I’m sort of known for not being a fan of using speedlights. Just never liked the look they give. I am not sure where this idea or belief came from, but I remember being back in college in the mid-’80′s and my colleagues and I would sort of categorize photographers who use this kind of light as Not Serious Ad Shooters. Not fair, I know, but none the less, I was young and impressionable and the idea has stayed with me over the years. However, over the last two or three years, I have been incorporating speedlights with my other lighting, whether I”m using natural light or studio flash like my Profotos. And what I mean by incorporating is that I use the speedlight to embellish the main lighting on my set. So let me explain that more clearly.
Grey Gardens
Let’s say I’m shooting outdoors with available sunlight and I want a harsh edge light or a back hair light. I will have one of my assistants hold the speedlight either in his hand or on a light stand, and angle it exactly where I want that light to hit. Speedlights are great for outdoor use because they run on batteries, they’re lightweight and easy to pack. But for me, getting them to do what I want is the tricky part. We use all sorts of things to angle the light, like cupping a hand over it to create a barn door or even taking cardboard and holding it over one part of the light so we can control where it hits. Or putting it behind something to add a pop of light in the background. For instance, on the Genlux Grey Garden’s shoot, inside the bird cage is a SB 800 wrapped up in some diffusion material that I normally put over a large umbrella, just to diffuse the out put of light coming from the speedlight. The light created just enough glow inside that cage, adding depth and drama to the photograph without it taking over or competing with my key lights. It “embellished” the shot. It didn’t light the shot, it just complemented the shot.
Hush Magazine
On a recent editorial shoot for HUSH Magazine, a new magazine out of Belgium, we used a speedlight on a stand, place behind the windows and aimed it towards the back of the models head to recreate a sunburst of light, backlighting the model and pumping in a bit of light on the background to create a more interesting shot. The main light, though, was one profoto head with a beauty dish directed on the front of the model. Or the shot of Eugenia on the beach with the sun setting behind her. That’s not actually the sun, we used a speedlight to mimic the sun, creating a fabulous lens flare and hair light. We only use the speedlights as accent lights. I have never used a speedlight on top of my camera. I know other photographer’s do, using all kinds of diffusion kits and tricks to create these lovely images but you’ll never find me doing that on any fashion shoot. Well, never say never……I think I should have learned that one by now. But I can pretty guarantee I probably will never use one on top of my camera as the key light. If I wanted that stark overlit look, I would use a ringflash as oppose to a speedlight, I think.
I can’t speak for Canon, but I know that the Nikon speedlights can sync with your camera or you can use TTL metering when they’re off the camera however I never use them this way. I sync it with my pocket wizard and control the light manually as I would with my regular strobe heads. That way I have complete control of my light instead of letting the camera “guess” for me, which is common and easy to do when you’re working with speedlights. It’s important to me to always have control of my lights. Always. Your lighting is what conveys your vision and your vision is what ultimately speaks through your photographs. I use speedlights sparingly and carefully to enhance the overall lighting on my shoots. And for this, I think they do indeed get the job done!
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Desiree Cherisse
October 12, 2010I had no idea there was a speedlight in the birdcage. I guess I need to really open my eyes and study these images. I admit this is pretty amazing.
Tim Harris
October 12, 2010Thanks again Melissa, for giving a very clear and concise usage suggestion!
Yulia Gorbachenko
October 12, 2010Small things that make a big difference. Thank you!
Danny De La Cruz
October 12, 2010Great info! Love it!
Michael Scott Vincent
October 12, 2010Thank you Melissa. Think I have a simaller opinion on speedlights as you but seem to rely on them a little more than you. I remember way back a video I think you added to your blog and was very suprised to see your associate with what looked like a 285. The images were stunning and I would never have guessed you would do it that way and it really worked. It goes to show that a good photographer learns how to use their tools and when or where to use them.
Roger Mann
October 12, 2010SB800s were my only strobes until I bought a Bowens 500 kit but now I use them just as much. On SU-4 they’ll work as dumb optical slaves to my Bowens and perch of the top of doors like canaries. I’ve come to realise that with the right light modifiers they can sometimes be a match for big lights but so much more portable and positionable.
