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Posts Tagged ‘Speedlight’

Profoto’s new A10 speedlight works with smartphones via AirX Bluetooth technology

24 Sep

Profoto has unveiled the A10, its third and latest round-head speedlight in its A1 lineup. Much like the A1X was nearly identical to the A1, the A10 is effectively an A1X with built-in Bluetooth and AirX technology for making the most of the speedlight, even with a smartphone.

Profoto showed off its AirX technology back in July with its B10 and B10 Plus monolights, and more recently, its C1 and C1 Plus LED lights, but until now, it wasn’t available for its speedlights. The A10 changes that, making it easier to get pro-level lighting with your smartphone when using the compatible Profoto app (Android, iOS). Of course, the A10 will also work with other DSLR and mirrorless camera systems with dedicated models for Canon, Fujifilm, Nikon and Sony cameras.

Aside from the new AirX Bluetooth syncing, none of the specifications have changed from the A1X. It features the same round-head design with support for Profoto’s Click Light Shaping tools, a large hi-res display for changing settings and navigating the menu, an LED modeling light, a maximum 76Ws output, a recycle time between 0.05–1 second and a built-in Li-ion battery rated for up to 450 full-power flashes.

Below is a video walkthrough of the A10 from Profoto:

The Profoto A10 is currently available to purchase for $ 1,095 (Adorama, B&H, Wex). Be sure to select the correct model for your camera brand when making a purchase. All units come with the flash, an included Li-ion battery, a charger, a dome diffuser, a bounce card, a stand, a dedicated bag and Profoto’s two-year limited warranty.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Fujifilm announces new EF-60 speedlight, EF-W1 wireless trigger for X, GFX System cameras

29 Jul

Fujifilm has announced a new speedlight and wireless trigger for its X Series and GFX System cameras.

The Fujifilm EF-60 is a compact radio-controlled speedlight with a hot-shoe mount. It features 60 guide number at 200mm, has a 24mm to 200mm zoom range and features a built-in LED modeling light.

The flash can be controlled in 1/3 stop increments and when paired with Fujifilm’s new wireless trigger, all of these settings can be changed from the trigger. The speedlight is also compatible with the Nissin Air System (NAS).

The partnering product is the EF-W1 Wireless Commander, which appears to be a Nissin Air10s Remote trigger with some Fujifilm branding on top. The 2.4GHz trigger offers TTL, manual and FP High-Speed Sync modes. It can control the EF-60 and other NAS strobes. The remote can handle up to three groups and eight channels.

Both the EF-30 and EF-W1 are compatible with the GFX100, GFX 50S, GFX 50R, X-H1, X-Pro2, X-Pro3, X-T1, X-T2, X-T3, X-T4, X-T20, X-T30, X- E3, X100F and X100V.

Both the EF-30 and EF-W1 are compatible with the GFX100, GFX 50S, GFX 50R, X-H1, X-Pro2, X-Pro3, X-T1, X-T2, X-T3, X-T4, X-T20, X-T30, X- E3, X100F and X100V.

The EF-60 speedlight (Adorama, B&H) and EF-W1 wireless commander (Adorama, B&H) are currently available to pre-order for $ 400 and $ 200, respectively. The first units should be available in ‘late August 2020.’

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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PiXLIGHT portable speedlight for cameras and smartphones launches on Kickstarter

15 Feb

Photographer Arash Hamidi has launched a Kickstarter campaign seeking funds for PiXLIGHT, an off-camera speedlight with a portable, lightweight design and support for smartphones in addition to cameras. The speedlight system collapses down to a small size when not in use, enabling photographers to pack it in the average photography backpack or most bags.

PiXLIGHT weighs 1.6kg (3.5lbs) and measures 203cm (80in) long when setup with its umbrella, which will be available with six and eight ribs. The modeling LED light has a 2.5s recycle time, attaches to a flexible gooseneck with 360-degree swivel support and is capable of 400 full-power flashes per charge; the battery is user-replaceable.

Other features include support for high-speed sync, more than 15 light modifiers, an angle lock on the tripod, remote control and built-in trigger, Bluetooth for connecting to a smartphone in order to control the light’s settings, standard USB-C charging and a guide number of 58 at ISO 100.

The Kickstarter campaign, which has exceeded its funding goal, is offering the PiXLIGHT with an umbrella, remote, battery and ‘simple bag’ for pledges of $ 249. Other pledge options are also available offering a variety of modifiers without the light, two lights with umbrellas, batteries and a ‘special bag’ and more. Shipping to backers is estimated to start in July.


