Off Camera Flash For Better Portrait Photography

Every serious photographer needs a flashgun for gloomy days and interior shots. Unfortunately, when mounted on a camera and pointed directly at a subjects face, flash can give some unpleasant results. You've probably seen them yourself, flat lighting, harsh shadows, shiny skin and red eyes to name a few.

There are a couple of solutions to this, one is to bounce your flash off a ceiling or nearby wall. The second, which gives more control and is covered in this article, is to get the flashgun off the camera completely.

For an off camera flash kit you'll need five things to get started:

(1) A flashgun with a decent output. Look for the 'Guide Number' (GN) to find out how much power your unit puts out. For example a Nikon SB800 Speedlight has a GN of 56, that's plenty, if it's a higher GN that's even better. You'll probably be able to pick up an older secondhand flashgun of any make for very little money. It doesn't have to be compatible with your camera, you just need to be able to set the output manually.

(2) A light modifier. This can be an umbrella, a small softbox or various other purpose built products. This is used to soften, direct and control the quality of your light. I normally use a 48" umbrella with a detachable silver lining. You can either fire the flash into the umbrella or remove the lining and shoot through it, giving two distinct qualities of light.

(3) A bracket to fix the flashgun and umbrella on to a stand. I've only found one product that is ideal for this: the 'Bogen 2905 Swivel Umbrella Adapter f/Super Clamp' made by Manfrotto. You'll also need one other small adaptor to connect the flashgun to the bracket, available in most camera stores.

(4) A small portable light stand, but big enough not to fall over when you have attached the umbrella.

(5) A means of triggering the flash. This will probably depend on your budget. The cheapest way of doing it is with a cord attached between the PC socket (if you have one) of your camera and the flashgun. Radio triggers are my preferred option, you can get a very cheap set off eBay for about £20.00 or pay a few hundred for a more professional unit. They all work, the cheap ones may need a bit of glue from time to time. They are made up of two or more units, the transmitter goes in the hotshoe of your camera, receivers can be connected to one or more flashes.
You can also use infra red slave triggers and other built in systems. Have a look at your flashgun and see what it can do.

Next you need to set your light up. Put up the stand, attach the bracket and fit the flash and umbrella. Connect your chosen trigger and test. You should now have a very versatile portable lighting system.

For your first shots make sure the umbrella is set as far away as possible from the flash unit. The farther away the umbrella, the larger the light source, a larger light source means a softer and more natural looking light. Set the power of your flash manually to a quarter or half power and do some test exposures, you'll soon get an idea of the setting you need. Always use a manual setting for this technique, ttl won't work.

Find a willing subject and start experimenting. Move your light around them and see how it affects the mood of the image. Set the flash high up and slightly off center and you'll get a nice soft light. As you move it round to either side of your subject, it will get darker on one side of the face and start to look more moody. Bring the flash closer to the subject and the light gets softer, move it back and you'll get a harder effect.
Try different modifiers, see what you like. You can also use a bare flash, when it's off the camera it's a more useful tool. You can bounce it off a wall, or for a really hard look, point it straight at the subject.

Don't forget to take the ambient light (the light that's already there) into account. You might choose to overpower it with your flash, you might want to balance it out, so you are using both light sources. Flash is very, very fast so the speed setting on your camera will affect only the ambient light, the aperture will affect ambient and flash together. Once you get your head round this you will have a lot more control over combination lighting.

If you enjoy portraiture this is a great way to ensure you have a quality light source available at all times. You can make your shots look like they were taken in a studio or you can give them a really natural look, the possibilities are endless. Get that flash off your camera today!