I love these examples Melissa, they shout out professionalism.
Chris Helms
October 12, 2010Extremely informative post on lighting. Thank you. C
Mark Dumet
October 12, 2010Like Desiree said, I love the use of speedlight in the birdcage on the Grey Gardens story. It’s such a clever way to add depth to an image without overdoing it. I am going to experiment more with this on my next shoot!
Sarah C.
October 12, 2010AWeSoME! I just started reading this blog but I am already getting so much information from it.
Ian Freelance
October 12, 2010Hi Melissa – Beautiful work as ever. I understand your point wrt speedlites, but have you taken a look at the work by Damien Lovegrove from the UK. Check out prophotonut.com, which has a whole host of helpful info on speedlites etc. I know that you have David and Joe stateside who are championing speedlites as well. The lack of power and the limitations wrt modification plus the relative light size does limit them v big flash, but you can get very creative as the main light source as well.
Take the pocket wizard mini and flex, which in essence allow you to sync (off camera) at unto 1/4000. In reality you sync much lower otherwise the power loss is not worth the speed, but even so, 1/800 or 1/1200 is still good enough to create drama in the sky or background and also allows you to shoot at f4. With big flash and speeds of 1/200-1/250 you are then left with apertures of f16-f22 if you want to achieve the same effect.
I really love the videos you shoot, which I find really informative. Especially when you provide insights to your lighting set-ups. Thanks fo giving something back.
Regards
Ian
DJH
October 12, 2010Just goes to show doesn’t it. Experience is what you get by not having it at the time. I’d never even think to use my speedlight as I pretty much hate it too
Maria T
October 12, 2010Thank You Melissa , for sharing with us another Great article!!!
Nappsack
October 12, 2010I had no clue that you were using SB’s but you can not denie the functionality that they bring. The effects and the size are key when space is limited.
Great post as usual, keep them coming.
Danny
October 13, 2010Thanks. Nice tips with good examples. Very useful.
Jean Labelle
October 13, 2010I have a feeling Mr. Strobist (David Hobby) is going to love this post!
Thank you Melissa for a fantastic post and for sharing!
Jay D
October 13, 2010I always opt for natural light and add any additional lighting to fill, or have more control using a speed light. I have a Metz 48 af-1, you get good TTL, flash zoom feature for the mm of lens you are using, plus just like strobe and flash heads, you can set the power. It’s pretty good. Great post, keep them coming
Cam Guy
October 13, 2010Wow. This is a very impressive work! I didn’t thought that speedlights can be a very useful tool to create something from the background of your subject. I will definitely keep this in mind and try it out for myself!
Danielle
October 13, 2010Excellent post. Keep them coming.
Darren Williams
October 13, 2010Thanks for the tips. Love the pictures … really nice.
Donald
October 14, 2010Thanks Melissa for the insight into how you use speedlights. Didn’t really think big time fashion photographers owned speedlights
Interesting with the bare as a proxy for the sun.
I’d love to use Profoto or even Elinchrome Rangers instead of my Canon 580 EXIIs, but the budget currently doesn’t allow that. So I use speedlights all the time.
Instead of using cardboard for barn doors and such, HONL has a set of nice accessories for speedlights, such as honey grids, snoots, gels and reflectors. I also use speedlights in brollies (reflective silver/white or shoot through) for key lights.
Recently I bought a Lastolite EzyBox hotshoe softbox (60x60cm) and use this very often as key light, as in this series of pictures competing with the sun, http://dlinderyd.blogspot.com/2010/09/beach_30.html
Suzanne
October 14, 2010The information is very valuable, thanks for share it here.
