Some photographers will use brackets to optimize flash placement. Some will depart it on the new shoe and neglect about it. At occasions, I’ll even have an assistant hand-hold a strobe near the lens—however what when you’re not ready to do this? How will you nonetheless get a flash look that’s direct and punchy, but cleaner by having the sunshine greater than the lens? That’s the place this method I’ve picked up is available in. It might not be probably the most elegant answer, however it works.
One hand on the digital camera, the opposite hand on the sunshine. Digicam down low and light-weight up excessive. That’s basically the gist of it. There are a number of the explanation why I do it, and in addition issues I’ve found after doing it for a few years.
This principally began once I was doing a marketing campaign shoot the place my assistant would hand-hold the sunshine near the lens, however a bit above it—getting extra flattering shadows below the chin, and so forth. Then I did a shoot with out an assistant and needed the identical look. As a substitute of utilizing a speedlight on the new shoe, I grabbed my set off, separated the sunshine from the digital camera, and finally received the look I used to be after.
From there, I even adopted this methodology for occasions I shot. In settings with extra space, I’ll use a compact softbox on the sunshine; in additional crowded eventualities, I’ll simply go bare-bulb. For reference, I sometimes use the Godox AD300 — the 100 mannequin would most likely be greater than sufficient, however since I’ve the 300s in my equipment, I discovered they’re not too heavy and do the trick with out fear concerning the battery.
Sure, it typically seems to be (and feels) foolish, however the outcomes converse for themselves. This has develop into my go-to every time I need that direct flash vibe. I’ve seen one other photographer do one thing related: they use a two-camera harness, however as a substitute of mounting a second digital camera, they mount a small strobe. I’ve toyed with that strategy and even hooked up a flash to a different digital camera strap as soon as, which helped in some respects, however I additionally discovered it received in the best way.
The least environment friendly a part of this, past holding it on a regular basis, is that I normally shoot with zooms, and I’ve gotten excellent at zooming with my pinky. I notice it might be far simpler with primes, however that’s simply not normally my vibe.
One other apparent draw back, particularly for longer shoots, is that you just’ll really feel it by the tip of the day. One-handing your digital camera can have your wrist aching, and holding the sunshine aloft is certainly a shoulder exercise. But for some purpose, I preserve doing it. And the reason being the outcome.
When you’re studying this and considering of attempting this method, go forward—name me loopy and by no means do it once more. Or be like me and proceed the madness. If something, I’d warning you: it’s a exercise, retains your arms busy, and isn’t probably the most elegant answer. However for me and my work, it really works—and that’s all it has to do. Till I discover a system that works higher, you’ll catch me doing this on a regular basis.
