People often ask me why I take a flash to destinations like India or Indonesia. After all, isn’t there enough sun over there? The problem is they mistake quantity with quality. Sure enough, there’s plenty of sun in Varanasi or in Borobudur. In fact, there’s often too much of it, especially on those cloudless days these countries seem to have some sort of patent on. From early in the morning to right before sunset, there is often so much sun that, unless you’re photographing in the shade, the contrast is too much to handle. Bringing a flash will let you soften that contrast, by opening up the harsh shadows the sun creates. The more powerful the flash, the more options you have: a small speedlight will let you fill in the shadows, whereas a big strobe will even let you overpower that sun, allowing you to turn midday into evening. By using modifiers such as softboxes and umbrellas, you can create soft light where ever you want, even if the available light is unpleasing.
FUJIFILM X-E1 | XF14mmF2.8 R @ 14 mm | 1/200 sec @ f/8 | ISO 200
A small flash with an umbrella, put camera left was used to fill in the shadows caused by the late afternoon sun.
FUJIFILM X-T1 | XF10-24mmF4 R OIS @ 10 mm | 1/180 sec @ f/5 | ISO 200
This picture of a Rajasthani couple in Jodhpur looks like it was made in the evening, but it was actually photographed around noon. I underexposed the available light heavily by choosing a narrow aperture, a relatively fast shutter speed and a low ISO. I then directed the flash so it looked like late setting sunlight.
The Jodphur example brings us to a second advantage of bringing a flash: you have control over the direction of your light. The position of the sun (and many other available light sources …) is out of our control. You cannot move a street lamp to a position that would better suit the composition of the photo you have in mind. But you can put a flash upside down on a light stand or hang it from a house with a clamp, cover its head with an orange gel and simulate a light bulb anywhere, as the image below shows.
FUJIFILM X-T1 | XF10-24mmF4 R OIS @ 10 mm | 1/3 sec @ f/4 | ISO 800
There was no street light where I wanted to photograph the pilgrims going to do their morning bathing rituals in Pushkar lake. So I created my own street light with an orange gelled speedlight I hung off a canopy just outside of the frame.
At the start of this article, I talked about quality of light. When we talk about quality of light, we should not so much think of it in terms of ‘good’ or ‘bad’ but rather in terms of ‘hard’ or ‘soft’. Hard light isn’t necessarily bad light. It all depends on what you want your photograph to say. When I set out to photograph the war cemetery in Langemark, Belgium, I wanted the picture of the tombstone to reflect the atrocities of war. However, on that particular day, it was very cloudy. There was almost no contrast at all. Ideal light to shoot just about anything, but not for what I had in mind. Contrary to the example I started this blog post with, the available light was too soft, too pleasing, too… flattering. So I put up a flash on a tripod, zoomed the flash head all the way to the maximum and added a grid to get a tight beam of light. The result is a much more dramatic light, one that helps to convey the atmosphere of the place much better than an available light picture.
The available light was very soft... In fact, it was too soft for what I wanted the photo to say.
A strategically placed flash with a grid makes concentrated light beam...
... that matches the subject a lot better.
Want to improve your flash skills?
My just released eBook, Light it Up! Techniques for Dramatic lighting teaches you everything you need to know. Everything explained in plain English with lots of behind the scene shots or lighting diagrams. For those who already have some flash experience under their belt, there are also more advanced chapters on gear and light setups. The book also contains plenty of buyer's advice (did you know that some brand flashes cost up to three times as much as third party alternatives, while not offering more power or features - sometimes even less).
Finally, it comes with two cool bonuses: a set of three fifteen minute videos and a sample set of Lightroom presets.
Light It Up! (including bonuses) retails for $30 + applicable taxes but until May 29, you can save 25 percent. No discount code needed. Get it here.
P.S. If you speak Dutch, this book is also available in Dutch (both as a print book and an eBook). I also have a Dutch video course on off camera flash over at my Dutch online photo training website www.photofactsacademy.nl.
