Speedlight any good for portraits?

Folks,

I wanted to ask whether it is worth getting Speedlight.
I have a 5D MKII and naturally I do not have any pop up flash. I photograph portraits most of the time....or 50% of the time
I usually look for the natural light....but this is not always possible.

Is speedlight any good? When it is being used? Does it give a 3D light or a flat light?

I will purchase it only when I will see that I can't live with it....but the lack of a pop up flash made me think of it.

Thanks.

The short answer is yes. On its own a Speedlite, or any small flash, will provide hard light, but you can modify the light by bouncing it or using a modifier such as a diffuser, reflector, umbrella. For best results you will be looking to get the flash off the camera so you can place the flash anywhere you wish. Of course you will need some way to trigger the flash when it is off the camera. This could be by wire or wireless. If you want to go off camera you may find a Speedlite to by an expensive solution, with features you will end up not using. You may want to look at cheaper alternatives as you will probably be setting the flash power manually.

At the end of the day a Speedlite is just a small source of light that you can easily take with you on location. A studio strobe may be more powerful, or recharge quicker, but a Speedlite can be very effective if used in the right way. So long as you understand light you will figure out how a Speedlite can help.

I don't know what you will find, but take a look at this thread - https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=412392.

For the longer answers look here....

http://www.usa.canon.c​om …-1&productID=-1&x=79&y=31
http://www.youtube.com …e+on+one&sort_f​ield=title
http://strobist.blogsp​ot.com/2006/03/lightin​g-101.html
http://www.dg28.com/te​chnique/index.htm
http://www.planetneil.​com …h-photography-techniques/
http://web.canon.jp/im​aging/flashwork/index.​html
http://uk.fotopunto.co​m …ained-lighting-schemes_60
http://www.photoflexli​ghtingschool.com/Light​ing_Lessons/index.html

and a whole series of YouTube videos by Bert Stephani - http://www.youtube.com …grapher&search_​type=&aq=f
and a few By Jacob - http://www.youtube.com …_type=&aq=7&oq=​jacob+the+

Definitely if you get creative with bouncing. It is easier with off camera placement, but certainly doable with on camera speedlight. I favor natural light when available, but sometime natural light is not there or needs a little kick from the flash to fill in the details.

Unfortunately, I don't have online samples to share, but will try to post 1 or 2 when I get home.

Its not the light...its how you use it.

Just go look at a wedding album... 90% of the pics are likely done with a flash.

I can't imagine NOT having one!

What I was/am afraid is the unnatural skin color....

I like my flash much better with a Sto-Fen diffuser:
http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …mni_Bounce_for_​Canon.html

and they also have them colored to match incandescent and fluorescent light:
http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …_OC_EYSET_Gold_​Green.html

Ferrari_Alex wrote in post #9228979
What I was/am afraid is the unnatural skin color....

Not sure I follow. Pretty much all flashes output at about 5600K which is roughly the same as sunlight.

tkbslc wrote in post #9229031
Not sure I follow. Pretty much all flashes output at about 5600K which is roughly the same as sunlight.

Yeah, I get excellent skin tones with my flash using AWB. And there's a flash WB setting, too.

-js

I do a lot of people-event shooting and use my Speedlight 580EXII most of the time as natural light is usually very poor. About 95% of the time I do "bounce" with the little white card out to get some catch lights in peoples eyes. Or I use a diffuser.The color of the image is not only dependant on the flash but also on the ambient light. As I always shoot RAW it is easy to get a consistent color for all images in PP.

When there are award ceremonies and things like that I use the second flash off camera - usually also in "bounce" mode to get a bit more even lighting and avoid shadows.
If you relate your flash experience to any previous built in flash on camera's like the 50D: don't! A seperate flash is totally different.

Also you can put a gel on the flash to make warmer/cooler looking color.

You're locking away an entire world if you only do portraiture in available light.

Ferrari_Alex wrote in post #9228979
What I was/am afraid is the unnatural skin color....

Shoot raw, use flash or Custom WB.

Thanks for all the suggestions
I do not think that I miss the entire world by not using flash, but yes, not always I get the natural light I need.
Thanks, again!

heres my take (and a pic) of my experience with the first time i used the flash.
i agree you dont miss the entire world.. but you miss a huge chunk of it w/o a decent flash.. after all photography is light and shadow, so with a flash you have a little more to tweak in that area..
https://photography-on-the.net …hp?p=9196149&po​stcount=36
cheers