Flash is some kind of monster to most aspiring photographers and beginners. For some it is more frustrating than doing a tax declaration, visiting the dentist or having a discussion with your girlfriend about how “you spend too much money on camera stuff”. There is so much to know, the technical stuff, the maths – it´s easy to get lost in this chapter of photography. Nevertheless, it is one VERY important section if you really want to be a photographer. It is LIGHT. And photography is WORKING with light. So, if you are one of those people that say “I love available light, I love ambient light, I don´t really need flashlight”, here´s the first step for you: Be honest and stop lying to yourself!

I was once a liar too. I tried working with flashlight, failed, then put it aside. Tried again, failed, and put it aside again. And every time I told myself (and everybody else that didn´t want to hear it) “I love available light … blah blah blah …” I did this until these words smacked me in the face (and thank god they also hit my brain too):

“The only reason you are afraid of flashlight, is because you are afraid of flashlight”.

True! Let´s call this “RULE #1“. There is no other (logical) reason for this kind of behaviour. Once you understand that light is no monster you have to fight, but a friend that helps you do a better job and bring out the best of your photography, you will be wondering how you could ever live without it (landscape photographers can forget these words of course ;-)

If you´re still reading you already know that you have flash phobia, i don´t have to overexplain. So what can you do to get rid of it? This is a short version of my experiences and how I made it work for me:

RULE #2: Note this:

Flash is NOT a monster you should fight. It is LIGHT, and light is your BEST FRIEND!.

Find some photographer you trust when it comes to flash. There are lots of great photographers with interesting blogs out there, books, DVD´s … F.e. Chase Jarvis, Zack Arias, Vincent Laforet,… I will add a list of blogs that I follow down here. You simply have to go back to school. And don´t get this “oh shit, school” attitude now, it´s more like “yeaaaaah, school!!! When I come out of here, I´ll have new skills I always wanted to have!”
For me it was Joe Mc Nally. If there is one photographer who understands and controls light, it´s him. My first book from Joe was “The Moment It Clicks“. Read it in one night, and then ordered “The Hot Shoe Diaries” the next day. If you want to lean back and just watch him at work with small flash you can also order his DVD – “The Language of Light“. Not cheap, but absolutely worth it!

Here´s a little clip from the DVD. Joe explains how he uses one flash and a small softbox to light a portrait. And how small changes can make a big difference!

Now that you´ve read a lot of blogs, books, watched DVD´s etc. … Flash might seem even more irritating. You have tons of information, but still if you use your flash, there´s no way to get a proper shot? The answer is quite easy – PRACTICE! That´s all. One of the most commonly seen failures is people who say they want to get better, they invest in books, workshops a.s.o. and think when they leave the workshop they are already doing a better job. No, you´re not. Like everything in photography, this will take time and practice! Don´t get too frustrated. Prepare to fail. Not only prepare, but look forward to failure. Fail, fail again, fail better! I know that´s not what you want to hear at this point. It´d be better to hear “Do this, and this, and your flash pictures will look fantastic”. But that´s not how it works. Practice is – like photography its own – key!
Experiment with different setups. There are a lot of ways to use flashes. Big lights, speedlights, wireless triggered, wired, ETTL, manual, color gel… Do it step by step, and take your time. Don´t stress yourself out, no one is behind you.

RULE #3:

Get your flash OFF your camera!

For me flash on a hot shoe only looks good in extremely rare cases. You will definitely get better results if you bring your flash off your camera. Therefore you will need some equipment.

Basic off camera setup.

What kind of setup you use will depend on what you plan to do. Some people already give up at this point. Softbox? Umbrella? Beatuy Dish? which wireless trigger?… too much stuff, too expensive, ah, didn´t I say I love ambient available light? I don´t need fla…. Shut up and go on ;-)
My first basic setup for example was a Canon 580EXII, Profoto wireless trigger (non TTL), Manfrotto lightstand, Lasolite 90cm Umbrella (Silver and diffuser) and a tilt/swivel head to point the flash in the direction you want. Otherwise it will always shoot straight forward. I don´t think you will find some concept where you really need this.
This is definitely an affordable setup and you can do more great stuff with it than you think. If you don´t want to spend the money for the wireless triggers, you can also find much cheaper wireless triggers online or start bringing your flash off the camera with a simple TTL cord. Much cheaper and you can use the TTL function of your flash, but of course they´re not as flexible as wireless triggers.
So I took it all outide and started to shoot. Of course, what i saw on my camera was not good at all. I think I´d call it creepy supershit. But step by step I started to learn and understand. It´s like playin’ around with tools as a child. HAVE FUN with it, don´t be stupid and put pressure on yourself. The only result this will bring is this bad feeling and lots of frustration. Photographers are people with their eyes and mind wide open so they can see! You won´t see anything good around you if you´re in some Jack the Ripper mood. Relax. Think. Try again. And please, pleeease don´t practice on client shoots. You won´t believe hof often I´ve seen this. Then your frustration will be shared with a client you won´t ever see again. Not a good thing.

Finally I went back home with my first outdoor portrait that looked great. It felt as if it was not from me but someone who “really is a photographer”. Honestly, I was excited. This was my point of no return as i thought if I can do this once, I can do it again and I will get better doing it. No frustration could ever keep me away from flashs again. To the contrary – every time I failed it just gave me more motivation to get better.

So, get over it. Accept the fact that small flashes are asholes. Lots of buttons, functions, and numbers you don´t understand. And maybe for the first time in your photography-carreer you really have to grab that … what was the word … instruction manual! And read it. It might feel a bit like a tax declaration, you don´t want to do it … but – other than the tax declaration – what you get out of it is GREAT!

Don´t get fooled, or fool yourself, there is not one single photographer on this planet who bought a camera, went out and did a great job. I know, nowadays people say “well, cameras are affordable, and digital photography made it cheaper and easier for everyone to shoot great photos”. This is a good thing of course. But it does not mean owning a expencive DSLR makes you a good photographer. Whenever somebody says “oh your camera makes beauuutiful pictures” I just answer “oh, you should see how fantaaastic my oven is cooking!”. Trust me, they understand ;-)
So whatever trouble you face, whatever frustration you are going through, keep in mind that this is part of the game, its a long way, and every photographer you admire for his work went through it all!

Now, I will shoot some making of-videos, put them together with some I already have and promise to give you as much insight as possible on how I use flashes (small and big ones) on set. Therefore you can go out and put a basic flash setup on your shopping list, order it, put it together and SHOOOOOOT! When we meet here next time we´ll do the next step…

All photos below were shot with 1-2 small flashes, wireless triggers, umbrella and/or lasolite softbox 60×60cm.

Some photographers with great blogs you might want to follow:
Joe Mc Nally
Chase Jarvis
Zack Arias
Vincent Laforet