Lessons
Chapter 1 Introduction
01:26 2Why Just One On-Camera Flash
04:22 35 Reasons to Use Flash
10:37 4Common Flash Myths
06:51 5What Makes Flash Challenging?
04:56 6Chapter 2 Introduction
01:36 7Flash-Strobe vs. Ambient-Constant Light
08:19 8Flash vs. Ambient Light Exposure
03:07Flash vs. Ambient Demo
06:42 10Flash and Ambient Balancing for Natural Effect
07:11 11Flash and Ambient Balancing for Dramatic Effect
04:19 12Flash and Ambient Balancing for Creative Effect
07:10 13Understanding Flash Duration
08:37 14Chapter 3 Introduction
01:34 155 Common Key Light Patterns
08:38 165 Common Key Light Patterns w/ Diffusion & Fill
07:42 175 Common Secondary Light Patterns
08:28 183 Primary Subject Patterns
05:27 19Light Qualities
09:56 20The Inverse Square Law
07:50 21Inverse Square Law in Practice
08:21 22Corrective White Balance
10:02 23Creative White Balance
05:47 24Chapter 4 Introduction
01:58 25On Board vs. Hot Shoe Flash
05:57 26Full Feature vs. Manual Flashes
08:59 27TTL vs. Manual Control
08:12 28TTL vs. Manual Recycle Times
04:43 29Flash Power & Zoom
09:18 30HHS vs. ND Filters
12:29 31FCS vs. RCS
07:11 32Chapter 5 Introduction
01:38 334 Tips When You Must Use Direct Flash
06:00 34Bare Bulbing Done Right
11:42 35Grid Snoot + Direct Flash
06:43 36Mini Beauty + Direct Flash
06:08 37Ring + Direct Flash
07:52 38Understanding Modifiers
09:24 39Direct Flash + Shutter Flash
09:07 40Chapter 6 Introduction
01:55 41Ambient vs. Direct Flash vs. Bounce Flash
14:27 42Silver Bounce
14:27 43More Light Silver
11:02 44Soft White Bounce
15:41 45Overhead Bounce
11:39 46Overhead Bounce + Fill
09:42 47Event Bounce
12:42 48Chapter 7 Introduction
01:38 49Natural vs. Dramatic Light
17:43 50Filling and Refining Existing Light
08:44 51Coloring Light for Corrective Effect
13:33 52Coloring Light for Creative Effect
10:27 53Chapter 8 Introduction
00:43 54Case Study 1 - Dramatic Sunset
09:45 55Case Study 2 - Desert Sunset
10:04 56Case Study 3 - Sinister Headshot
09:40 57Case Study 4 - Family Portrait
08:21 58Case Study 5 - Athlete Portraits
11:19 59Case Study 6 - Working Angles
07:22 60Case Study 7 - Drag + Composite
08:09 61Case Study 8 - Less is More
07:16 62The Good Karma Jar
01:41 63Favorite Feature Flashes
05:52 64Favorite Manual Flashes
21:35 65Favorite On Camera Flash Modifiers
21:21Lesson Info
TTL vs. Manual Control
Tpl versus manual control of your flash listen, I'm not going to stand here and preach to you that one of them is better than the other just use manual, okay? That's all I'm gonna say just use manual actually, I will let you make your own decision. I will let you make your own decision. Just use manual, just use manual let me show you why I want you to use manual and you guys can make the decision on your own. I promise I won't say anything else at this point. Okay, so check this out. Tl basically means we talked about this. Your flash is going to fire that pre flash, which is going to take a measurement of the light reading and then it's gonna expose for you. So in photography one on one we talked about using the automated mode when you're getting started and that's great. The automatic mode are fantastic forgetting exposure, that's usable. Okay, similarly, I could say the same thing about tl it's great when you're getting started. But here's the thing and some people, by the way woul...
