Hand Held Flashes

As a portrait photographer working primarily on location, I am constantly faced with the challenge of creating studio lighting on the go.  Of course the obvious solution is to bring studio lighting with you and set up when you get there.  But who wants to do that.  I drive a sports care, not a moving van, and I don't really want to spend my day setting up and breaking down all that gear.  The solution that I use is to combine existing or ambient light with off camera flashes to create the effect I want.

A typical assignment for me is to go on location and photograph a business portrait.  The lighting gear I would take with me would be 2-580 EX, 1-430 ex,a STE2 to trigger them, a reflector  2-32" umbrellas and 2 stands. (I use Canon gear but the technique can be used with any stobes set up to be fired remotely.)  The only things that add extra bulk to my camera kit are the stands so I make sure to use the lightest ones I can get away with.

Here's how I put it all together.

The 2 580 ex flashes are put on the stands with the umbrella's. If needed, the 430 ex is used for background seperation but it is seldom used.  For a portrait, one strobe is used as the key light, the other is used as a hair light.  Fill is from a reflector.

To get the exposure, use the camera meter to get a ambient light reading.  Set the strobes to put out the same exposure.  I prefer to use manual settings bit ETTL can work as well.  This is the basic setup.  What is really cool about this is that by changing the shutter speed, you can lighten or darken the background and shadow areas.  Increasing the shutter speed will darken the background.  Decreasing the shutter speed will lightenthe background.

Getting use to this technique takes some practice but is well worth the effort to learn.  Not only will it save time, it will also save your back. David Ziser is a master of this technique and a visit to his blog http://www.digitalprotalk.blogspot.com/ is well worth it. Another great place to get info this technique is at the http://www.strobist.com/