Commercial and portrait photographer Daniel Linnet has two decades of professional experience shooting everything from cars to weddings to celebrities to travel. He’s pretty much shot everything. Through all this, he’s not only honed his skills considerably, but he’s also become a master of light, relying on natural light, complicated studio flash setups, and portable, small flash lighting, which he uses on a regular basis for commissioned and personal work. He also teaches a masterclass on the use of small flash.
© Daniel Linnet - Commercial and portrait photographer .
In this two-part article, Daniel shares his wealth of experience using small flash over the years; what he’s learned, as well as a number of practical tips to help you get the very best results without having to invest a fortune in flash lighting.
At the outset of his career, Daniel relied almost exclusively on large, studio flash setups, using small, on-camera flash for event coverage only. Over the years, he’s developed and adapted the way he uses small flash so that when used off-camera in groups of up to three flashes and triggered wirelessly, he can produce images that match the results of far more complicated, expensive, and bulkier flash setups. “I can adapt small flashes to almost any lighting situation these days,” Daniel says, “although if I need a great deal of light, for example shooting at f/11 or f/16 all day, then I would typically opt for bigger, more powerful flash packs.” Before deciding what sort of flash to use, Daniel will always first consider the shooting scenario.
Practical applications
Daniel has come to rely heavily on small flash for a variety of assignments and applications. He’s found them to be particularly useful when portability is a crucial factor.
” When I’m working solo, travelling, or need to set up and shoot quickly, the small flashes are ideal as I can be more mobile,” Daniel says. “Being lightweight and compact, they can fit into a small bag, and don’t weigh me down.”
Also, particularly useful and effective for low-light situations, Daniel relies on small flash when he just requires minimal additional light. “When I want to shoot at a wide aperture, I often find the more powerful flashes do not go down low enough. However, small speedlights, especially in TTL [through-the-lens] metering, can give me just enough light for an aperture of f/1.8, even at a higher ISO 1600 if I need to balance with the ambience of a dimly lit room,” Daniel says. “I’ve found this approach to be great for moody portraits, where too much light can spoil things.”
© Daniel Linnet - Commercial and portrait photographer .
This size and portability of small flash proves to be invaluable for Daniel when working on fast-paced shoots.
“When I need to shoot quickly and move around to different locations, smaller flashes allow for quick setup and pull down. I tend to use them a lot for higher-paced, corporate and environmental portraiture.”
And when shooting in small or confined spaces, small flash is considerably more convenient. Size also makes it very easy to travel with a fairly large and versatile lighting kits, all in the one bag. It’s also far easier to set up and adjust when there’s no assistant on the shoot.
Another significant advantage of small over big flash is the flexibility and versatility they offer. Their size means that they are considerably less intrusive and can be hidden almost anywhere where light is needed, without too much intrusion on the shot. “I’ve hidden them in trees, letterboxes, fridges, behind rocks, and in grass, amongst a variety of other less-than-conventional spots,” Daniel says. “You just can’t do the same thing with large flash heads on stands connected to battery packs.” Being less intrusive also means that when he’s shooting portraits of people not used to having their photograph taken, the lights tend to be less of a distraction for the subject, meaning they’re able to get comfortable more quickly.
With years of honing his skills and experience with small flash, through experimentation and countless lighting tests, Daniel has found that he’s been able to replicate most big studio setups with the small lights.
What’s in the bag?
Daniel’s kit comprises eight Canon 600EX RT2 speedlights and two Canon RT transmitters for wireless off-camera TTL operation, along with a variety of clamps and brackets so he can attach the units or place them on almost any surface. He also uses Lastolite triple brackets so that he can group up to three flashes on the one bracket, operate them as one, and triple the flash output from a single source. The kit also contains soft boxes and small, medium, and large Gorilla pods with flexible legs which are extremely versatile for mounting small flashes on a variety of objects, according to Daniel.
In order to power all the flash units, Daniel relies on external battery packs which allow for not only longer shooting periods, but also faster flash recycle times so he can shoot faster. He also carries spare rechargeable batteries and chargers.
Daniel has also created what he calls a “sun on a stick” by mounting flash on the end of a monopod or boom. “I do this so that I can take flash off camera quickly and achieve a huge variety of lighting directions.”
Aside from larger stands and light modifiers, Daniel’s entire lighting kit fits into a ThinkTank Logistics Manager rolling bag.
Daniel Linnet
Photographer
Sydney commercial photography by award winning photographer Daniel Linnet. Specialising in commercial, advertising, people & lifestyle, auto, and art photography. Daniel approaches every job as a personal project, bringing an infusion of skill and passion in equal measure.
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