Light is essential for any photographic genre and, in many situations, sunlight or ambient light isn’t enough. The sunlight’s direction may not flatter the subject or fit your composition. Or you may simply need to take photographs on an overcast day, at dusk or dawn, or in a dark interior. For all these situations and many others, you need an additional light source to create high-quality photos and fulfill your artistic vision — enter the speedlight.
Although your professional camera has a built-in flash, using it isn’t always the best option. To begin with, the built-in flash is the least-performing flash unit available for your camera model. It also creates a harsh unidirectional beam of light going from the camera to the subject. You can’t change its position and create a more interesting lighting setup. So, you need a more versatile flash unit.
What is a Speedlight?
A speedlight is an external flash unit you can either mount on top of the camera (hot shoe) or another support (cold shoe). It is a portable, light, and battery-powered flash. The name ‘speedlight’ technically belongs to Nikon, who came up with it in the 1960s to refer to all independent Nikon flash units. Canon uses the term ‘Speedlite.’ The other brands use either of these terms with no reference to Nikon or Canon.
Types of Flash
Speedlights are of two types: with TTL technology and without, referred to as Manual.
TTL (Through-The-Lens) technology allows the camera to control the flash. Similar to other automatic camera modes (Auto, Aperture Priority, and Shutter Priority), you let the camera use its metering system and decide the best settings for the flash.
For an accurate evaluation, the camera needs to see the flash abilities. Therefore, you half-press the shutter release button to trigger the flash. The camera measures the amount of light available in the scene and the flash power and decides how much more or less light it needs to get the right exposure. Then, it sets the flash accordingly. When you press the shutter completely, the flash fires again using the last setup, and the camera records the photo.
Using TTL flash units increase your reaction speed and help you take photos on the go. You don’t have to change flash settings for each photo, which allows you to move fast from one shot to another. It’s a nice asset for event photographers, for example. On the other hand, when you don’t control the flash, you risk getting errors. The most common TTL flash disadvantages are overexposed subjects with washed-out colors and unwanted dark backgrounds.
Manual flash units don’t rely on the camera’s metering system. They rely on you. You are responsible for setting the flash power for each shot. While it may take some time and patience to get it right, using a manual flash has a few benefits. Among them is being in control of the power of the flash, creating artistic effects, and eliminating mistakes due to accurate readings of the available light. However, if you don’t do it right, you can also ruin your shots by using the wrong flash settings.
On-Camera vs. Off-Camera Flash
You can mount a speedlight on the camera’s hot shoe and use it as you would normally use the built-in flash. Or, you can use the speedlight off-camera. Both setups have advantages and drawbacks.
An on-camera flash creates a frontal illumination of the subject. The light intensity decreases with distance (flash falloff), meaning that objects close to the camera receive more light than far away objects.
If you have a short camera-subject distance and need a dark background (e.g., commercial photographs, still life, macro photographs of inanimate subjects, etc.), the on-camera flash is a good choice. It concentrates the light on the subject and makes it stand out. However, if you photograph living subjects (e.g., people, babies, insects, pets, etc.), the powerful burst of light may startle them. You may need to step back and increase the camera-subject distance to protect the subject. Also, a TTL flash fires twice, which may be even more unpleasant.
If you have a long camera-subject distance, the on-camera flash can’t send enough light to the subject and becomes useless.
Another drawback of on-camera flash is the limited directionality. Although a speedlight can tilt and rotate, its fixed position on top of the camera doesn’t allow for lateral lighting, for example. It can only act as a primary light.
An off-camera flash can be placed anywhere around the subject. Radio-controlled speedlights, for example, can be placed up to 98 feet (30 meters) from the camera, even behind obstacles. This allows for more complex lighting setups in which speedlights act as secondary light sources (e.g., hair lights, lateral lights, backlights, etc.). Because setup can take some time, off-camera flashes are usually used for planned photo sessions with stationary subjects (e.g., fashion photos, studio portraiture, fine art, etc.).
What is Sync Speed?
Sync speed represents the fastest shutter speed you can use with a flash. The shutter speed controls how long the sensor is exposed to light. To ensure that the flash fires at the exact same time when the sensor is exposed, cameras have a control system called flash sync. Most cameras can synchronize the flash and shutter up to a shutter speed of 1/200 or 1/250 seconds. This is the native or normal sync speed.
However, sometimes you may need to use the flash with shutter speeds faster than 1/200 or 1/250 seconds. For this, you need a flash with High Sync Speed (HSS). HSS is a function that allows you to use the speedlight with the fastest shutter speed of your camera. Instead of synchronizing the firing of the flash with the full opening of the shutter, HSS fires the flash in a high-speed burst throughout the time the shutter is fully or partially opened. The time between consecutive fires is so short that the camera perceives continuous illumination.
HSS is useful when the background is brighter than the subject or the subject is moving. However, keep in mind that the flash recharge cycle is longer with HSS.
