What Equipment You Need For Off Camera Flash Photography [With Links]

For many years I put off working with a flash.  The few times I did the photos looked kind of .. bad.. and unnatural and I just couldn’t get the results I wanted so I pretty much just avoided it.  One day  I was thinking about how other photographers get stunning photos with a flash and that there is a way to do it, and I wanted to figure out how.. and so began my journey into learning off camera flash.

A lot of others are in the same position I was in and don’t know where to start.  For this reason I’d like to share my “start up” kit.  This is valuable information to be sharing because it was no easy task to figure out exactly what I needed and what is compatible with what.

What do you need to do off camera flash?

1.  A flash
2.  A Stand
3.  Triggers
4.  A diffuser

This is it!  This is the bear minimum to accomplish off camera flash (well for the bear minimum you can remove diffuser as you don’t “need” it but.. trust me, you really want it..).

1.  A Flash – $259.00 – I started with a Canon Speedlite 430 EX II.  I love this light and it is a great place to start.  You can shoot in manual or ETTL, you can rotate the flash to aim it in any direction you want – behind you, up to the ceiling, against the wall, or straight on.  This is great because  it’s nice to  have the option to bounce the flash vs shooting it straight on, but that’s a topic for another day :).  This flash is a slave only so if you ever want to shoot with 2 flashes you will need to get the Speedlite 580 to control the 430 but if you only need one flash the 430 does the job.
A great (cheaper) alternative to the Canon Speedlites is the Yongnuo brand (around $70).  I haven’t used these yet but I frequent many photography forums and a ton of people have great things to say about them!  I may get a Yongnuo as  a master flash to connect with my Speedlite.

2.  Light Stand – $27.95 – that is the light stand I bought.. it’s a great stand :).  It goes up to about 6′ high and as low as maybe around 2′.  It comes with an umbrella attachment which is essential for the softbox I use but also good for using umbrellas which are nice to use when you want something light and portable.  It also comes with an umbrella 🙂 although I rarely use it.
Another option for a light stand is buying a simple hot shoe stand – about $10 including shipping.  this is a very simple way to move the flash around the room!

3.  Triggers – $82.89 – These are the triggers I use.  I have a Canon Mark II 5D and a Canon 430 EX II Speedlite.  These triggers seem pretty universal but you’ll want to verify that they are compatible with your camera and light.  They are wireless and are compatible with the Speedlite.. I have no complaints :)!  It took me a lot of research to figure out which triggers to buy!  I didn’t start with wireless triggers.. the first trigger I bought was a cord which connected to the flash from the camera and it works very well, but I am liking the freedom of wireless (although dislike how many batteries I’m going through nowadays).  There are cheaper cords but I wanted something long enough to be able to move around away from the camera so I invested in a longer cord.  I really like having a cord and wireless trigger in case the wireless trigger ever stops working I have a reliable backup.  Or if I don’t want to set up the wireless triggers I can use it faster :).

4.  A Diffuser – $169.90 – A diffuser is something the light shoots through to make it softer/more spread out and less harsh/direct.  When you shoot straight on it can be too much light and very harsh so a diffuser really  helps.  I started out using the umbrella that came with my stand and upgraded to one that is a 50×50 softbox.  There are tons of diffuser options though and different shapes and sizes.  You can choose circular ones, octogons, squares, rectangles.. the shape you choose will affect your photography so maybe do some reasearch on this before you pick something.  This diffuser I chose attaches to the light stand via the umbrella port.  There are also translucent umbrellas, silver umbrellas, softboxes, and PMS or you can simply aim the flash towards a white wall and bounce it.
If you buy a 5-in-1 reflector (we’ll discuss that in a minute) it comes with a diffuser in it so one option would be to shoot the flash through the diffuser that comes with the reflector.  I haven’t tried this, personally, but it seems like it would work well.

That’s all you really “need” to start doing off-camera flash!  However if all your light is coming from one direction you will find some shadowing occurring at times.. for this reason it’s really nice to have 2 flashes or a flash and a large reflector.  This is the setup I use.. (flash + reflector).

