Basic Flash Photography (with Fuji EF-X500)

Flash photography, starting with the basics of the included flash to off-camera flash with the EF-X500. My guest: Fujiguy Billy Luong.
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CREDITS
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Producer and Host: Maarten Heilbron
Guest: Billy Luong
Crew: Paul Marshman, Jerry Julien
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[@In-Rainbows]

Best photography tutor on here. Well done. 👍

[@MaartenHeilbron]

Wow, thanks! A pleasure to read your kind words.

[@adamchen279]

Great video. With flash, the concept is simple but setting it up feels so complex and scary. Videos like this really help! Thanks.

[@MaartenHeilbron]

Always nice to hear my videos are useful.

[@MrJueKa]

since I`ve started my hobby in 1980 I`m a great fan of speedlight photography which for me is one of the more interesting fields of photography, and don`t be scared, it`s much easier to learn and understand than most people think and you can keep the whole thing as simple as possible there`s less to no "try and error" if you use your speedlights in TTL mode :) - included little diffusor or a larger softbox, there`s not a simular effect, there`s a great difference because a diffusor is needed to enlarge the lighting source, here the head of the speedlight, because the greater the lighting source the softer the shadows on or next to your model or subject, that`s also the reason why you should bounce the light from the speedlight to a nearby wall or ceyling to make the lighting source bigger without any further equipment (now the wall or ceyling becomes your lighting source) to get a more natural looking effect because of the softer shadows, no matter using a speedlight on or off camera, I never use these little included yoghurt cup diffusors, because they don`t really enlarge the lighting source, I bounce the flashlight or I use larger diffusors instead like shoot through umbrellas or softboxes for instance here´s my favourite video showing a very easy way to produce good looking pictures with only one TTL-speedlight on camera, this method is more than enough for many indoor and even some outdoor situations in the normal life of a normal (hobby) photographer "Black Foamie Thing - on-camera flash modifier" by Neil van Niekerk kzbin.info/www/bejne/n6ncm5iPqbmtbJI + neilvn.com/tangents/about/black-foamie-thing/ if you want to learn more about speedlight photography search for "strobist/s" here on YT or on every search engine, David Hobby for instance was the first so-called "strobist" and is still one of the best, Joe McNally is the godfather of the Nikon Creative Lighting System who brings speedlight photography to a higher level - on the other side Michael Zelbel and his "GoodLight! Clips" channel shows a lot of very easy to learn ways and set ups for a low-effort but very effective way of using speedlights, very recommendable - sorry, but I`m a great fan of all three :)

[@MaartenHeilbron]

Thanks for the detailed notes and for sharing your experiences.

[@MrJueKa]

@@MaartenHeilbron You`re welcome ! IMO that`s the main reason for producing and sharing or for watching those videos about photography, we all want to share our knowledge or our experiences to learn more and new things about our fantastic passion

[@MaartenHeilbron]

I appreciate your kind and generous sentiment.

[@MrJueKa]

@@MaartenHeilbron Thnak you very much, Sir

[@bill3117]

Thank you so much. I pulled mine out of the closet. Hopefully this will let this flash newbie finally get some use out of this purchase!

[@MaartenHeilbron]

Glad to hear you're motivated to continue developing (sorry) your skills.

[@pablodoncor]

Nicely done Maarten. Thanks for all the information here. I'm planning to add one flash for my Sony a6000, so this video has helped me a lot. Greetings from Argentina!

[@MaartenHeilbron]

It's very kind of you to take the time to comment. I always appreciate knowing that my videos are helpful. Please say hello to all my friends in Argentina, and thanks for sending all those great wines.

[@pablodoncor]

@@MaartenHeilbron Thanks Maarten for your nice words and glad that you enjoy our best red wines. Hope you come and also enjoy the south of the country one day. Patagonia is unique. Cheers!

[@MaartenHeilbron]

@@pablodoncor Thanks, that is one of the many things on my to-do list.

[@briancody8663]

Great video!! Im currently looking into getting a flash for my x-t2 and this answers alot of my questions. subscribed...

[@MaartenHeilbron]

Always nice to know my videos are useful, thanks for the kind words.

[@BushCampingTools]

Hey there, great video. I'm wondering what are my options to trigger third party strobes from the XT2. For example I have an IR transmitter, which signals to a remote strobe unit to trigger that flash. However on mounting the IR transmitter to the hot shoe of the XT2 the menu is totally locked out. I'm hoping there is a way around this as it appears there is zero communication between the IR unit and the XT2 (hence all the fields grayed out). Hope you can help/advise.

[@MaartenHeilbron]

Sadly, I have only the flash expertise you see in this video.

[@andersonnebraska8044]

Critically important explanation. Thank you.

[@MaartenHeilbron]

Thanks, I appreciate the kind words.

[@StevenScholten]

Hi Maarten. Good and clear explanation. I love my Fuji x-pro2. Unfortunatly the flash system is sub par. The X-500 is expensive and you need 2 to do ofcamera flash. Luckily Cactus and Nissin are trying to catch up with triggers with both TTL and HSS.

[@MaartenHeilbron]

Thanks for the kind words, appreciated. And thanks for the notes - these are issues that I'm only just starting to appreciate. More flash videos to come, until I get to a level of understanding that I might actually be able to review a flash in a meaningful way.

[@StevenScholten]

Maarten Heilbron once again i think your reviews are realy great. I have learnt a lot about flash photography from watching Neil van Niekerk. He has some great videos on the B&H channel. Plus a great website.

