Category Archives: Light

Lighting a garage shoot

Posted on April 11, 2012 by Michael Willems

I did a garage shoot yesterday. Grimy garage with girl: a well known (and always good) theme. But this depends on lighting it properly. And as usual for the Speedlighter, I did it simply: One camera, set to manual Aperture, … Continue reading →

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Grids for chiaroscuro

Posted on April 8, 2012 by Michael Willems

You use a grid on a flash (such as the Honlphoto 1/4″ grid I use) to restrict the light a flash throws. Like in this chiaroscuro picture with a flash on our left that I just took: Without a flash, … Continue reading →

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Available Light

Posted on April 7, 2012 by Michael Willems

I am The Speedlighter – but I also of course use available light sometimes. Like in this shot, from my Tumblr feed: That is an available light shot that works because: There is a window with reflected light – not direct sunlight. … Continue reading →

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Bouncing and long lenses

Posted on April 6, 2012 by Michael Willems

When shooting an event, you would usually use a somewhat wider lens (a 35mm, say, or a 24-70) and bounce the flash behind you, upward – you have read this here many times. But when you take candid shots with … Continue reading →

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Portable Studio

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Michael Willems

Your on-camera flash is a portable light studio – provided you use it right. That means: Finding the right balance between that flash and ambient light. In many cases I want the ambient light to be the fill light, so … Continue reading →

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Light direction

Posted on March 31, 2012 by Michael Willems

When you use a simple bounced flash, always ask this: “Where should the light be coming from?”. And then that is where you point your flash. So if during a custom workshop at Seneca College I want to light up … Continue reading →

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More “simple light”.

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Michael Willems

Here’s student Brittney, in a Seneca College workshop I did the other night: Again: simple light: one off camera flash. From yesterday’s post you will remember that I first thought about the background, then about the flash. In this case … Continue reading →

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Who does the work?

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Michael Willems

First question I always ask myself when taking a flash picture is: “who does the work?”. What I mean is: is the light in the image just from the flash? Or just from ambient? Or from both? Clearly : When … Continue reading →

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A simple chiaroscuro portrait or two

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Michael Willems

In the last few days I took two people’s portraits using just one off camera flash. Here’s Michelle and Adnan, respectively: How did I take those? First, I set the camera so that the ambient light looks dark. The room … Continue reading →

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Challenges… and solutions: Low Light.

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Michael Willems

I shot a classical concert the other day (Mahler’s second symphony). Performance in a church, by Masterworks of Oakville. The church had the worst light: dark, with bright back light. Ugh! Terrible. So what can I do? Not use flash, … Continue reading →

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