Disclaimer: Remember to do your research with any crowdfunding project. DPReview does its best to share only the projects that look legitimate and come from reliable creators, but as with any crowdfunded campaign, there’s always the risk of the product or service never coming to fruition.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Speedlight vs Monolight on Location: See How They Compare [video]

16 Nov

The post Speedlight vs Monolight on Location: See How They Compare appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.

In this video from Adorama, Gavin Hoey compares speed light vs monolight on location.

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In the test, he does three very common lighting scenarios. He uses the flashes as fill flash, overpowering ambient light, and high-speed-sync flash.

He uses model, Charlotte, for the demonstration.

Gavin uses the following gear for the shoot:

  • Olympus E-M5 Mk III
  • Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro lens.
  • Olympus M.Zuiko 7-14mm f/2.8 Pro lens
  • Olympus M.Zuiko 25mm f/1.2 Pro lens
  • Flashpoint Xplor600 Flash
  • Zoom Li-on Speedlight
  • Glow Parapop 38″ Softbox
  • Flashpoint R2 Pro II Transmitter
  • Seconic L-308X-U

 

 

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Scenario one: fill flash

First up, in the Speedlight vs Monolight comparison, Gavin uses the monolight.

Before taking any shots, he takes a meter reading of the ambient light. Then to get his flash to match those settings, rather than use trial and error (which you can do), he uses a light meter to take an accurate reading from his model’s chin. He then uses that to set the flash.

Settings: f/3.5 1/250th Sec ISO 200

Next, he uses the speedlight flash. He sets it up using the same light modifier that he uses with the mono light and puts it in the same position.

He takes another light meter reading of his model’s chin, and set’s his speedlight flash.

When comparing the photographs, it is difficult to see the difference between using the monolight and using the speedlight.

Scenario two: overpowering the ambient light

Settings: f/16 1/250th sec ISO 200

In this scenario, Gavin runs the flash at full power to see what sort of aperture he can get out of the flash.

When doing a light meter reading, he gets an aperture of f/22 at the flash’s full-power setting.

Because he doesn’t want to waste the flash battery power and have a longer recycle time, he drops the flash to half power, which gives him an aperture of f/16.

He tests the camera settings without flash first to see how dramatic the sky looks. Then he turns the flash on to get some dramatic shots.

Gavin then swaps the flash over to the Speedlight, again using the same modifier and distance. The meter reading with the speedlight gives f/11, and the speedlight is set to full power.

In the side by side comparison, Gavin prefers the speedlight version over the monolight (what do you think?). But he prefers the flexibility, faster recycle times, power usage etc. of the monolight.

Scenario three: high-speed-sync flash

High-speed-sync flash strobes the light rapidly, meaning you get less power out of the lights. It is used for a shallow depth of field, so Gavin switches to a 25mm f/1.2 lens and shoots at f/1.2.

Firstly, Gavin turns off the flash and dials in f/1.2 and his flash sync speed of 1/250th of a second and then takes a picture of his model, Charlotte, to see what he gets at those settings.

While his model is quite well exposed at those settings, the background is overexposed, so Gavin tries 1/4000th of a second shutter speed, which gives him more detail in the background.

Most light meters won’t work with high-speed sync, so Gavin uses trial and error to set the flash to light Charlotte. He settles with 1/16th power.

Settings: f/1.2, 1/4000th sec, ISO 200.

He then tries the same settings with the speedlight flash with the flash at half-power.

While the flash does well to light the model, it struggles to keep up when shooting a number of shots in quick succession. He managed to get 18 photos in a row before the speedlight stopped working. This was actually the recycle time getting much longer.

Conclusion

If you have lots of high-speed-sync photos to take on location, you are better off with a monolight.

Variables: how far flash is from the subject, amount of ambient light, and softbox.

What are your thoughts on the comparisons? Which do you think wins in the speedlight vs monolight comparison? Share in the comments!

 

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  • Portraits: Lighting the Shot

 

The post Speedlight vs Monolight on Location: See How They Compare appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.


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Canon patent application details hybrid speedlight with active cooling via internal fan

04 Nov
The fan, labeled ‘155,’ is located on the bottom of the flash head.

A recent patent application from Canon details the schematics for a hybrid speedlight that has built-in cooling for keeping the speedlight cool with continuous use.