[@MaartenHeilbron]

I appreciate the kind words, and thanks for the tips - I'll have to watch those.

[@ttscruz]

Maarten, great video, very relaxed.

[@MaartenHeilbron]

That's kind of you to say, thanks. I'm just completing a second one, with Sony's Rob Skeoch, to understand off-camera flash better.

[@gman3447]

Very good ,video . many thanks .

[@MaartenHeilbron]

I appreciate the kind words, thanks for taking the time to comment.

[@tscholent]

Great way of getting Consumers interested in other than normal flash functions. At 9:40 however Billy (Remains being the "Goat") explains that with a shutter speed of 1/250 the motion in the image would be blurred and that is true.What he should have explained (Usually this part becomes a YT clip just about high speed synch)is what happens when the shutter speed is set at a higher than 1/250 of a second with the flash having no HSS.Built in flashes and flash shoes on the cameras should categorically be "outlawed " on account of producing Paparazzi /Deer in the headlight images.To Bad flash photography isn't your thing.What Newbies need is someone as patient and diligent like you and for fuji at the moment most of the material is directed at intermediate to advanced Photographers. Adorama has a fellow (His name is Mark Wallace and he's good) but he teaches Canon/Nikon/Pocket Wizard only.

[@MaartenHeilbron]

Thanks, I appreciate your comments. There is a lot to understand to even begin the master using flashs effectively.

[@eurobotch]

has a bit of an infomercial vibe to it but very very good video for beginners interested in finding out the basics of flash photography. thank you

[@MaartenHeilbron]

I appreciate the kind words, thanks.

[@allenschneider1847]

So with the flash on, set to TTL, I can still set the ISO and Aperature and the flash will compensate for the needed light? In doing this approach does SS need to be set to auto? On the XH and XS cameras can I set the camera on Aperture priority with ISO and minimum SS, and let the flash fill in needed light?

[@MaartenHeilbron]

First question: Yes. The typical shutter duration for flash is 1/160 - 1/250 - check your camera's manual. But these days many cameras can flash to a much shorter shutter duration. To use the flash as fill technique you may have to experiment with aiming the flash up and/or lower the flash compensation until you get the combination of natural/flash you want.

[@Sandwich137]

thank you so much for this video!!!!

[@MaartenHeilbron]

It is my pleasure, thanks for taking the time to comment.

[@katelikesrectangles]

This helped a lot, thank you!

[@MaartenHeilbron]

It's always nice to know that my videos are useful, thanks for taking the time to comment.

[@BrianAustin1949]

How do you input/adjust the ISO on the flash for manual mode

[@MaartenHeilbron]

There is no ISO adjustment on the flash, only on the camera.

[@jcblum1507]

Hello Maarten, and Fuji Guy Billy Luong, Thanks again for these incredible reviews, but I have a question: what differences do you see between the EF-X500 and the Godox TT350?

[@MaartenHeilbron]

Thanks, I appreciate your kind words. With apologies, that is not a comparison I've done. I'm certain a google search will provide results.

[@jayvila5314]

Is there a setting to trigger other flash with this little flash?

[@MaartenHeilbron]

Yes, that's one of the things we're doing in the video.

[@calvinchann1996]

Having only optical remote could be seen as being a bit backwards now that most offer radio remote as well.

[@MaartenHeilbron]

Thanks for your note - these are issues that I'm now starting to understand.

[@MrJueKa]

optical remote is a very easy to use mode especially indoors, but even outdoors with relatively short distances between the camera and the speedlight, this mode and one low-cost matching second-hand TTL-speedlight is all you need as a beginner and in most situations radio remote is the only reliable choice indoors or outdoors for longer distances up to 100 meter or under bad conditions every time the speedlight can`t "see" the optical signal from the camera built-in flash or a master speedlight on camera, for instance if there are obsticals between the camera and the speedlight or if the speedlight is mounted inside a softbox so both alternatives make sense even in 2018 and even pros use both, that`s the reason why really good modern cameras still have a built-in pop-up flash which can be used in a master or controller mode to offer the optical remote to trigger and control up to 3 or 4 external speedlights at the same time and seperated from each other in manual, TTL or mixed mode

[@MaartenHeilbron]

Thanks for your very helpful comment, appreciated.

[@Alexrocks1253]

By the way, what camera do you use to film your videos?

[@MaartenHeilbron]

You will find all the technical, behind the scenes details for this and most of my videos on my blog at maartech.com. For this video KZbin supplied two Sony A7S II cameras.

[@Alexrocks1253]

Maarten Heilbron Ok. Thank you.

[@sibub21]

Which flashes works with fujifilm. Xt 100? Other than godox ,i am from India

[@MaartenHeilbron]

I'm sure there are lots, and I'm not really that well informed - here's one: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nnmqd6CMaqebock

[@LowLightVideos]

12:50 - Deer caught in the Headlights. 😨

[@MaartenHeilbron]

hehe

[@jamesm9560]

I watched the whole thing and I have no idea what's going on with the physics and the settings. I'm such a noob.

[@MaartenHeilbron]

Thanks, I must admit that I'm still learning too. The most complicated thing about photography is lighting.

[@jamesm9560]

@@MaartenHeilbron thanks, I was wondering about my skills!

[@AnitaAML]

This video is very informative but the conversation was really corny. Unless this was meant as a comedy.

[@MaartenHeilbron]

I'm sorry that it did not appeal to you.