Flash power For an even look, you want each light to be providing a near-identical level of illumination on the subject, so to start off, manually set them to the same power level (1/8 for example) and take a reading with your flash meter in the centre of the subject’s position where the lights meet. Increase or decrease the power of both units until the reading from the meter matches your exposure settings. After test-firing we quickly got to a power of 1/16 for our f/2 at ISO 100 exposure. Remember, the flashes’ distance is important here as the closer they are to the subject, the more illumination they’ll provide – if they’re at different distances, they’ll need different power settings. Flash power is cumulative, so if you’ve added a second light to a shot metered for a single flash (like the one created last issue) the first gun will need less power; more light is falling on the subject and mixing via the diffusers and therefore likely to cause overexposure. Hair lighting effects Hair lighting, or rim lighting, is used to increase the subject’s separation from the background, and used on outdoor portraits it can add a nice sparkle to the scene, as though it’s actually the sun which is giving the subject a halo. The angle and power of the light is once again the driving force in how the
effect will look, and how broad the hair light effect is can be governed with suitable modifiers. In the example (top), the backlight is held well above the subject and about 45º to their rear using a boom. The trick here is to make sure it’s off the subject’s face so that it mixes little with the key light. A Hemisphere diffuser was used to spread the light out and mimic the effect of the sun. The same principle is used with the light directly behind the subject (above). Here, be careful to keep the light hidden behind the subject so that it doesn’t flare into the lens (unless you want it to). Behind the subject use a modifier that keeps the light more focused, like a reflector dish fitted with a honeycomb, and push the power slightly higher than the main key lighting to create highlights in the subject’s hair.
FLASH POWER IS CUMULATIVE, SO IF YOU’VE ADDED A SECOND LIGHT, THE FIRST GUN WILL NEED LESS POWER
NEXT MONTH IN LIGHTING ACADEMY Taking control of portrait lighting with flash is your path to better people pictures and next issue we’ll be showing you how to achieve two absolute corkers. You’ll find out how to set up your camera and flash system for a superb high-contrast look and how to break the rules of exposure for really creative portrait effects. Advanced Photographer is also available as a fully interactive magazine – go to iTunes now!
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ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE LENCARTA ATOM
ATOMIC POWER If you want to get creative with flash, then a hotshoe flashgun will only take you so far. The Lencarta Atom Portable Flash System lets you reach the next level When you’re first exploring flash, a standard hotshoe flashgun is a great place to start. But as soon as you want to get a bit more creative, you discover that these have limits – the power is no longer enough, refined light shaping is difficult, and you have limited options for using multiple-light set-ups. The Lencarta Atom Portable Flash System frees you from these constraints, allowing you to get more creative with light without sacrificing the convenience and portability of a compact flashgun. The first benefit you get with the Atom is more power. Both the models, the Atom 180 and Atom 360, are more powerful than your average hotshoe flash. The Atom 180 has a guide number of 60, easily matching the most powerful hotshoe flashguns when used at their limits. The Atom 360 has a guide number of 80, eclipsing any other hotshoe flash. And because Atoms use a separate battery, recycling speeds are as short as 1/20sec at low power, and one charge delivers at least 450 full-power flashes. The power pack can also be used with other high-end third-party flashguns to improve their performance, or even act as a swivels and tilts, simple controls with a large LCD portable USB charger for smartphones and tablets. screen, a focus assist beam, overheating protection, Perhaps the biggest advantage of the Atom built-in PC and 3.5mm sync sockets, compatibility system is that it gives you full control over the light. with multiple sync modes – the list goes on. It’s the There’s a dedicated range of light-shaping tools, ultimate in power, portability and flexibility. from reflectors, umbrellas and softboxes through to honeycomb grids, snoots and coloured gels. And if LENCARTA.COM this isn’t enough, you can even get an S-Fit adaptor, so that the full range of Lencarta light shapers can be used, as well as third-party modifiers. Unlike a standard flashgun, the Atom makes full use of these modifiers too, since the standard reflector can be removed, leaving the bulb bare – this is the only way to properly light softboxes, beauty dishes and other modifiers. It makes the Atom as versatile as a studio flash head. For the most creative lighting effects, you often need to use a number of flash units in combination, and your options with a hotshoe flashgun are limited because they can’t easily be integrated with other systems. The in-built radio trigger of the Atom not only allows it to be used off-camera, but also provides full compatibility with Lencarta’s Safari portable flash, as well as Lencarta SmartFlash, ElitePro and SuperFast flash heads. What’s more, the Atom’s slave modes mean it can be triggered by a flashgun that fires TTL pre-flashes. So regardless of whether your set-up is made up of speedlights, portable heads or studio heads, the Atom has a place. Of course, all this comes in a compact unit that has all the benefits of a standard hotshoe flash and more. It can be used on-camera, has a head that ABOVE Simple controls make the Atom as easy to use as a hotshoe flashgun, but with more power and flexibility.
A DEDICATED RANGE OF LIGHT-SHAPING TOOLS GIVES YOU FULL CONTROL OF THE LIGHT
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