Studio Flash

7 Building Blocks of Photography 2

A portable home studio flash set up is the best way to ensure consistent exposures in the kind of lighting you want. There are loads of light modifying devices on the market like softboxes and umbrellas to help you achieve lighting qualities for the look you want. But where do you begin?

Firstly you need to understand a bit about how light behaves and why so you avoid getting horrible looking images with burnt highlights and nasty black shadows. If you’re not sure what I mean I suggest you watch the Flash Photography film. In the second part I’ll show you what happens when you diffuse or bounce flash.

Then you need to know how to use a flash meter so you know your studio lights are properly set up for the look you want ­ then you can set the exposure onto your camera.

This video was shot on a real life commission and I’ll show you how I set up a home studio flash in the offices of one of my clients and this time I don’t use any fancy light modifying gadgets at all. I’ll explain what you need, how to set it up and get the exposures correct.

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