Introduction to outdoor off camera flash exposure

See becomeabetterphotographer.co.uk/about-my-off-camera-flash-tutorial/ for full details of the course. Follow me on 19 photo sessions, use coupon yt40 to get 40% off, normally £25.
Shooting outside with off-camera flash requires a little more thought than when shooting inside. With off camera flash exposure indoors, you usually (but not always) want to avoid including any of the tungsten or fluorescent ambient light, but outdoors you usually want to balance the ambient light with that of the flash.

[@geru2000]

For those that aren’t aware Bernie has an excellent. Course at UDEMY on flash the cost is minimal for the information he provides. I took it and highly recommend it. He’s a great instructor and extremely knowledgeable.

[@bernieraffe]

Thanks Jack, nice of you to say!

[@sergeantcrow]

Grateful to you Bernie Raffe .. I'm on an extremely tight budget and here is what I managed.. Old flashes from eBay ( About 6 ) including the wonderful Vivitar 385 Thyristor, Cobra D650 with LCD panel, Canon 420EZ With excellent LCD panel and controls.. Oh ! A big Hanimax that has dual flash and slave.. : ) Cheap umbrellas.. one with silver turned into a soft brolly.. Mixed bunch of Yongnuo triggers and a very old flash meter that I finally managed to work with 4 of the old flashes with the little trigger leads.. It is actually challenging but hopefully educational to work with all the old equipment..

[@Augphoto]

Wow, thank you. I've seen this problem addressed many times, in many ways. This is far and away the clearest and best explanation I've ever heard on balancing flash and outdoor ambient light. I am now a fan.

[@bernieraffe]

Hi Michael, thanks very much, nice of you to say, and glad you found the the video useful, cheers Bernie

[@TheCohibaguy]

Great explanation Bernie. I've been trying to get to grips with this for a while, toying with the idea of buying HSS speedlights to replace the ones I have or adding a more powerful expensive strobe to my modest kit. I think your answer is the way to go though and just avoid bright sunlight whenever possible. Sometimes though you can't choose when you shoot like at a wedding so another valid option seems to be using the inverse square law and moving your lights closer (even if they are in the frame of the shot ) then moving the light and taking a second shot without it to blend together in post. The trouble with this of course is either you have to shoot from a tripod or you Nedd an assistant to move the light while you stand dead still.

[@bernieraffe]

Yes, cloning out the speedlight and modifier can work well, but it takes some forethought and some planning. I've since purchased a Godox AD360, which is kind of a speedlight 'on steroids', and provides an extra couple of stops of power. Glad my video helped.

[@Zorkee4]

Really great video. I like your style of explanation and I think your conclusion of picking the right time day - (when the sun isn't so bright) might be one of the best answers to this problem. Many thanks.

[@bernieraffe]

+Mark Hunter Hi Mark, thanks for the great comments, really appreciate it. Cheers, Bernie

[@elliotstern1746]

I like your videos but have to take exception with this one. I really don’t think stretching out the day waiting for dusk does not fit into a lot of peoples schedules and it also changes the color of light in the sky as well as around the subject. I agree with one of your other viewers. Technology has changed. The Godox AD200 in the USA is 299.00. A regular flash such as the Godox V850ii which is a superb flash is179.00 with a guide number of 60 at full zoom. A couple of them would be almost 400.00 usa dollars which is more money than one AD200 moonlight which is 200 ws with bare bulb or fresnel, utilizes the Bowen’s mount or attaches on its own to any lightstand. It uses a Lithium batter and at full power gives 500 flashes. It is more than enough for shooting in bright sunlight, but even better, two can be combined in one Bowen’s mount and you get 400 ws. I think it is great to want to low budget flashes, and Godox is low budget for anyone who is serious.

[@bernieraffe]

Hi Elliot, yes I agree that technology has moved on since I made this video, now almost 4 years ago. However this video is taken from my course about using off-camera flash on a budget in which the emphasis is on using cheap manual flashes costing £40-£50, so it's still relevant within the context of the course. I take your point about waiting for a cloudy day or waiting towards dusk, but that is still a viable option for those that don't want to spend more money. Thanks for your comments though, much appreciated.

[@MileyonDisney]

Thanks for the great video. Technology has changed a bit since this was made. You can get a Godox AD200 very affordably now. It's like a 200ws studio strobe, the size of a Speedlite. Or the Godox AD600 is 600ws, battery-powered, still less than the cost of a new Canon Speedlite. As I don't have that extra money lying around, I use High Speed Sync. Works great!

[@bernieraffe]

Yes, good point. This video was made over 3 years ago and as you say technology has marched on, however the basic principles still apply. But I have to say that this video is part of a course which demonstrates off camera flash on a budget, and the AD200 is still over £250 in the UK.

[@MrJueKa]

I`m a great fan of the modern TTL flash mode when using my Nikon i-TTL speedlights on or off camera with or without light modifiers or even HSS mode, it could be that easy sometimes :))

[@stevedexter]

Thank you. Your lessons on flash are so good.

[@chayter1234]

Agree about early or late in the day, or do as I do, 2 pics and Photoshop :-) Great clear tutorials, Keep up the good work..

[@beltxabeltxa]

Well explained, I am using HSS on Nikon D3, with Godex AD200, I get fine well exposed shots in sunlight, I do go to FP250 asterisk, to get over the max sync speed, perhaps you should emphasize that more clearly to the rest, you can go over the 250 barrier that you mentioned. Thanks anyway, I did subscribe too.

[@suteeju5579]

Thanks for your information. I like it.

[@fechetealex7512]

Thank you .I am now a fan

[@wrightdesign75]

one other solution is to light the subject with a reflector . that would put more light on the subject allowing the flash to not have to work as hard .. goid video and tips..

[@bernieraffe]

I agree using a reflector is a good idea generally, but I don't think it would make a huge difference if there was not enough light from the flash for a good exposure. Also what about a full length shot, the reflector would have to be some distance away?

[@wrightdesign75]

+Bernie Raffe yes i agree.. hard to shoot full length shot..

[@pearljameric]

Thank you great information!

[@zakwan5995]

instead of doubling the flash or getting a strobe.. could we just put the flash nearer to the subject = more power/exposure from flash? half the original distance = double the flash exposure and so on.. inverse square law..

[@bernieraffe]

Yes of course, but sometimes even with the flash very close, there still isn't enough power. Also you may want to shoot a bit wider, so the flash can't be too close otherwise it will be in the frame (although it can be photoshopped out afterwards)

[@MileyonDisney]

According to the inverse square law, half the distance is NOT twice the power. For example if 4 feet is 1/16, 2 feet is 1/4, etc.