Wireless Flash Controls
Speedlights have wireless controls to maintain the connection with the camera even when they are off the camera. The most common types are:
- Optical Trigger – It’s the built-in control type for most speedlights and, therefore, the most affordable. They use visible light to trigger the flash. However, they don’t work at long distances and have to face the speedlight. You have to ensure no obstacles come between the trigger and the flash. Also, other flash units or pre-flash fires may fire the optical trigger.
- Infrared Trigger – It’s an optical trigger that uses infrared light instead of visible light. It’s less yielding than the optical trigger but still requires full visibility between the camera and the flash. And the flash still needs to be relatively close to the camera.
- Radio Trigger – It’s the most versatile wireless control, but also the most expensive one. It uses a radio signal to trigger the flash. The radio signal can travel long distances and doesn’t require a line of sight. You can use it, for example, to trigger a speedlight placed behind the subject and create backlighting. However, because radio transmissions are subject to different worldwide, radio triggers are designed for particular regions. This makes them more expensive and increases the risk of incompatibilities. They are also more difficult to set up than other triggers and may require additional hardware.
Flash Modifiers
Although you can use a speedlight as it is, often it produces light that doesn’t fit your artistic brief. It may be too harsh, not natural-looking enough, too directional, or not in the right color. To have full control over light characteristics, you need a light modifier. A light or flash modifier is an object that can change the properties of the light emitted by a flash. And it may be one of the following:
- Diffusers – A diffuser is a small white box you put on top of the flash. It may be from plastic, paper, or fabric. The purpose of a diffuser is to spread the beam of light more evenly, reduce the light intensity, and create a softer and more natural-looking light. It’s the best light modifier for an on-camera speedlight.
- Mini Softboxes – A mini softbox is still a diffuser, but a more sophisticated one. It’s a housing unit that surrounds the light source and passes the light through a white or silver surface. Similar to diffusers, mini softboxes are lightweight and portable. But having a single white surface enables them to create better directionality.
- Bounce Cards – A bounce card is a solid-white card used to bounce the light coming from the flash to another direction. It attaches to the speedlight and works in an on-camera or off-camera flash setup. Because it’s white and solid, the bounce card softens the light. And because it stays very close to the light source, it acts as a diffuser. Therefore, you get a change of direction and a change of light quality.
- Grids & Honeycombs – Grids and honeycombs concentrate the flash light into a narrow directional beam. As a result, the light highlights small details such as edges or facial features. This type of light modifier creates contrast and dramatic effects.
- Snoots – Similar to grids and honeycombs, snoots concentrate light into a directional beam. They are tubes and produce a circular illumination, slightly larger than the one provided by grids and honeycombs. Snoots illuminate a particular subject, or part of a subject, and leave the rest of the frame in the dark. It’s an effect similar to putting a spotlight on an actor on the scene.
- Color Filters & Gels – Color filters and gels are colored transparent sheets that adjust the color temperature of the light. They can create a natural-looking light resembling daylight or dramatic effects such as neon lights, cinematic looks, and lomography aesthetics.
- Ring light modifiers – Ring light modifiers are circular softboxes that provide a soft and evenly distributed light. Because they don’t create harsh shadows, they are often used for portraits, macro photos, and product photos.
Tips and Tricks for Better Portraits Using Speedlights
Speedlights are great for portraiture, whether you shoot in a studio or outdoors. They help you flatter the model, reduce skin imperfections, enhance facial features and hair, and separate the model from the background. At the same time, used improperly, they can create a red-eye effect, washed-out colors, and artificial-looking skin tones.
The first thing you need to learn is how to bounce the light. If you mount the speedlight on the camera and point it toward the model, the harsh directional light won’t be flattering. And, if shooting from short distances, it can make the model close their eyes. Instead, use a white surface or a bounce card to create a larger source of light that surrounds the model and creates a softer and more natural illumination. You may also consider using a diffuser to reduce the intensity of the light.
Most of the time, a single light source isn’t enough for a portrait photo setup. A backlight and a lateral light will create better separation from the background and beautifully enhance details such as hair curls. You can mix flash with ambient light when you have a single speedlight. Use one light source as a primary light and the other as a secondary light. Because natural light is more flattering for skin tones, it is often the primary source. The flash is used as a fill light to reduce shadows. Ensure that flash power and the ambient light intensity match.
The combination of flash and ambient light produced by artificial light sources may result in greenish, bluish skin tones. You can fix this by using gels to temper the flash color temperature. And if you master using gels, you can try more artistic approaches and give your portraits a vintage or SF look.
Conclusion
Speedlights are portable and versatile. They can provide the extra light you need to take a good photo or the freedom you need to create artistic lighting designs. And although it may take some time to learn when to use a speedlight, how to set it up manually, and when and how to add a light modifier, in the end, it is worth the trouble. Your photos will look professional and ready for featuring in a magazine or exhibit in a gallery.