Paulo Marx
October 14, 2010There are photographers and photographers masters. This last has to have the greatness of spirit to share their experiences with others. And it has to be a top photographer (after all to teach has to know) Thanks Melissa
S
October 15, 2010Very informative. Thanks for taking the time to share
RCVW
October 15, 2010great read…I love using off camera strobe for my photos!
http://www.RCVWphoto.com
Alan Antiporda
October 15, 2010Bravo, I use both on my shoots, But it depends on how lightweight I wanna travel. Totally agree, I like the speedlights for the same reason. Flare rocks. http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4132/4969398599_5c1c2408ec_z.jpg
Dina
October 17, 2010the last photo is really hot!
thanks for sharing the info about speedlights.
Calvin Wallace
October 18, 2010Strobist blog is good for learning how to use speedlights. All photographers should know how to light, otherwise you’re not a professional.
http://strobist.com
DJ aka Hotwing
October 18, 2010Love your perspectives and the way you choose to think and speak about them. Thank you.
Karl Bratby
October 19, 2010great words as ever.
Mark Warner
October 20, 2010Excellent article as always. I use speedlights, but also tend to mix them with other sources / modifiers (snoots, beauty dish, diffusers of various kinds). As you mentioned, they are light, easy to set up and run off batteries (I do a lot of location shooting where mains power is not always available). I never use TTL, always manual.
When mixing sources, I mix with sunlight and / or daylight balanced continuous lighting (with cool lights). My shutter speed is compromised at a mx of 1/250 but that doesn’t matter so much. I tend not to like the harsh frozen image of a speedlight by itself and, coming from a film background, I like continuous lighting.
mohan
October 23, 2010i got very valuable information n thanks for sharing like this
Jewellery Photography
October 24, 2010Very good article and very informative… I also use speedlights every now and then but you have opened up some ideas, thanks!
Orada
October 25, 2010When it comes to speedlights, Joe McNally is king! http://www.joemcnally.com/blog/
Get his books on amazon, he’s a great teacher. Get yourself some free gel sample to add colors to your flash, ctos are really useful to create warmth and mimic sunlight.
Lloyd Barnes
October 25, 2010Properly used, speedlights can give beautiful light as your examples show! Thanks for sharing some of your techniques.
Patrick Gliem
October 28, 2010Well this was really interesting! Wonderful photos as well. I’ve never used speedlights myself but I’ll have to see if I can play around with some. Thanks for this!
Gi at Pashmina Shawl
October 28, 2010Great photo shoots. Absolutely love them!
John
October 28, 2010interesting read and some classy images to back it all up
George
October 31, 2010I was wondering how you lit the bird cage when I saw the behind the scenes video. Great tips, thanks for sharing. Your work really exemplifies an attention to detail and inspires me to pay more attention to accenting my own work with additional lights.
Harry Hilders
November 4, 2010Great post and beautiful photography!
franklin thompson
November 5, 2010I originally thought the same about speedlights. I never liked them and thought they were for photographers who weren’t as serious or couldn’t afford ‘real’ lights. But this past summer I went on location, sort of guerilla style shooting fashion in random spots (without a permit) so i needed something quick, dirty and effective. Speedlights did the job!
I use Canon and yes, they can sync and use TTL metering off camera. They have a wireless IR transmitter that sits on the hotshoe. The only problem is the flash and the transmitter have to physically be in the same line of sight for the IR to work… which can be a pain when it comes to positioning.
As always Melissa, thanks for sharing your experience and technique!
Best,
Franklin Thompson
Trev
November 8, 2010Wow. Great read. Thank you for posting. Love the concept of backlighting with a speedlight for a sun-like shot.
faiçal Hajji
November 10, 2010Very Good Post !! I totally agree with you in all the points. Speedlights should remain as an extra and never as a main light !! It just cannot provide as much flexibility as a studio flash!
Also very nice trick for the cage!! I was wondering how you made it.
Rob
November 15, 2010Beautiful photos.. I want to learn to shoot Pro shots like these.. well Done Melissa!!
AndreasEC
November 18, 2010This was a really nice post, and so inspiring and beautiful photographs! Thank you for this! I usually use speedlights when i’m outdoors due to the lightweight nature they are, but i rarely use them to create “effects” of the kind you show above. Definetly something i will experiment with. Thank you!
