Archive for July, 2010

Many of you have a flash and I would venture to guess it’s attached to your hot shoe.  Now, there are more adventurous types of you who have ventured out to off-camera flash with some sort of remote either with a cord attached to your hot shoe or a wireless remote like a Pocket Wizard.  I was using my off camera flash yesterday with my model Lynlee at the Morgan Creek Vineyard when the opportunity came up for me to demonstrate the power of shadows.

The problem with the light yesterday was that it was 7PM and had been raining so there wasn’t much sun at all.  I did my best to create my own sunshine.  So I had Lynlee stand between two rows of vines while I shot over at her from slightly behind her left side.  My assistant stood in the same aisle with her in the first picture with the flash (umbrella attached) pointed right at her.  I looked at the picture and thought the light from the flash was good enough but the results weren’t what I desired.

Rule: Shadows make a photo more interesting not light.  Actually, you do have to have light to create shadows which is the trick…use your light source to create shadows that make shots more intriguing. You wouldn’t put your subject looking directly into the sun would you?  Of course not!  You would put them turned slightly with the sun at the side or back of their head.

I had my assistant go over one more row of vines to the next aisle and point the flash up and over the vines at the right side of her face which created shadows on the left side of her face.  I included a before and after shot to illustrate…

Light creates shadows when used correctly

The problem with this is going to be how do you get that $300 Canon 580 off the hot shoe right?  A 6ft cord attached to the flash and the camera wouldn’t allow you to more your flash around very far.  More on that later…yes it’s just more money!