Donal from above

As much as possible I try to use flash off the camera rather than on it.  It gives a better quality of light, gives a sense of dimension in the subject, and generally allows more creativity and control.  There are times when I’ll use it on the camera, of course, but when I do I’ll still try to bounce it off a wall or ceiling to turn that into my off-camera source.  When I’m using it on the camera like this, I’ll generally have it in TTL mode, which means it and the camera are communicating to determine what power and zoom settings to fire the flash at.  Off the camera, more often than not I’ll use it in manual mode.  Why? Because it gives me consistency.  And with consistency comes (amongst other things) the ability to be flexible with your shooting position.

This photograph of Donal is a good example of how the consistency of manually controlled off-camera flash allowed me to be flexible during a photoshoot.  When you’re photographing a child this age (he was soon to turn 1 when I took this photo), flexibility is important.

This photoshoot was lit using four flashes – two on the background, and two via shoot-through umbrellas on the subject.   For most of the photoshoot the camera position was between the two shoot-through umbrellas.  The intent was for one to be a main light and the other a fill light, however in reality I think the ratios between the two ended up being quite close to each other.  I had determined the exposure settings for my camera, and the power settings, zoom settings and position of the flashes relative to the subject before he ever arrived, and had placed an X on the floor to mark where I would sit him for the photoshoot.

With the flash to subject distance fixed, I could safely leave all the settings of my off camera flashes fixed also, and I myself could freely move around the “set” to take shots from different angles, knowing that the same amount of light would fall on the subject each time.

Sure, as I moved my camera position, the effect of that light falling on the subject would be different – shadows would be more or less visibile to the camera for instance, but I was also flooding the portable studio with light and after a high-key low contrast look with very little in the way of shadows anyway.

So I was able to move alongside Donal and get him to look up at me to get an alternative shot without worrying that my new camera position and distance from me to the camera would alter any settings, as may have happened if I was using those off camera flashes in (automatic) TTL mode.  It’s possible that I’d still have achieved a consistent result with TTL mode flash – it’s even possible I’d have achieved a better result – the point is though I could be sure of consistency with manual flash, and having spent 30 minutes before Donal’s arrival setting up my lights and exposure so that I was happy, I didn’t want to risk leaving anything to chance.