Japanese patent application 2019-185021 shows various ways in which a fan underneath the flash head of the speedlight would pull in air from the ambient environment, direct it over the front of the main flash tube and cycle it out to keep temperatures at a more manageable level. Interestingly, the patent also shows a pair of LED lights above and below the main flash tube, the reason we consider this a ‘hybrid’ speedlight.

Various illustrations in the patent show how the air would be channeled through the flash head depending on where the flash tube is located inside the speedlight. This particular example shows how the air would flow in front of the flash tube (and LED lights, labeled 102 and 104) and cycle out of the speedlight via the empty space behind the flash head and LED lights.

The patent doesn’t specify whether or not the cooling mechanism is more for the main flash tube or the LED lights. But, considering fans aren’t necessarily a requirement on traditional speedlights and the incredible amount of heat LEDs can put out — especially in a confined package without much passive cooling — we believe it would make the most sense that this fan would run at times when the LED lights would be on for extended periods of time, where heat could built up without the chance to dissipate in a reasonable timeframe.

As noted by Canon News, who first broke down the patent, the detailed drawings and tech specifications for this speedlight indicate that quite a bit of work has gone into it already. As with all patents, it might never see the light of day, but it’s an interesting concept nonetheless.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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How to capture a classic perfume product shot with a single speedlight

27 Jan

Dustin Dolby, the photographer behind the workphlo YouTube channel, is great at breaking down product photography into the simplest possible bits. By using Photoshop to mask together multiple exposures, he’s able to capture professional looking product photos using extremely minimal gear.

In his latest episode, he shows how a single speedlight and some reflecting material can be used to capture a professional-looking photograph of perfume. What’s more, the exercise of capturing these exposures helps explain some basic lighting tenets when shooting products:

Lighting a perfume bottle in a studio setting, requires the photographer to understand the angles the light is coming from. The substance of a few key lighting techniques can be boiled down into a few tips. Backlighting is a great way to show the volume of a translucent object, which couples nicely with frontal lighting.

Here’s a look at the high-res final render, composited from a few different exposures you see him capture in the video above:

Photo by Dustin Dolby/workphlo, used with permission.

As Dustin explains in the video, you can do a lot more here—both compositionally and with different lighting techniques if you really want to have some fun—but this tutorial is more about explaining the basics and capturing a “classic” perfume shot with very little gear.

Check out the full tutorial up top, and if you want to see more of Dustin’s ‘workphlo,’ head over to his YouTube channel or follow him on Instagram and Facebook.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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SLC-1L-01: One Speedlight Outdoors — Find Shade

15 Dec

There is an inherent tradeoff when using small speedlights outdoors in daylight. They are light, and convenient and cheap. But they don't have a ton of power.

And the aggravating factor is the relationship between a small flash and a bright environment. Which is, in turn, governed by our sync speed. And by this I mean our natural speed limit for flash, absent power-robbing gimmicks like high-speed sync (HSS).

At a sync speed of 1/250th of a second, even at a low ISO, you are probably going to be at f/16 in full sun. That's a small aperture, which means your flash will be working hard to create a full exposure.

Because of that, working in full sun with speedlights usually means we lack the power that we need. Certainly, we don't have enough power to push the flash's light through a softening modifier to look nice.

The solution: Get more power… or find some shade. Read more »
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Review of K&F Concept KF-885 Speedlight

11 Dec

A few weeks back I received the K&F Concept KF-885 Speedlight to test out and review. Now before I get into the review for this flash, I have to say that I have been a Canon photographer ever since I started my business in 2010. Even before I was photographing for clients, I always gravitated towards Canon gear just because I have consistently had great results with this brand. My very first film camera Canon AE-1 is still in my gear bag and continues to give me stellar results!

I completely understand and acknowledge that branded gear does tend to be expensive and is not in everyone’s budget, especially for those just starting out on their photographic journey. Having said that, there are some great companies with comparable gear in terms of quality and performance. In fact, sometimes, the quality and results are even better than their branded counterparts. This just goes to show that the skill and experience of the user makes a good photograph and not necessarily the gear you use.

Review of K&F Concept KF-885 Speedlight

For this review, I used the K&F Concept KF-885 Speedlight on a couple of different assignments – for wedding reception photos and an outdoor portrait session. I have to say that I was very happy with the results from this flash.