d ask, well, what if my flash head let's see my flash his point off to the side? I'm gonna grab one of these grab an actual full feature flash that has teo and let's say that my subject is right here but the flash is actually pointing to the side and it's bouncing off the wall they would say, well, how does teach he'll take that measurement? Well, like I said, it's firing a pre flash, so that means we'll actually fire a pre flash against the wall measure the light reading coming back from the wall and then it would expose for that subject. So it's going to basically get a reading that way so it really doesn't matter what direction it's pointing, it doesn't matter all those things will take a reading and then fire and and get it hopefully right, but like I said, it gets it hopefully right? So let's, talk about this. What are the pros? It's? Simple it's automated that's really? It that's the on ly pro that comes of this because there's a whole list of cons number one you have less control, less precision in photography one when we talk about getting you into manual mode because they want control, we want precision. We want every one of our shots to be equal in exposure. So that way, when we get in the post production, we can apply one set of development settings to it and be done. We don't have bearing exposures and varying different looks and so forth we have tto manually correct in post we want that kind of control in that kind of precision and with tea till you don't get that you get automated simplicity and that's it what else? Well, you get the lack of consistency there and the other lack of consistency is that if I get a correct exposure reading with t l I don't really know what power setting was actually used for that I mean, I can tell my my camera I can expose and say give it a plus one or a minus one to exposure value, but I don't know what that values I don't know how much power is coming out of the unit, so if I were to move my light setups and get a result that's not as good, I don't know where to go with my power of them just to dial up and down the tv so it's a little bit difficult in that sense where you don't have that kind of predictability there okay number three modifiers and unique compositions they can kind of confuse the flash let me tell you what I mean there's certain modifiers like say I think the one that I actually was having the most issues with and it will happen with various different types of modified but let's say you put like a dome over this guy anything that you do is going to kind of give the flash a little bit more to think about okay, now sometimes the t tail mode will still give you a correct reading oftentimes it does not okay, so domes and there's gonna be a lot of these things can create challenges for the tt l to actually give you a correct reading and so in those situations it just really doesn't work it's similar to how and same thing with unique compositions if you're using a super unique composition where the subjects in a corner and you wanted to expose for that subject and really it's just a tiny part of the frame this is another really confusing thing for the flash just as in photography wanna one trying to tell the camera automatically expose for some little point in a scene based on whatever you're crazy composition is you're not going to get to the right point and you have the same issue with your flash all right maur power consumption there are a lot of people that would tell you firing and tl does not consume more power and it does not slow down your recycled time which is number five is slows down the recycle time on your camera are on your flash I have proof that it does we're going to show you we're going to give you proof that it indeed uses more power and slows down the recycle time why just think about it you're firing a pre flash before it fires the actual flash that uses a power so that pre flash has to use a certain kind of power to get to it. And then it has to use not only use more power to actually figure out what your exporters heading. Wass is going to take longer to recycle afterwards. How long? Well, it can actually be a long time it khun b upto thirty to forty percent longer to recycle after using tl basically, with that pre flash versus just using manual mode so there's strong reasons they're not to use t l let's talk about the manual side. The prose. Well, it's, basically the exact opposite of what we just talked about on tv. Outside we have more control. We have precision. I know that if my light is pointed at my subject and if I move a certain distance away, all I got to do is power of the light. If I'm at one eighth power, I'll goto one quarter power or one eighth plus two thirds. I'm just gonna gauge it basically distance. Now, if you if you know the inverse square law, you could be very precise with it. But the simple thing is just to take the power, dial it up a little bit, take a test shot and you're good and then just adjust from there so I have very much very simple control and precision I know exactly what power setting it's on I know where to move it to with t l I can on ly work with these exposure value plus one plus two minus one minus two that's it okay the exploder consistency again we're talking about getting image to image equal exposures the only caveat here is that when you make a major change in distance between your subject you do need to actually adjust the power here where's what teach yell it would do it for you but once we adjust the power we're good we're solid we're getting a whole set of images that are consistent and easy to post produce ok same settings regardless of the modifier or the composition if I set this up and I'm using the strobe ese and I set it up for one correct shot and I get my correct exposure I leave it on there and it's gonna work every single time with that modifier with whatever modifier amusing it has no effect on the exposure reading because I'm dialing in the exposure myself I'm dialing in the power setting myself I'm not letting the camera do it okay number four less power consumption number five better recycled time and the on ly khan on the manual side is that they're slightly a little more effort involved just like when you're shooting manual on your camera with your appetite and your shutter speed in your highest. So when you move from seeing the scene and we always tell people shoot throughout the day, like whether whatever you're shooting doesn't matter whether you're at a wedding, where they're doing portrait, shoot manual and as you move from scene to scene, adjust now, does this take a little bit of time getting used to? Yeah, it takes a little bit of time little bit of effort to kind of remind yourself, oh, I change scenes or oh, the light just changed. Oh, there's clouds now overhead, I need to adjust my exposure, but once you get used to it, it becomes very simple and second nature, and I want you guys to get in habit of doing the same thing with your flash. When it comes to photography as a professional, you want control, you want precision, you don't want your camera making decisions for you because then when it comes to a situation to replicate what you just did well, if something goes wrong, you really don't know how to get back to it. So I want you guys to take control of the flash shoot in manual, even though I'm technically not gonna tell you what to do.
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Ratings and Reviews
Sid
The best class for understanding light and lighting there is bar none. Pye is an excellent teacher and the quality of the material provides for a rich and very informative experience. Pye breaks down the fundamentals in easy to digest packets and then elaborates as needed. If there is one class that you watch this is it! Worth purchasing and saving for future use. I would also HIGHLY recommend downloading the saving the PDF of slides that accompany the videos. Again, and can't say it enough, this is THE BEST video to lighting on Creative Live. A must watch for the novice and the expert.
Petra
Great course, I highly recommend it if you want to become a more confident flash user. Pye is a wonderful instructor and just such a nice guy, it's a pleasure to listen to him
Simon Metselaar
This is the best thing that happened to me since I've been into photography. What a lifesaver. Unfortunately I already payed for some courses that are not Pye, but Pye just nails it. Amazing, and kind of a life hack. Thanks again :)