In the second part of this feature on small flash, renowned commercial and portrait photographer Daniel Linnet shares his top tips on building a kit, how best to control the light, and the things he wished he’d known when he was first getting started.
© Daniel Linnet - Commercial and portrait photographer .
Building your kit
One of the great benefits of a small flash kit, other than the portability, is that fact that you can get up and running without having to spend a small fortune. In Daniel’s opinion, a solid starter kit might include two flashes with built-in radio transmitters, a transmitter for the top of your camera, a couple of stands, some external battery packs, and a couple of soft boxes. And you might be able to get all this for well under $1,000. But, he cautions, “In the photography game, I have found that you do get what you pay for, so if you are planning to use it often and on critical shoots, I would definitely suggest investing more and getting better quality gear which will be more reliable and last you longer,” Daniel says. “If you’re taking that approach, you’re probably more likely to spend around $2,000 for a decent multi-flash setup.”
Taking control of light
The beauty of using flash, whether it’s a large studio flash setup or compact speedlights, is that you have an almost infinite way to control and shape the light as the subject and your creative vision dictates, through the use of light modifiers. Daniel is extremely flexible when it comes to his use of light shapers. “Often, I might just use bare speedlights for what I call realistic ‘quick and dirty’ lighting. In such instances, I’ll sometimes use walls to bounce the light. This increases the size of the light source dramatically. Other times, I’ll use bare heads but turn the light slightly away from the subject to feather the light away from the subject for more subtlety.”
In his kit, Daniel has a number of medium soft boxes, along with some brollies, and small MagMod diffusers. Th combination of these allows him a great deal of flexibility to tackle a wide variety of subjects and settings.
In opting to use small flash, Daniel says that one of the more significant benefits is the ability to zoom the flash head manually to control the spread of the beam which saves one the trouble of having to drag around a large number of different flash reflectors. “The ability to zoom a flash to 200mm gives you a tight narrow beam which can be thrown over quite a distance,” he says.
Taking control of light
Having worked as a professional photographer for over two decades, Daniel acknowledges that he is constantly learning, discovering new and innovative ways to approach photography and how he captures his subjects, and the journey of exploration with small flash has been no different. “I’m constantly discovering new ways in which I can utilise them,” he says.
Below are a couple of important things to bear in mind when it comes to working with small flash. Their size and design mean that they are not built as robustly as large flash heads. Daniel warns that they can overheat if you hammer them too hard and don’t allow them time to recycle properly between firing. Without the aid of cooling fans, once the capacitor overheats, a flash will shut down and can take around 20 minutes to be operational again.
Daniel first used small flash off-camera when he got started in photography, over twenty years ago. Back then, he was using Metz CT-45 and CT-60 hammerhead flashes. “I was itching to start using ‘proper’ studio lights and I quickly sidelined them, not giving myself the opportunity to discover their true potential,” Daniel admits. “However, having said that, back then there were no radio transmitters and no TTL metering, which made things considerably more technically challenging. Things now are very different. The fact that I can precisely control numerous speedlights within a 50-metre radius in TTL directly from my camera is nothing short of mind-blowing.”
Common mistakes and how to avoid them
One of the easiest and most common mistakes when it comes to using small flash is over-lighting, according to Daniel. “Just because you have three or four lights in your kit doesn’t mean you have to use them each and every time,” he says. “Learn to achieve great lighting using just one light, and then build up, and only if you need to. As a general rule when I’m lighting, I always start with one flash, and then bring in others as required.”
Another mistake is to overlook the importance of ambient lighting, and how important it can be in helping to produce an amazing image. When it comes to small flash, Daniel says that ambient light is your best friend.
His advice is to “learn to balance and utilise the light you have in the environment. One of the most effective ways is to match your flash output to your aperture and then use your shutter speed to control the background. I always like to find my base ambient exposure first before firing the first flash,” he states.
Top tips
- Small flash becomes a whole lot more powerful if you increase your ISO.
- Zoom the flash head to control the spread of the beam. The effect is like having five flash head reflectors in one.
- Learn to feather the light away from your subject. This is especially important when using the bare head. Simply by turning the flash and using the edge of the beam will give you a softer, more even light, along with reducing hot spots.
© Daniel Linnet - Commercial and portrait photographer .
SHARE THIS POST
RELATED ARTICLES
JOIN THE COMMUNITY
Sign up and be a member today! Unlock promotional deals, Mentor advice, event invites, competition prizes, and showcase your work to the wider industry.
Submit your best travel image from 5 September – 5 October 2022 and go in the running to win a SanDisk Professional G-DRIVE SSD 4TB for this month’s Travel Image Competition! Signing up will also grant you access to exclusive deals and promotions, competitions and much more.
—— OR ——
By clicking on “Submit”, you agree to Western Digital’s Privacy Statement and SanDisk Professional Academy Terms and Conditions.
Be Part of the Creative Professional Community
Become a member to gain access to heaps of perks, from expert Mentor advice to product deals and giveaways.