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I have used my Canon external flash for the past four years and found the K&F Concept flash very comparable to the Canon 600 EX-RT version in terms of performance, look, and feel. Definitely worth looking into if you are in the market for an external flash for your photography needs.

#1 – Specs, Look and Feel of the KF-885

the K&F Concept KF-885 Speedlight looks very similar to the Canon 600EX-RT external flash. In fact, when I compared the two side by side, they looked almost identical in terms of size, weight, and the accessories that were included in the package.

The KF-885 flash has a slightly bigger monitor display compared to the Canon but having used the Canon brand, I had no trouble figuring out the menu options. In fact, I almost felt that the K&F Concept flash menu options were simpler and easier to figure out. The flash also comes with a built-in reflect board and a built-in wide diffuser to enlarge the shooting range.

K&F Concept KF-885 Speedlight

The flash on the left is from K&C Concept and the flash on the right is from Canon. They both come with a flash case, a base stand, and a plain white diffuser cap.

K&F Concept KF-885 Speedlight

The flash on the left is from K&C Concept and the flash on the right is from Canon. As you can see, they are almost identical in size and weight.

K&F Concept KF-885 Speedlight

The flash on the left is from K&C Concept and the flash on the right is from Canon. The two flashes look almost identical to each other.

K&F Concept KF-885 Speedlight

The flash on the left is from K&C Concept and the flash on the right is from Canon. The cosmetic difference is in the shoe mount for the flash. The K&C Concept one has a circular dial to tighten the flash to the camera shoe mount whereas the Canon one has a lever that is moved from left to right to lock in the flash to the camera body.

#2 Display Screen and Menu Options

The K&F Concept KF-885 speedlight has similar menu options to the Canon external flash. The On/Off button turns the flash on and off. The Mode button is to select auto and manual controls, multi-modes, and wireless modes (master/slave mode operation).

The circular set of five buttons is used to adjust the power of the flash when used in manual mode. The flash head also has a vertical rotation angle of 7-90 degrees and horizontal rotation angle of 0-180 degrees.

K&F Concept KF-885 Speedlight

#3 Usage

Being used to my Canon 600 EX-RT flash in manual and ETTL mode, I was able to quickly adjust to the K&C Concept KF-885. I also used both flashes for a couple of photos by setting the Canon flash as the master and the K&C Concept flash as the slave. The two flashes communicated with each other and I was able to use setups of both on-camera and off-camera flashes seamlessly.

K&F Concept KF-885 Speedlight

An indoor wedding portrait session made easy with the K&C Concept KF-885 External Flash

K&F Concept KF-885 Speedlight

The K&C Concept Flash handled poorly lit wedding reception areas quite beautifully.

K&F Concept KF-885 Speedlight

Summary

Overall, I was very impressed with the K&F Concept KF-885 Speedlight. At a price point of $ 86, that is significantly less than its branded counterpart. This is a great option for someone who is looking to add an external flash to their gear kit but doesn’t want to spend a lot of money.

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The post Review of K&F Concept KF-885 Speedlight by Karthika Gupta appeared first on Digital Photography School.


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How to Use an On-Camera Speedlight as Fill Flash for Portraits

03 Dec

Using a flash or speedlight on-camera can be daunting at first. This was certainly how I felt when I first purchased my Nikon speedlight. My biggest worry was calculating all the light ratios involved to get a proper exposure as you cannot take into account the actual flash output when metering in-camera. I was also nervous about using a light meter – all that trial and error and faffing, the thought of it all used to make me quake in my boots and swear I’d forever be a natural light photographer. But that was not to be, thankfully.

My main reservation about using flash is the harshness of the light. I hate the “flashed” look on people’s faces, the shadows under the jaws, the bright circular catchlights right in the middle of the iris. As well, the flatness of the face with the direct flash obliterating all possibility of sculpting shadows on the face.

But I live in London where it rains quite a bit, it’s hardly sunny at all, and half the year is cold. All these factors affect natural light and I felt I just had to put aside my reservations and take the leap. And I’m so glad I did.

How to Use an On-Camera Speedlight as Fill-Flash for Portraits

Let me share with you how I use flash to help me achieve the look I am after and without having to do the mental calculations of light ratios!

#1 Put a diffuser on the flash

It may only be a little plastic thing that goes on top the flash head but I find it makes a difference.  The light is less harsh – I know many will disagree about whether it softens the light or not as that is mainly due to the size of light and distance to subject  – but I notice a softness from a diffused flash head compared to a bare one.