What you need to add a reflector to your off camera flash setup:

1.  A Reflector – $14.80 – I use a 48″ circular reflector but there are many different sizes and shapes to choose from.

2.  A Light Stand – $27.95 –  I use the same stand for my reflector as I do my flash, I just added a boom onto it :).

3.  A Boom – 29.95 – It’s essentially an “arm” that attaches to your stand and you can add a reflector to it.  The arm is adjustable and accommodates my 48″ reflector as well as my smaller sized one (22″).

I was taking some practice shots tonight and these are taken mostly with 1 430 ex speedlite behind a 50×50 softbox off to my left side.  There is a reflector off to the right and it did reflect some light but I didn’t have it aimed to directly reflect light, so while it made some fill, it didn’t make it to its maximum capacity.

^  this photo was just taken with a softbox and no reflector.. I am sitting in front of the diffuser (you can see my reflection in the eyes!).

So there it is!  Everything I needed to really seriously get into off camera flash.  This is a great place to start however as you “master” the art of one flash, you’ll want to start adding in more 🙂 and upgrading equipment.

Hope this helps someone [or lots of people..] out!

-Christine Ann

Duluth MN Photographer Website
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This one thing may be ruining your photos (with image comparison).

There is one thing that we all start off doing that may be ruining your photographs: using the on-camera pop-up flash.
I thought it might be beneficial for people learning about photography to see image comparisons of photos taken with natural sunlight (in front of a window or outside) vs photos taken with the on-camera pop-up flash. Most professional photographers overwhelmingly prefer shooting with natural light however we all own external flashes and diffusers for the times where natural light just isn’t working or happening. I think we all start out using it and over years of experience and learning come to realize there are better alternatives. Some things that the on camera pop-up flash does: it creates horrible shadows! Both behind the person you are photographing and also oftentimes under their chin, depending on their angle. It creates these tiny pin-lights in the eyes (the reflection in the eyes is a tiny little dot in the pupil). It makes people squint and blink. Children complain about it hurting their eyes and it just all around looks mostly unnatural. The hair gets mega-highlighted and colors look shiny and overly textured/vibrant.

Alternatives to pop-up flash:
The best alternative: find great sources of natural light – usually in front of a window or in the shade outside.
Another great alternative: Buy a lens with a low aperture. They go down as low as f/1.2! You can handle most situations with this ability but your focus will have to be perfect (Note shooting at f/1.2 is usually not wise because of how shallow your depth of field becomes.. but it’s a nice option to have and I have shot at 1.2 before – not professionally – but for my own photos). Low aperture lenses tend to be very costly. There is one cheap lens that every photographer should own which is the 50mm f/1.8 lens. It’s around $100 and is very great for the price. It is made of plastic and you’ll want to upgrade to a very nice lens eventually but if you are a hobbiest and still learning the 1.8 is a great great option for you!!!! (And is WAY better than the kit lens which also may be ruining your photos if you are using it..).
If you do need flash, you can purchase an off-camera (external) flash and learn to bounce the light and/or diffuse it (ideal! And what professionals do).
If you find none of these are good alternatives for you right now, there are two other options. Option 1 is buying a pop-up flash diffuser. I have not tried one so I can’t vouch for it but I imagine it would help. Option 2 is changing your settings in camera and lowering the strength of the flash (not all cameras can do this but it’s worth looking into and trying out!).

Please note that if you compare flash with natural light in a spot where natural light is not good, the photo taken with a flash will usually look better. Part of learning about photography is developing an eye for and understanding of where the natural light is the best. Studio lighting can be amazing however mastering it takes a lot of time and money. Most photos, however, can be taken with natural light and most people prefer the look of it (though not everyone does, photography is entirely subjective!).

All of these photographs were taken on the same camera: Canon Rebel T2i and all were taken within the last month except the very last one which was taken back in December.

Natural light photograph, taken in front of a window. Notice now nice the reflections in their eyes are and how natural and soft everything is.

Natural light photograph.

Natural light photograph.

Natural light photograph.

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Photos taken with on-camera pop-up flash – notice the tiny little pin-light being reflected in the pupil and how the hair is super shiny and the shadows being cast behind them and under the chin as well.
On-camera pop-up flash.

On-camera pop-up flash.

On-camera pop-up flash.

Some people may prefer the flash photos, some prefer the natural light ones, and neither one is wrong, but it is good to be able to know how various things – such as your light source – will affect a photo!

-Christine Ann
www.christineannphotos.com
www.facebook.com/christineannphotos
Duluth Minnesota Photographer