Wednesday Wk7&8

With this evening being the last there was a mix of activities to partake in, photograms, vintage cameras (using paper not film), artweaver, blogging and flash.

As most have been covered in previous posts I will dedicate this entry to flash.



We began by exploring the built-in flash. One of the main uses it to provide some 'fill'. Fill is used to describe adding some light to reduce any unwanted shadow and provide greater detail.
You may encounter such situations when there is a strong light behind your subject.

The example we used was standing someone with their back to an indoor window, this provided a contrast between the bright outdoor light and the subdued indoor light.

Exposing the camera for the outdoor light meant the person became dark, almost silhouetted. To reduce this contrast we used the built-in flash, (for this technique to work effectively will mean using the camera in manual mode).

Try taking a photograph without flash to view the difference that can be achieved.

Use the flash at its default exposure setting you will probably notice the flash is too bright, especially for short distances, often flattening, even washing out all the detail.

This can be avoided by adjusting the flash compensation setting on the camera.

With Canon this involves going into the menu and selecting 'Flash exp comp'

On a Nikon it involves pressing the flash button on the left side of the camera prism (depending on the model of camera) and the +/- button by the shutter button and rotating the dial used to adjust other exposure settings. Or, we have found out you can this function via the menu, it is also referred to as 'Flash Exposure Compensation' on the Nikon.

Images from dpreview

Images from Shutterbug

Others ways of lessening the intensity of the flash would be to use different types of paper (including tracing paper) to diffuse the light, even make-shift colour gels in the form of sweet wrappers could be used.

Portable Flashguns

The disadvantage to the built-in flash is the limited options you have to illuminating your subject creatively, however a portable flashgun can offer greater versatility.

When purchasing a flashgun ensure the head is not fixed otherwise you are back to where you started. The advantage of the more advanced flashguns are the ability to tilt and rotate the head. This allows you to adjust the lighting in numerous ways, it can be bounced off a ceiling, a wall or other reflective surface such as a lastolite (left).

But mounting a flash gun on stand and controlling it remotely is when working with flash really comes in to its own.

To achieve a remote set-up would require having a flash with a facility to support an infra red or wireless trigger.

As demonstrated the Jessop flashguns and the Nikon SB800 will work with the Kenro Flash Transmitter, its retailing in Calumet for £40 (you will find it cheaper at Keyphoto) but won't work with the Canon 430 ex series of flashguns.

The other trigger mentioned was Interfit STR130 Radio Trigger and Receiver kit as opposed to the Kenro that uses an infra red signal the Interfit use radio waves and is far more dependable especially in bright conditions when the infra red signal is far weaker. The other advantages are the distance it can reach and you needn't have it in the line of sight. These will work with most flashguns.

You can mount the flashgun on a stand by fixing the receiver to the spigot or you could even use a spare tripod but for greatest versatility use an umbrella adapter, retailing for about £25.

Using an umbrella offers a variety of light options. You can bounce the light off the inside and the reflective qualities of the material can be changed or you can shoot through the umbrella - each set-up will give you quite different light effects.

A few key things to remember about the portable flashgun. Working in manual mode perhaps gives you the most control, the power is set using a scale similar to f numbers, 1/1 is the most powerful, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32, and 1/64 is the least powerful. Note the overall power of the flashgun will depend on the Guide Number (GN), apologies I refered to this as DIN.
The other settings

A flashgun that can rotate and angle the head has many advantages over the fixed head type. The zoom function will allow you to set the beam of light from wide to telephoto, normally according to the focal length of your lens, and there are lots of attachments you can add either in a DIY sense or purchased, Lastolite offers a wide range attachments.