Outdoor Flash Tips

Last weekend I was at a local park with my son for Easter Egg Hunt. While I was waiting in the crowd, I noticed two guys with DSLR camera and flash mounted on top. Since I have a habit of taking pictures of other photographers at work, I quickly snapped a picture as shown below. It turned out to be quite interesting.

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The photo above was taken using the AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm f/1.8. A zoomed-in view of the above photo showed the interesting ways they decided to use their flash outdoors.
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Apparently one of them decided to point the flash straight forward with a Omni Bounce (the white plastic cap) mounted while another one pointed the flash upwards at an angle with the built-in bounce card pulled out.

If you are careful observer, you may also find that one guys is shooting Canon while another is shooting Nikon.  Did the brand of camera/flash determine the way they decided to use the flash outdoors?

Probably not.

They were using the flash as if they were trying to do bounce flash. The problem is, there is no reflecting surfaces in open outdoor environment to bounce the light.

The Omni Bounce cap is used to create a so-called Diffused Bare Bulb Effect. Instead of producing light output in a forward cone, the Omni Bounce cap spreads the light in all directions. It works well in a room with cells and walls because the light can be bounced from many directions. In open air, it offers little benefits but wastes the energy because the translucent cap can cut more than a stop of light. 

Some flash units, such as Nikon SB-900 AF Speedlight Flash, have a built-in bounce card that can be used to create a highlight in the subject in bounce flash photography. In this case, there are just so many problems: First of all, this should really be used for portrait with people looking directly at the camera. Secondly the angled flash is simply a waste of light output because there is no way to bounce the light. 

I am also curious if they are aware of the sync speed limits of their cameras. DSLR cameras have sync speed typically in the range of 1/200 second. In outdoor shooting, this may be challenged because the strong light. They are either forced to shoot very small apertures, use a neutral density filter to cut down the light, or use so-called high speed sync function (explained here). All of these options will severely limit the maximum effective flash distance. Their intended bounce setups can only make it worse.

Posted in: Tips and Techniques on April 7th, 2009. Trackback URI
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Comments

  • evojsn

    I wonder what the photos came out like? I am sure they were crap
    since you bashed those lames.. What if the setups they where both
    running turned out (even if you think they where wrong) to take some
    nice shots? To bad we will never know.

    love the site..

    • http://dptnt.com/ picmax

      Really not meant to bash… it is possible their photos came out fine but it doesn’t mean there isn’t anything can be improved in the shooting process.

  • http://photorestorationretouching.com/ digital photo retouching

    Handy advice, most people don`t realise how a flash can reduce your
    photo restoration and retouching time by eliminating unatractive
    shadows on peoples faces.

  • Michael

    Great observation.

    Just so you know, the low-end but excellent Nikon D40 has a flash sync speed of 1/500.

    • http://dptnt.com/ picmax

      Michael,

      Thanks for pointing it out. It can help with certain fill flash situations but the point is that their bounce setup isn’t really useful in this situation.

      Max

  • http://amethystfotografix.com Srini Murthy

    Why would you say the high speed sync function will limit the effective distance. I recently learnt to use the mode but haven’t had much success, I must admit.
    I have often run into people who use telephoto lenses and spring up their on camera flashes that gets me into a guffaw. These two gentlemen are a little ahead in the game :-)

    • http://dptnt.com/ picmax

      As I explained in the sync speed post, the high speed sync function works by sending out very fast identical pulses instead of single pulse. The sensor sees the reflected pulses as the shutter slit moves across the sensor. Remember that the sensor does not have chance to completely open to the incoming light all at once above the sync speed limit. But on average, the scene appears to have been illuminated by the flash evenly. When working in this mode, the maximum light output of each pulse is limited, reducing the effective flash distance.

      Max

  • http://amethystfotografix.com Srini Murthy

    Great explanation, thank you!

  • http://www.johnchennavasin.com John Chennavasin

    Wait until they rotate their cameras. In many cases, they will leave the flash in the same position.

    • http://dptnt.com/ picmax

      A rotating flash bracket would help with bounce flash.

  • John Williams

    If those two photographers were close to their subjects within the effective flash output distance, I have no problem with their methods of diffusion. They will have photos that are alive without “dead” eyeless people. A catchlight makes all the difference even outdoors ! I would decrease the flash strength to balance with the ambient light on overcast days and even increase flash strength in bright sunlit conditions to decrease contrast. Balancing flash with ambient light is a best kept secret and an art !

  • Dean

    I’ve seen people do this kind of thing for years. At least my photo students know why/when it doesn’t work. I enjoyed this post as after a while I began to doubt whether I was the only one who didn’t believe this technique was optimal.

  • angel_d_saint

    Let’s just try to give them the benefit of the doubt – these guys know what they’re doing. They’re probably turned OFF and were just in the portrait-ready mode when the situation called for it. =)

  • JM

    Complete amateurs those two holding the cameras. Look at them. Look at how they are holding the camera/lens instead of “cupping” them. Must be a proud dad with a new toy

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