On-Camera Flash

Having completed part of the project on the use of photographic lighting I thought I would explore the topic further. I subscribe to Kelby Training and whilst browsing the site I came across lessons on using on- camera flash at a wedding. Whilst I have no desire to become a wedding photographer I was sure that the techniques being used would be applicable in other fields of photography. The lessons were presented by David Ziser and involved a bride and groom in the Sacred Heart Church in downtown Tampa in Florida.

The oft repeated advice was avoid pointing the flash directly at the subject.  In almost every case Ziser bounced the light off another surface (the wall of the church including the stained glass window, the groom's white shirt and also a reflective panel) at  an angle that varied with the effect he was trying to achieve. The flash he was using had a rotatable and tippable head so that the angle was almost infinitely variable.

Use was also made of the colour of the reflective surfaces because the flash 'picks up' some of this colour as it bounces off. (I think the actual process is that the colour on the wall absorbs some of the spectrum of the flash rather than the flash being 'coloured' by the wall).

There was also a great deal about posing the subject to achieve the best image possible that was instructional in a more general sense. The modelling effect of the light created by the shadows and whether they were stark or soft, whilst applied to the human face in this case, was relevant to all kinds of work involving the use of the flash.

I relate this story because I have found that I should not reject techniques developed in photographic fields in which I have only a general interest because they are applicable across the field.

I am off on holiday and will be taking the camera and Course notes with me in the hope that I can complete the lighting section (particularly the part that requires taking images at regular intervals from dawn 'til dusk; what better way than sitting by the pool on a gorgeous day pressing the remote on the camera as the sun crosses the azure blue sky).