Left: without a diffuser. Right: with a diffuser.

I only use a flash bare and pointed towards the camera when I am using it as a kicker light and want starburst effects coming from it.

#2 Control the flash manually

Set your flash to manual and choose the power. I’m usually at 1/32 or 1/16 and leave it there. Adjust the flash power only when absolutely necessary. Instead, make the frequent necessary adjustments to your camera settings.

Now I know there are many big fans of ETTL / TTL mode out there. I have tried it too. However, I have gone back to Manual as I find the TTL does not give me the look I want. Essentially, I only want my flash to be a fill light, not the main light and never too strong so that you can see a huge difference between the light coming from the flash and the ambient light. The ETTL / TTL mode is too smart for my needs and increases the output to a pretty high level if it senses that the ambient light is too weak, and vice versa. I felt I’d get an inconsistent output of light for the look I am after although that output may be “correct” in terms of the calculations.

For portraits, I find that the greater the contrast between the dark background and the illumination of the subject with a flash gun, the more I dislike the image. For dancing shots (like at a wedding), however, where I want to illuminate the subject well and freeze the action, I DO point my flash directly at the subject, stop down my aperture to between f/5.6 and f/8 and lower my shutter speed between 1/20th and 1/60th in order to capture ambient light and light trails or background blurring to give the effect of movement.

This image was created using a bare bulb flash (no diffuser) located behind and pointing directly at the couple (off-camera flash). I also had a second flash on-camera with a diffuser, and the flash aimed upward.

This image was created with a diffused flash pointed directly at the couple (camera in front of the couple, flash on-camera) while they were dancing. The motion blur was created by using a slow shutter speed and “dragging the shutter” after the flash has fired.

What I’m after is always a natural look, which, depending on where the main light is coming from, may not be achieved well without some kind of fill or reflected light to illuminate areas that are too dark for my intentions. This is the reason why I always bounce or angle my flash gun for most scenarios other than dancing as explained above.

#3 Bounce it

On some newer models, there is also a little white pull-out bounce card that is extremely useful if your ceilings are too high for the light to bounce off or you just want to point reflected light in a particular direction. When I shoot weddings where the rooms have very high ceilings or dark beams and ceilings. So I pull out the bounce card and use it to deflect the light coming from the flash. The handy swivel action helps me direct the reflected light wherever I want it to go.

My speedlight with the white bounce card extended.

As an aside, I use this setup for off-camera flash too. When I’m putting two speedlights opposite each other in a room to provide directional light during speeches, I point the flash heads upwards and pull out the diffuser so that all the reflected light is pointed inwards towards the center of the room.

#4 Angle it

The head of most speedlights can swivel right and left up to 90 degrees each way and forward and upward to 90 degrees in incremental angles. It is an awesome functionality that you should take advantage of especially for fill flash.

In the photos below, bright sunlight was coming from camera right at 45 degrees on a bright day. All I wanted was a bit of fill flash on their shadowed faces, just enough to lift the shadows a tad. What I really wanted to avoid was for the image to look like there was another light source other than that from the sun. To achieve this, I angled my speedlight upwards towards the back by one increment.

How to Use an On-Camera Speedlight as Fill Flash for Portraits

Flash as a fill light

As you can see, these photos below have very strong sunlight coming directly at the subjects and towards the camera, a very strong backlit light. It is extremely difficult to overpower this type of light without using a strong flash.  What I did was angle myself slightly to one side and pointed my flash directly at the subjects’ faces to try and counteract the sunlight.

This is when I adjust my flash power and increase it accordingly. The result is not as clean and sharp as if I had a big softbox firing at 70% ratio to the sun’s power but it still shows the faces clearly enough with some diffused hazy light in the background, which was also my intention for these shots.

How to Use an On-Camera Speedlight as Fill Flash for Portraits

Compare the two images below. The one on the left was taken in a big open space with a dense foliage background which blocked the light. There was enough light here to illuminate their faces that I could have done away with the flash altogether, but I pointed the flash backward to add just a tiny bit of light over my head. I don’t think it made a huge difference but it made me feel better and consistent!

The image on the right was taken in a shaded open area surrounded by tall trees which diffused the light coming from the background. Without the trees, it would have had the unfiltered effect as above, but despite the trees, this is still very much a backlit position as the background was very bright still. More fill light was needed there so I pointed the speedlight slightly upwards, with one increment down towards the subjects but not directly at their faces.

