Bare Speedlight Tips... LIVE!

A basic "bare" speedlight is a great place to start your portrait photography adventures or perfect the skills you've learned without the safety blanket of a softbox. Spend a little time with a bare speedlight, and you'll learn a lot more about lighting and discover a few tricks that bigger, more expensive studio flashes just can't do.
In this back-to-basics session, I'll talk about how to get your speedlight off of the camera's hot shoe. I'll look at the differences between round and rectangular speedlight heads, and with the help of the amazing Poly (my always willing studio test model), I'll show you some quick tips to improve your speedlight photography.
Join the conversation and ask your flash related questions in this live post-processing demo.
KZbin: / @gavinhoey
Instagram: / thegavinhoey
TikTok / thegavinhoey
Website: www.gavtrain.com/
Watch me on: / @adorama

[@geraldinebryce594]

You must get your 10,000 steps in one of there sessions. Thank you for all your hard word. Brilliant session ❤

[@wadecoffie7255]

Thanks Gavin and your staff and Adorama for these fun and very educational videos. I think I have watched most of your videos. Love your style! 😆

[@101jumpit]

Gav ,i've watched your vids and tutorials for years.Always so enthusiastic and informative.Thanks Gavin and the crew :)😄

[@ian-canada]

Thanks Gavin another great workshop. As a tip for fellow shooters, most speedlights can also be used as a slave unit. This can be handy if your camera has a built in flash that you can use to trigger your off camera flash if you dont have a dedicated trigger.

[@GavinHoey]

Very true Ian 👍

[@DonaldWMeyers-dwm]

My Pentax lets me turn the pop-up flash into a wireless transmitter for a flash unit, and I've used that a few times in the field to get some nice off-camera flash shots.

[@MegiddoTheImmaculate]

Just came across this video and learned more about flash than everything from other videos combined. And real world tests so I can actually see the difference instead of just trying to explain how it would hypothetically look. Subbed. I wish I had found this channel sooner.

[@GavinHoey]

Thank you and welcome along to our little community :)

[@roynewport5397]

The best educator on line.

[@GavinHoey]

@@roynewport5397 Thank you 👍

[@joeyrobertson4926]

Very helpful Gavin. Thanks for sharing! 📷🙏

[@Stayhumblefootieguy]

Thanks Gav love the information don't often comment but you are my Go to for photography information and tips keep up the great work 👍

[@GavinHoey]

Thanks for taking the time to comment and stay tuned for more 😁

[@DonaldWMeyers-dwm]

I caught the program live, and I've added it to my tutorial playlist, which you are currently dominating.

[@GavinHoey]

Yay, glad I've been of help Donald 😁

[@5RustyBin]

great video - best display of the impact of zoom on flashes I have seen and also great to compare the rectangular and round speedlights.

[@GavinHoey]

Thank you 👍

[@mikecritchlow1114]

Gavin, thank you for the best comedy camera show on't'internet! 😅

[@GavinHoey]

It's supposed to be a serious show with actual useful information Mike, but somehow it never quite works out that way 🤣

[@Maz3-1]

Another info packed session! Thanks Gavin and the awesome non-paid employees 😂

[@TeddyCavachon]

I worked with Monte Zucker in the early 1970s. He introduced the idea of using dual flash shooting weddings to solve the problem of getting detail in black suits and white dress on the short range of color prints which wedding photographers had just started using. When I started in 1972 he was using single power Graflex bare reflector flashes which where power with large 410V batteries One was placed 16” directly over the lens of the camera, the other placed on a rolling stand which was actually a modified medical IV pole placed either 45° from the center line of the nose and above subject head for ‘candid’ portraits , or behind at a 45° angle and behind action shots duplicating the look of backlighting of the sun with the flash on the bracket creating the downward frontal modeling. The off camera flash was triggered by the one on the camera with a simple photo cell trigger. What I learned using that key over fill arrangement was that the perception of Hard or Soft is a combination of how light the fill made the shadows and the fact it fell off intensity from front of face to back of head creating a contrast gradient. As long as the key light was placed to prevent the nose shadow from hanging out sideways the lighting, while un-diffused and very much like the lighting in movies which used fresnel lights. Big modifiers came into use for studio photography when color separations for printing started to be made from transparency film (Ektachome) which had a very short dynamic range compared to color prints.

