Shooting people at night with a single Speedlite

[podoco]

Hi,

Question for those who have figured this one out.

How do you take a picture of a single subject and/or group subjects outdoors at night with hardly any ambient light when armed with a single 580EXII? (ie: no walls/ceilings to bounce, no diffusers or other props - just the camera and flash).

Are you simply doomed to get snapshot pictures or is it at all possible to get decent pictures?

Thx

[breathless]

Hi,

Question for those who have figured this one out.

How do you take a picture of a single subject and/or group subjects outdoors at night with hardly any ambient light when armed with a single 580EXII? (ie: no walls/ceilings to bounce, no diffusers or other props - just the camera and flash).

Are you simply doomed to get snapshot pictures or is it at all possible to get decent pictures?

Thx
Define "decent?"
You have one small source of light. It can(on camera and without modifying) provide one quality of light, which is specular and direct. If you wish to, and have the means to modify, move, adjust the light, that one flash can provide many different qualities and directions of light.

[Christopher Steven b]

At the after party of a very intimate wedding I shot last month, there was the opportunity for a shot outdoors in near pitch dark. there obviously was no ceiling to bounce off of, but there was the front of the house. Had there not been a front to the house (what?), I might have asked for someone in a white top to stand next to me for a moment. Bounce off of whatever you can. where there are no walls or ceilings, make them.

[Christopher Steven b]

Ah. but when there's NOTHING to bounce from?
haha--what about camera upside down and bouncing from the ground?
I really must take this to the patent office.

[toxic]

As stated above, make a reflector, or drag the shutter.

[egordon99]

Well if they're just standing in a field, you don't have to worry about nasty shadows from direct flash :)

Use direct flash to light up the subject(s), drag the shutter so it doesn't look like they're standing in a cave.

[Christopher Steven b]

Here's another possibility: via wireless or sync cable use the flash off camera. Even through the light source is just as small, the directionality of it gives it a much more pleasing quality than direct on camera flash in my opinion.

[CosmoKid]

why is it so hard to carry a diffuser? they are 2" by 3" and cost $15.

[breathless]

why is it so hard to carry a diffuser? they are 2" by 3" and cost $15.
It'll be $15 wasted, unfortunately. Outdoors at night with nothing to bounce that light on, what's the use?

[CosmoKid]

It'll be $15 wasted, unfortunately. Outdoors at night with nothing to bounce that light on, what's the use?

then i am confused.

if you use a sto-fen on the flash, why are you bouncing?

[toxic]

The whole point of a diffuser is to disperse the light so it bounces off various surfaces. If there's nothing to bounce off of, all you do is make the flash work harder for the same exposure.

[breathless]

Cosmokid, The "softness" of light is directly related to the size and distance of the source to the subject. The larger the light source and the closer the light source to the subject, the softer the light source. Light does not become soft by "filtering" it through some transparent material. The theory behind the diffusers, such as the Sto-fen, is to spread light around a room, or a wall, illuminating it, hence making the illuminated room or wall the new, larger(therefore softer) light source.

In a dark space, without anything to reflect the light off of, the size of the light source has has not changed with the use of a small diffuser, and will not provide light quality which is much different than a bare flash exposure.

[Rodreguez]

The whole point of a diffuser is to disperse the light so it bounces off various surfaces. If there's nothing to bounce off of, all you do is make the flash work harder for the same exposure.

But putting a Stofen or a Lumiquest softbox on your flash immediately softens and diffuses the light regardless of what you may or may not have to bounce off.

[breathless]

Uh boy...

[sjlund]

But putting a Stofen or a Lumiquest softbox on your flash immediately softens and diffuses the light regardless of what you may or may not have to bounce off.

With nothing to bounce from, a Stofen is worse than useless. It's called the omnibounce for a reason. Using a Stofen in a field just creates a weaker light source.

