OK so in ‘Flash arrhhh.. savior of the universe? perhaps (part 1)‘ I showed you how I use flash during daylight hours, particularly when there’s some strong harsh shadows that need just a bit of light to bring out some detail. This is called fill-flash as the main light source is still the sun but the flash just fills in the gaps where the sun don’t shine, if you know what I mean.

The thing is with using a flash on top of your camera the direction of the light is pretty flat, ie. everything that faces the camera (and of course flash if its mounted on top) will get soaked in light. This doesn’t create very flattering images and the simple answer is to remove the flash from on top of the camera and place it to one side. This is obviously no problem in a studio situation, I could just connect my flash to a flash stand connect it with either a cable or one of these fancy wireless things and away we go.

But and its a big but I don’t work in a studio, nor do I want to. yes I could take my flash stand out and set up my flash in a similar way on the streets, but by the time I’ve done that I’ve missed the moment the excitement has gone, people in my images who just minutes ago were really photogenic have got bored and look it too. So some how I’ve got to work out away of holding my camera in my right hand (bare in mind it normally weighs more than 2kgs depending on the lens) with my left hand stretched out to the left as far as possible. then compose, set exposure, recompose and shoot. It all gets a bit awkward and I wish I had a better solution.

One such solution might be a soft box that will soften the light emitted by my flash and therefore I may be able to shoot with it mounted on the hot shoe most of the time and then take it off for when I have the space and time to achieve some really soft side flash. The thing is I don’t know until I’ve got hold of the gear and given it a go.

My local camera shop is out of stock at the moment but I’ll do a full review with sample images as soon as I can get my hands on one.

One thing thats been niggling me for some time now is my flash. I normally I just mount on top of my camera and away I go. Since my trip to Las Fallas in Valencia I’ve realised I need a better flash solution.

I frequently use flash particularly during the day, What??!!? I can hear you shouting. Let me explain. Sun light is really really great, I love it, who knows where we’d be without it, but sometimes, particularly here in Spain sunlight can be really harsh creating really really bright areas and really really dark areas. Cameras are not able to record details in both the really really bright areas and really really dark areas, so a photographer has to choose an exposure to either:

- record the details in the highlights (the really really bright areas) and loose detail in the shadows, so shadows will appear black.

or

- record the details in the shadows (the really really dark areas) and loose detail in the highlights, so highlights will appear bright white.

Now these conditions can make for some stunning and dramatic images, but they can also create some very poor images too, if ou not aware of the capabilities of your camera.

It just so happens that I have an example of what I’m trying to explain.

Without flash

With Flash

Many people dont think about using a flash on a sunny day, but from the second image you can see the extra light that has come from the flash, particularly around the faces of the girls. Both shots were taken with the same shutter speed and aperture the only difference is the flash. This use of flash is called fill flash.

Part 2 of flash news later in the week

I’ve never been one to get hung up on the latest piece of technology, I’ve never owned an ipod and my mobile cost me 10 euros from Cash Converters, some may call me tight. However from a business point of view if a shiny new gizmo from Apple is going to increase my revenue then its an asset, if not its a liability, simple. Is an Iphone going to earn me more money? – its quite unlikely.

By digital standards the cameras I shoot with (1d MKII & 1ds MKII) are getting a little out of date, but I see no need to change them as they produce a quality that pleases my clients, my agents and me. Why should I upgrade just because Canon says so, or because its fashionable. My gear is a tool I use, not a medal I hang around my neck.

Having said all of that, and I’m sure you’ll here me say similar things in the future, I couldn’t help but check this out when I walked passed my local Sony Gallery.

It’s a netbook, you know one of those tiny laptops, and this one not only looks great but it only weighs 600 grams and has 2 gig of RAM, find out more about it here. Unfortunatly (or perhaps fortunatly) I just can’t justify the expense.