[@stephentait8734]

one of the things that i have had to get my head around is the whole F-stop thing, as in i normally opening up the Aperture is letting more light in ( i normally do landscapes), but with flash if it is too bright, i have to use less power but open the aperture haha.

[@alnwickati1386]

How do I get notifications when Gavin goes Live! Is there a calendar or a schedule some where that I may view? Oxox

[@GavinHoey]

Usually hitting that subscribe button and bell icon works. I'm live on Tuesdays 5pm UK time two or three times a month. I usually post the live link to my IG story too 👍

[@alnwickati1386]

@@GavinHoey got it, thank you!

[@greglarUK]

Thank you very much 🙏

[@tommynikon2283]

Picked up a Godox AD-200Pro last week, ran light tests. Bottom line, the Fresnel head had the WORST light pattern/look. Best was bare head with 4” reflector w/ dbl diffusion disks. 2nd was bare+diffuser dome. And if using same model kit- get the extension cable head AND Round head.

[@GavinHoey]

The bare AD200 Speedlights head is hilariously bad but in a softbox it's perfectly fine. The bare bulb is the way to go 👍

[@trevorfentiman5283]

Will the transmitter trigger several different makes of flash

[@photo2000]

10:47 that's what the screw plate near the thread on the bracket is for, to tighten up on so you can place the cold shoe in the correct orientation

[@GavinHoey]

But they never work as intended. Every one I've owned will tighten up as designed but in the real world, with a bit of use it quickly loosens off again ☹️

[@andreapenna67]

The transmitter controls the flash as slave, all the logic is in the transmitter. But if you use the flash directly on camera, then you need to have it matching the camera maker to be able to communicate correctly with the camera.

[@Bananaboogiebone]

ey up Chloe watch out , gavin the super model is taking yr spot lol

[@CNCTurboStep]

The Sony flash works with the Olympus transmitter in the same way as an AD200 / AD300 etc. would. They all communicate using a standard Godox radio protocol.

[@photo2000]

29:56 spoiler alert, as soon as speedlight is off camera, and communication through a trigger, is doesn't matter what brand it is assigned too... the brand only matters for hot shoe use. Its why for AD100, AD 200, AD400, AD600 they are not brand specific... only what connects to hotshoe has to be pin/brand specific

[@lim2001burger]

Hi Gavin, Sam and Freya from one of the recorded people 👋

[@esfowle]

Having just seen this come up in my feed, I have a theory as to why the S Bracket is called such. Perhaps it is for the light it is designed to hold, the Speedlight Bracket? If not, perhaps after another piece of equipment, the speed ring, as used for soft boxes. So a speed bracket?

[@GavinHoey]

@@esfowle Thanks for the comment, you maybe right. I'm old enough to remember the Bowens S mount from when Bowens were the flashes to have. The company maybe no more but the mount letter lives on.

[@esfowle]

@GavinHoey I actually have an old set of Calumet Bowens AC powered studio lights. They're still working great for me.

[@photo2000]

Round vs rectangle.... some things to consider.... shape of image frame, many times rectangular. Shape of a person, full length or half length, rectangular. Shape of group shot, many times rectangular. If your wanting to fill a softbox or umbrella with bare head, round is most likely better... but you can put a diffusion dome on rectangular head and it will fill those modifiers more than round head.

[@sanjitdryt]

Hello from India

[@paultrunfull3324]

Gosh Poly is awesome

[@GavinHoey]

Poly is super patient, just what you need when testing and learning light 😉

[@pedroagonzalezfoto]

If I haven`t missunderstood, the zoom of the flash is also affected by the crop of the m4/3 sensor, so that a 100 mm zoom in the speddlight is equivalent to 200 mm when dealing with Olympus/OmSystem cameras. But I don't get to understand why. May you explain it in more detail?

[@GavinHoey]

The zoom of the flash isn't changed by the sensor size, it's all down to crop factor. It's really complicated to describe why in words (I've just tried and failed) so perhaps that's something I'll circle back to in a live stream once day.

[@pedroagonzalezfoto]

@@GavinHoey Ok. I'll wait for that attempt 😃 Thanks a lot, Gavin

[@lim2001burger]

Just got to the part where you were discussing building without 13th floors - there are cruise ships that don't have 13th floors

[@GavinHoey]

Good to know I wasn't loosing the plot!