[Digital_zen]

Ok, so take a white T-shirt rip the back off and have the scarecrow hold it about 2ft. from your off-camera-flash...softbox!...with a good bit of light loss going back toward the flash(you can minimize this by making sure the scarecrow has a white T on as well, silver lame spandex would be ideal, but what farmer that you know is gunna give up his best leotard to save some stupid corn?). Stretch the fabric a bit and you might can move it out a few more inches from your flash to get a larger source in relation to your subject. When explaining all this to the scarecrow, speak slowly, he never got that brain he put in for.

[izthistaken]

^:lol:

[HYBEagle]

Good thread, now I know what a Stofen is and what it is for.

[Project22a]

I learn more and more about flash photography everyday. It's amazing how much there is to take in.

[dustyporch]

Do you have a wireless trigger?

I was out shooting sunsets earlier this month when a couple on their honeymoon asked me if I would shoot their photo. I agreed, but I only had what was in my vacation bag to work with. Nothing to bounce off, no reflectors, just a 430ex and a wireless trigger.

I came up with this, which I was pretty proud of.... Getting the flash off the camera is always the secret IMO.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3426/3736763039_40eda0f84e.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsimmonsonca/3736763039/)

oh yeah, I have a stofen and use it all the time... but it is COMPLETELY useless without something to bounce off.

[wizkidd]

60" umbrella works wonders.

[Dmab]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3426/3736763039_40eda0f84e.jpg

That is one heck of a spur-of-the-moment shot
I'll bet the couple was over the moon with it... :)

[dustyporch]

Thanks Dan. And you are right. I emailed it to them a couple weeks later, and they were very exited.

[Veemac]

Hi,

Question for those who have figured this one out.

How do you take a picture of a single subject and/or group subjects outdoors at night with hardly any ambient light when armed with a single 580EXII? (ie: no walls/ceilings to bounce, no diffusers or other props - just the camera and flash).

Are you simply doomed to get snapshot pictures or is it at all possible to get decent pictures?

Thx
I'm amazed that nobody's linked to this thread yet:

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=412392

There are many examples of absolutely stellar shots taken with single strobes. It's a long thread, but definitely worth a read!

[k-style]

drag the shutter and use second curtain sync

[namasste]

drag the shutter and use second curtain sync
yep! easiest way I can think of without using diffusers, softboxes, triggers, bouncing, etc.

on the other hand, there are some solid suggestions above as well and I'll hopefully add a few more (one is a slight repeat, sorry). I'll use a Lumiquest softbox on the flash and an off shoe cord and that alone can really help. if you can use a remote trigger, even better since you'll be able to be far more creative. Carrying a superclamp is great since you can almost always find something to clamp to and a way to position the flash off camera with one. Another, less practical option (albeit VERY cheap) is to take a white tshirt and put it along with a wire hanger in your bag. See where I am going with this one yet? Wait for it.....yeah, softbox on the cheap and it usually fits in a bag. Surprisingly, a single flash shot through the shirt can give some really good results, give it a shot! The last is, believe it or not, even cheaper. A piece of white paper (white business cards work great) and a rubber band make a very effective bounce card and work well in a pinch.

Here's two examples I did for St. Lucian reggae artist Taj Weekes at a recent show where I wasn't going to be able to get crazy setting up lights. They aren't technically at night but I think it was brighter outside than in so maybe it counts. Both are done with a single bare flash. For the first I used a rubber band and a piece of paper I got from the sound guy to make a bounce card. The second was a single light, superclamped to a nearby pole. Point is, tons of gear aren't necessary, be creative and have fun with it.

http://www.sephotos.net/img/v1/p676264569-4.jpg

http://www.sephotos.net/img/v5/p714729929-4.jpg

[snyderman]

My simple solution is to point the flash head up (angle) or to the side so I'm not directly flashing into the faces or bodies of the subject. Any way to angle the light away in some fashion still provides enough light to light up the people, but not enough to produce red-eye and ugly shadows.

dave