One Light Off Camera Flash Portrait

Off camera flash describes the use of hot shoe flash mounted away from a camera and triggered remotely by a wireless trigger placed in the camera hot shoe where a Speedlite would normally reside.

Great portraits can be created with relatively inexpensive and simple gear. Most photographers have a hot shoe flash or Speedlite. Taking the flash off camera and modifying the light opens so many creative options.

This one light portrait was published in Amateur Photographer magazine issue 25 June 2021 as part of the feature “Successful portraits on a shoestring”. The portrait was lit with a bare Speedlite or hot shoe flash off-camera, diffused with a 40 inch/100cm white transluscent or shoot through umbrella with the flash zoom set to 20mm. Due to space constraints I couldn’t mention flash coverage or additional diffusion which can directly affect the quality of light falling on your model.

With Speedlites we must consider that the flash tube is zoomed to adjust the flash beam coverage. Adjusting the flash beam does not soften the light, just the area covered. A concealed flash tube projects light, potentially creating hot spots and uneven coverage. This also applies to certain outdoor battery flashes.

Adding a white diffuser to a Speedlite improves coverage when working with shoot through umbrellas giving more even illumination on the subject, although reducing effective output by about 1 stop.

For even coverage with light modifiers the flash tube needs to be open and designed to sit within the modifier for a good even spread. With round flash tubes there will be a hot spot, but not as noticable as flash heads with a concealed flash tube.

The set-up was just about as cheap and simple as flash photography can get. A black pop-up background, 1m/40inch white shoot through umbrella, clamp bracket, a Speedlite/hot shoe flash and wireless trigger, light stand and an A1 sheet of white foam core board cut through the outer cover on one side to create a v-flat fill board. Excluding the pop-up backdrop, the gear cost about £300.00.

A note about the flash bracket. This is the new Godox/Pixapro S2 flash bracket which has been designed to fix Speedlites and flashes up to 400 Ws to light stands. It has an integral Bowens S-Type mount for light modifiers and shapers, plus a spring lock umbrella mount.

Discloure

This post is not supported by any of the brands named herein. It is purely for educational use.

Training

I offer one to one training for selected photographers, bespoke training for businesses who need to keep their photography in-house and establishing in-house studios with flash or low-energy LED continuous lighting.

Feel free to contact me to discuss your requirements.

Keep safe and remember your health is important in these strange times.

That's it for now and don't forget if you really enjoy lighting to visit and join The LIGHT Side - a place to learn, be mentored, nurtured and learn about lighting, lighting and photography, whatever your level or experience.