[@NelsonChaban]

👍

[@GavinHoey]

@@NelsonChaban 👍

[@gillion100]

I use I believe godox S2 bracket bouwens mount

[@truthsayers8725]

the only differences between the OM transmitter and the Sony flash or Canon Flash or Nikon transmitter is because the specificity of the transmitter is so the camera will talk to the transmitter. the transmitter and flash use the same programming protocols. the reason the flash has camera specific functions is for those times youre using it on camera. the Sony flash is all same same with every other Godox/Flashpoint/Pixapro flash, with just proprietary pin layout

[@PhillipMcCallum]

Brisbane Australia, morning all

[@TP-Fotografie]

Greetings from Germany.

[@heilandgunner]

They're called S brackets because they accept Bowens S Mount softboxes/accessories. A few years ago you could get Elinchrom compatible ones too... Elinchrom still use their own mount style on their lights, but they sell different adapter speedrings for their modern softboxes.

[@GavinHoey]

It's so obvious when you say it 🤦‍♂ thank you 👍

[@heilandgunner]

Great show as always, Gavin. Sorry I missed it live.

[@bertieann]

my Canon flash will work with my Olympus transmitter

[@420sigmapower]

I have a godox V1 but I use it for background effects with color gels. I love it, but i just watch this video to see what else i can do with it. i am sure i don't use it to the full potential.

[@GavinHoey]

@@420sigmapower I hope it helped spark some ideas but I'm sure none of use our gear to the max 😉

[@420sigmapower]

@@GavinHoey Good demo. I was hoping for some bounced light rom the wall results. But i try it myself later. thnx for your time and effort.

[@WilliamBurdine]

S-Bracket or "speed light" Bracket.... :) Rectangle = more versatile situations, especially for bounce in larger rooms and of course, can go into my S-Bracket along with my AD200's. A simple solution. Best Part... 2 pieces and not extra stuff to buy for the round head.

[@mohammadazimi5899]

⁵

[@photozen8398]

When they come up with round sensor I will buy a round speed light. for now with my rectangular sensor I will use rectangular speed light.

[@JoeCosentino]

The wall is the light source when you bounce it

[@photo2000]

8:38 reason why C stands are not specific photography stands... most (not all) photography stands will have a 1/4 inch thread spigot top to screw the cold shoe onto... just fyi

[@gillion100]

Greetings from Belgium. Raining

[@mduffy910]

Michigan

[@pedroagonzalezfoto]

Good evening from rainy A Coruña (Spain)

[@Thereal111t]

Gavin. It’s called an ‘s’ bracket because it’s for speedlites.

[@fotogfitzfoto412]

It's an S bracket because it takes the Bowen's S mount modifiers.

[@GavinHoey]

Which leads to the question... What does the "S" stand for in Bowens 🤔

[@npeltack]

alwasy great videos.. i would prefer to have the camera for the ladys to be on eye level with them looking into their face rather than the downward facing one.. just my one cent thought.

[@GavinHoey]

Lovely idea, not physically possible in my small home studio.

[@ian-canada]

I missed it :(

[@GavinHoey]

You were soooo close!

[@Thereal111t]

Some of these new canon rebels have no center pin. Just to annoy photographers like you and me into buying a nicer model. They did actual engineering to make the camera less capable.

[@gillion100]

Rectangle

[@magedzaki9637]

Hello

[@gillion100]

We are still waiting to have sun

[@photo2000]

S1 bracket - ratchet steps, S2 bracket - no steps... IMO I like steps, don't have to tighten handle as much, putting far less strain on tighten handle... especially useful for large heavy modifiers

[@JoeCosentino]

I am a recorded person saying hi

[@GavinHoey]

Hello recorded Joe 👋

[@derismc1963]

Just waisting time playing around

[@jwill9311]

I will be more than happy to take that Sony speed light off your hands.

[@GavinHoey]

Thanks super kind of you but after 31:05 I think I'll keep it for now 🤣

[@photo2000]

S Bracket..... Speedlight Bracket 🤔🤔

[@geraldmathieu8455]

No

[@peeweebarney]

I am an oldie. So my question is: Is it live, or is it Memorex?

[@GavinHoey]

Wow, that takes me back to Re-Record not fade away 👴