Being that photography is an art that relies on the presence and absence of light, I have found that I am pretty picky about how I use light in my work. When natural light is an option, I prefer it. I love to photograph newborns beside a window, the light streaming in and usually soft. It is what the eye is used to seeing, I think, that makes natural light photography so enticing.
In my studio, I rely on a large softbox and reflectors to direct light. My favorite way to light my subjects is from the side, though I do use lots of front light when I work with children and with babies.
At events, I have worked with one of my studio lights, natural light, and a speed light. Speed lights mounted directly on top of the camera are my least favorite lighting combination. I am now working with my second diffuser, a small soft box, to soften the light from my speed light, and while the results are not terrible, they are not what my eye is normally drawn to. I am experimenting with various shutter speeds, apertures, ISOs, and exposure compensations, and I rely on TTL when I use my speed light. Every now and again, I will make an exposure that makes me happy; a nice soft light that moves quietly across the face, giving dimension to my subject’s face. I hate it when (and yet I know that I have done this many times before) my speed light, my shutter speed, aperture, ISO and exposure compensation do not mesh well and the photograph oft my subject is way overexposed and the highlights are blown way out. I hate it. But, it happens, and there are ways to correct much of it in post processing, but when possible, I prefer to get the shot right with my camera.
Below are a few photos that I took of my daughter Annabelle using natural light and an on camera speed light. I placed my daughter about a foot from a large window with early evening light streaming in. I then directed my flash up towards the ceiling and used a wide open aperture with a shutter speed of about 1/125, ISO 100 and no exposure compensation. I did like the shots in color but preferred the way black and white picked up the shadows and lines in the photograph.
Tomorrow I would love to try again with my speedight and get outside in early and late afternoon to photograph my children as they play with the sun going down behind them. As much as I shy away from flash, I think there are more possibilities for fun and beauty by learning how to further manipulate the light by using it.
P.S. For those of you who are also working with speed lights, have you tried to use a remote to set off your flash when it is off camera? If you have, I would love to hear about your experience and see examples of this kind of work. It is definitely another alley of flash photography that I’d like to explore.
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I just got a speed light and a wireless sensor for it. I’m just starting out, but so far I like it. One thing I learned from a CreativeLive class recently is instead of pointing your flash strait up which can make under eye shadows, is to point it toward the ceiling, but behind you and off to the side a bit (hopefully your speed light swivels). I’ll try to send you a recent photo where I tried this technique. Super cute photos!