Sincerely
//Andreas Edin Carlsson
William Cane
December 23, 2010Interesting discussion, and use of speedlights. I understand why you might not have been a big fan of them to start. Our clients rarely get lit nicely enough at mike@manhattanmakeovers.com when we take before and after shots, but for serious portraits I think speedlights can play a role, as can any mobile light source. Look at what Ingmar Bergman’s director of photography, Sven Nykvist, did with lights, many of which were mobile and, incidentally, very low budget!
Vincent
January 7, 2011thank you so much for sharing, this is the kind of info you can only get from a fashion photographer. Great explanations and examples! Just discovered your blog, will be coming back often
Bryan Grant
January 11, 2011great shots and great suggestions. just bought some speedlight modifiers and cant wait to get started
Nai
January 31, 2011Brilliant and simple and who would have known speedlights could actually be any good. It’s all about experimenting. Lovely. Thanks for the info
tailor
February 10, 2011I love the second foto. Thank for share your technic.
Aleksander
February 15, 2011great words!!
Dr. Abdullah Al-Naser
February 21, 2011Excellent use of Speedlites on the shown shots, I thought they were just direct light from the sun itself. You mentioned interesting and useful details in your article, I wish you write here more so we learn some of your vision.
mireille
February 25, 2011amazingly goreous et inspired…………. everything!!
Dany
March 9, 2011Truly unavailing the secrets behind these mysterious lights.
Thank you.
Vincent Gagnaux
March 17, 2011Great info! I’m going to start incorporating speedlights!
Aaron fooshée
March 18, 2011Well done. I got started with Speedlights, but left them behind once I got studio lighting. I really like the idea of using them for accent or hair lighting, they’re so small and easy compared to another pack and head. I’ll have to pull out the Speedlights and experiment.
Eddy Geels
March 18, 2011I love the idea with the birdcage. It’s things like that that I should start doing more in my photoshoots
Peter Haken
March 20, 2011Great thanks for sharing, going to try these tips
Mau Couti
April 8, 2011Loving everything u write, thanks from Brazil!
Duc M. Phung
July 24, 2011Hi Melissa,
first off, BIG fan of you and your photography! second, I love speedlights and have always used them for all my pictures, mainly because of budget in the beginning. No amateur photographer starts out with profoto
There are a lot of opinions about speedlights and people tend to think they are not capeable of delivering enough light contra studio lighting. True, but with a bit of creativity you can get pretty far with speedlights. Well the point is that I got my photo assistant position with portfolio pictures shot only with speedlights. Check out my people or dance pictures.. speedlights only.
thank you for having a great blog!
best regards
Duc
Kenyon Manchego
September 1, 2011LOve this photo. So much to learn ! thx !
OMar
September 11, 2011Hi Melissa!
Nice job!!
Canon can control speedlites of the camera, but only 7D or newer models!
larry gassan
September 11, 2011Hi Melissa:
Always a pleasure to see what you’re up to.
I’ve been shooting w/ Vivitar 283s/285s as mobile lights, ever since a Norman power-pack blew up on me on location. Now I’m barebulb in this scenario, where I’m shooting 100-mile runners right after they finish, a world apart from fashion!
Keep going, I’m taking notes!
Maria T
September 11, 2011Really Like the image of Eugenia on the beach with the sun setting behind using a speed light to mimic the sun……..!!!!!!!!!!
johnna brynn
September 11, 2011thanks so much for this helpful post! i’m going to share on my fb fanpage!
Liz @ Las Vegas Photography
September 22, 2011I never thought about using my pocket wizard to control my speed light wireless, I’ve only used it with studio lights. My favorite photo is the last shot.
School Ball Photographer
September 26, 2011Hugely inspiring. We often forget the most important factor to making amazing photos is talent and vision rather than a huge gear bag.
karen
October 9, 2011Your photographs are incredible!!!!!! makes me really want to learn more about taking good pictures… mine are a disaster.. thanks for the info and tips..
Dennise Schoenig
February 23, 2012I am just so very thankful for your blog post.Thanks Again. Very much obliged.
Rajesh
September 18, 2012Thanks Friend, Great work. I was searching for this.