Can you ever use a flash aimed directly at the subject? I mean.. the victim?

Yes. Outdoors, you can do this. Look at this shot from a recent softball shot:

To do an outdoors shot like this on a summer day (it is the first day of summer on the northern hemisphere, after all):

1. Ensure the subject is not in direct light – sun behind them if possible.
2. Go to the maximum shutter speed when using flash (1/250th sec on most cameras). If the light is fairly constant, I am assuming you are using manual mode, as a pro or someone who wants to shoot like the pros.
3. Find a nice background.
4. Now set the aperture for the correct background (around -1 stop on the meter perhaps). This was around f/5.6 at 100 ISO in the shot above.
5. Then turn on the flash and shoot – with the flash aimed directly at the subject of you cannot bounce.
6. Use flash compensation if you need (if the subject is too bright or too dark).

The awful “direct flash” effects are minimised by the available ambient light filling in the shadows: your flash is now the “key light” and the ambient light is the “fill light”, which fills in the shadows left by your flash.

Result: an OK picture even though you are not using modifiers like umbrellas. Yes, these would be even better but you can’t always use them.

…and I mean catch lights. And you should always have them in portraits. Like in this one of model Kim that I took a few hours ago:

The catch lights are the little sparkles of light in the subject’s eyes. They make the subject look alive.

To get them, make sure there is a light source in front of the subject, above. This can be…

• A reflector.
• A natural light source, like a window with non-direct light.
• A flash in an umbrella, like here.
• Or a flash in a softbox – this gives you a square catch light.
• A flash on your camera, bounced at the ceiling behind you.
• A flash on your camera, direct or with a little bounce card.

The last option is not ideal since it will give you a small, centered catch light. Ideally, the catch light is high in the eye. Not in the middle of the pupil, and that is what direct flash gives you.

If your light source does not show in the eye, move it lower.

Like most things in photography, it is simple once you know it – nd especially, once you start paying attention to it! So from now on, look for catch lights in your subject’s eyes, and do what you need to get them if you are not getting them!

How do you shoot a silhouette, like this one from yesterday’s maternity shoot?

Really quite simple:

1. Have a simple background (wall, or backdrop).
2. Ensure that the background is light (flash!) and the foreground is not (avoid light falling “everywhere”: I used grids on my flashes).
3. Expose for the background, and add a few stops.
4. If necessary, do the last adjustments in Lightroom (or whatever software you use).

I used an additional edge light here to emphasize the tummy.

Go try it today!