How to Use an On-Camera Speedlight as Fill Flash for Portraits

You can see the same flash angle as above on these close-up portraits below.

How to Use an On-Camera Speedlight as Fill Flash for Portraits

Make it moody

In the same spot as above, I wanted a look that was a little moodier than those close-ups so I pointed the speedlight directly upwards this time. So although their faces are still amply lit up, the image to feels like they are being enveloped by the diffused light behind them.

How to Use an On-Camera Speedlight as Fill Flash for Portraits

Tricky situations

The couple wanted a shot showing the lake and the trees in the far distance. The distance was too great to get the couple and the background sharp enough without using a really small aperture and a lot of artificial light (flash). Note that we were also in the shaded part of the lake which made it more difficult. I decided therefore that I would take a cozy shot that focused mainly on the background. The couple looking towards the trees, although they are not the lit focal point, they are still clearly visible and sharp. I pointed the speedlight slightly forwards to give them just a hint of light and shot with a small aperture.

Contrast the top image below to the photo directly underneath it where the depth of field has changed massively – the background now is blurry and the couple is in focus. This had the same angle of flash, slightly forwards, but of course, my camera settings changed to a wider aperture and lower ISO to balance the exposure. Now with the couple still in the same shaded spot, the angled flash was clearly essential here. Had I pointed the flash directly to their faces, it would have been too obvious and would kill the natural light ambiance that I was aiming for.

How to Use an On-Camera Speedlight as Fill Flash for Portraits

For this ring shot below, we sat on a bench with the sunlight coming from camera left. I put the ring on my phone to get a dark background and a nice reflection. With ring shots, I always stop down to at least f/7 with a macro lens. Therefore I need to make sure there is plenty of light for the shot as macro lenses tend to suck light.

I also always use a speedlight pointed directly opposite the main light. So in this case where the light is at camera left at 8 o’clock (if you’re looking at a clock face with the diamond at 6 o’clock), I swiveled my flash head to the opposite at around 4 o’clock to give off a bit of reflected light on the right side of the ring.

How to Use an On-Camera Speedlight as Fill Flash for Portraits

Likewise, on the photo below, you can clearly see where the sunlight is coming from so I pointed my speedlight slightly upwards to camera left, opposite the sunlight. This angle helped me achieve a gradual decrease of light from right to left as opposed to a dramatic one where you can see a clear cut-off from light to dark.

How to Use an On-Camera Speedlight as Fill Flash for Portraits

Your turn to try doing fill flash

If you haven’t tried using flash like this before, I encourage you to do so. Experiment and see how it could work for you. You don’t need to learn the lighting ratios and calculations off by heart to be able to get images you are after, although that could be handy.

Sometimes all you need is confidence, common sense, and a willingness to try. I hope you found this little tutorial useful. If you have more tips, share them in the comments below.

The post How to Use an On-Camera Speedlight as Fill Flash for Portraits by Lily Sawyer appeared first on Digital Photography School.


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Leak: Profoto is preparing to release its first ever speedlight, the Profoto A1

17 Sep

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It seems Profoto is preparing to announce a new line of products: an A-series of speedlights. The lighting company is known for its powerful, high-end flashes, monolights, and modifiers, but a product page leak shows Profoto is preparing to target a slightly less high-end user with something called the Profoto A1 Air TTL.

The unofficial Profoto A1 speedlight popped up briefly on a French distributor’s website complete with a full description and plenty of product shots to prove that this isn’t just some silly rumor. While the page has since been taken down, DIY Photography managed to dig up a cached version (here’s the Google translated version) so you can read about the product in full glory.

The unique-looking speedlight features a rounded head with a focusable Fresnel lens for a “softer” effect than your typical speedlight. It will boast 76 watts of power, features TTL capability, and supports High Speed Sync at up to 1/2000th of a second. Inside you’ll find a lithium ion battery that’s good for 360 full power flashes on a charge, and your recycle time is just 1.2 seconds.

The A1 allegedly comes with three magnetic modifiers that attach to the flash head, and an optional light box can be attached in the same way, as well as a few color filters.

All of this is still unconfirmed, of course, but this is as close to a full announcement leak as we’re going to get. The official release will allegedly happen on September 18th, but if you’re interested in the Profoto A1 Air TTL we suggest you start saving your pennies now… the flash will supposedly cost somewhere in the range of 990 Euro or about $ 1,190 USD.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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