Let\'s consider cause and effect and why a bracket is a good thing, or not. Here\'s how I understand the cause and effect.
Let\'s start with direct on-axis fill (e.g., ring light). It will cast its shadow straight back and bounce any specular catchlights straight back at the camera. Here for the purposes of illustration imagine this is a gray object shot with a ring light level with the horizon of a dark gray ball and break down the cause and effect.
The flash will create a catchlight reflecting the source. The size with be a function of source size and distance, sometimes referred to as \"apparent size\" or how big to would look it standing at the ball and looking at the light.
It will also fall off front > back making creating the gradient that now tells our brains the gray thing isn\'t a flat disk it is a sphere of some sort.
Except at night outdoors I see some influence of \"spill fill\" from the light bouncing off the room and \"wrapping\" the object like an overcast day. To see and appreciate how much fill spill is contributing shoot a wide shot of the room. The net effect is more \"wrap around fill\". What you thought it came from the big ass key light you use? It does, some of it. But big source = big light footprint which in a small reflective room = mega-spill fill.
But with or without the spill fill what are we looking here at folks? Get rid of the funky catchlight and it is shadowless fill light I find ideal for many (not all) lighting scenarios using two lights. For example when a second speedlight slave is added just below and in front of the lens a butterfly pattern is created...
A single flash with StoFen, LightSphere, Lumiquest, my DIY with the top flap open, etc. splitting the light into up and forward components will create a similar pattern if you can keep the downward component equal or stronger that what goes forward. What two lights give you that splitting one doesn\'t is precise control of the lighting ratio /shadow tone/illusion of softness.
Now lets go outside with our two light butterfly set-up. What do we get? We still have a nice front>back gradient from the axis fill, but with no spill fill so the gradient is steeper.
But because we have two light and separate control of fill we can raise the fill and make the shadows lighter as with the spill fill indoors.
The one scenario where using a bracket makes the most difference is outdoors where there is no bounce. Without a bracket to lift the flash the flash kills the modeling on a face in shade and also creates a low net ratio if sun is used as key light with overlapping fill.
All things considered I find flash on the bracket provides more natural supplemental light outdoors because except at sunrise and sunset no natural light is a low an angle as flash in hot shoe in portrait mode.
The take away is: Want more natural looking flash shots? Regardless of the tools you use be aware of and match the angle of the dominant natural light and fill direction and match those angles with the flash, indoors or out. Keep the brighter modeling Key component (bounced or direct from bracket) above the head, but not so high the eyes are shaded.
I find a bracket does those things more or less automatically when shooting with one flash, which I why I always use one with speedlights.
Outdoors I pose a face (and eyes) up into skylight for the pattern I want to wind up with the flash before adding the flash. That way natural and flash work together. Sort of like lighting with flash with God holding a big softbox behind your puny flash to remind you how inadequate it is. then add the flash.
Indoors if ISO mades near total darkness feasible but there isn\'t a dial on the camera to change the direction of the lighting to make it flattering or not shade the eyes. If I can\'t find a POV that make the light flattering I use two flashes to improve it. It\'s all artificial anyway, no? What wind up in the photo matters most to be so I find it better to use controlled (by me) flattering flash than unflattering artificial ambient when possible with gels to handle color temp differences.
Jan 27, 2012 at 07:05 PM
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