Off Camera Flash
I started using OCF (off camera flash) about two years ago, maybe getting close to three. My first OC flashes were two Canon 600 ex-rt Speedlight’s. From the MOMENT I took my first shot with those Speedlight’s I WAS HOOKED!
As photographers, we are always trying to improve our craft. We are always learning and trying to make our next images better than the last. With each session, we look and see where we could improve, what we could do better on next time. For myself and my company the time came where I was no longer able to wait for the “Golden Hour” of the day for every session. When you start having two and three sessions in one day, you are going to HAVE to shoot in full sun at some point. Any photographer on the planet will tell you how difficult it CAN be to shoot in full sun.
This was at about 3:30 in the afternoon. So not exactly FULL sun but noteless pretty bright.It wasn’t the golden hour yet either. This was with NO OCF. This image is STRAIGHT out of camera. As you can see the sky is quite blown, giving a lighter airier look.
For this image we had no OCF either. The time was about 4:00. Because we were approaching the “golden hour” time the sun was not quite as harsh as it would have been thirty min earlier. HOWEVER because there was not a cloud in the sky this day you can still see the shadows and loss of details in the face. You can’t see my eye color because of the shadows. NOW shadows can be lightened in post production, but like I said I want to have my images as close to what I want in camera. This image is SOOC (straight out of camera)
This image was about a 2 second difference from the previous image. This has OCF. I used my good ole speed-lights! I do not use my speed lights much anymore, but when we are traveling or hiking we pack lighter :-). You can see my eye color, and details, AND they sky is perfectly exposed at the same time! I LOVE getting the overall look without the hours of editing! Now I am no model you guys, but with the help of my awesome husband you can see for yourself the reason I choose to use OCF. This image is SOOC.
UNTIL OFF CAMERA FLASH. The choice to move to OCF for my business and myself was due to so many reasons I couldn’t keep ignoring. I wanted my images to be better. I wanted my images to be RIGHT straight from camera. I wanted to have a look unlike anybody else. I wanted very saturated full of color images. I also was tired of stressing about having to find a place in the shade to shoot if there was full sun. So I made the move to OCF. I still shoot natural light from time to time and of course I still love it. There are some AMAZING art pieces that have been shot from natural light, and sometimes nothing can beat that “Golden Hour” glow. BUT for the images I want to create and provide for my clients I will use OCF about 99% of the time.
The facts of light are this : In full sun (straight full sun – not under shade) if you wish to have your subject well lit, your sky will be blown out – nonexistent. If you want to have a beautiful blue sky and brilliant colors, your subject will have all sorts of harsh shadows and ultimately look dark. There is no way to have both your subject and the sky perfectly exposed IN CAMERA without OCF. For me the amount of time SAVED not having to paint my subjects face to light it properly was BEYOND worth the investment in OCF.
Now this blog is by NO MEANS meant to insult anyone who shoots natural light. As I mentioned before natural light has always been amazing. But for my business, the fact that I shoot in the elements almost 100% of the time, and the TYPE of images I am trying to create OCF will always be the way for me to go. AS always though I encourage any and all photographers to just try it out. Let me know if you have any questions! I will be more than happy to answer AND KEEP SHOOTING!
Both of these images have been edited 🙂
