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Hack 43 Pro Portraits with Just Two Flashes

You don't need to spend
thousands of dollars on expensive lighting to get
professional-looking portraits.

Many amateur photographers are
intimidated by
studio portraiture, and for good reason. A trip to a working
pro's studio reveals thousands of dollars of
lighting equipment, specialized backdrops, and various posing
accessories. Who can afford that?

You have to remember that working pros need all that stuff because
they're required to meet the needs of a various
clients. Pros often don't know
who's going to walk in the door and what that person
is going to want. You don't have that problem. Your
mortgage isn't dependent on your ability to meet
every customer's whim.

So, then, how much stuff do you need to shoot a professional-looking
portrait? Your setup can be as simple as two flashes, two light
stands, one photo umbrella, and a nontextured backdrop, such as
butcher's paper. All of these goodies fit easily in
the trunk of your car, enabling you to shoot great-looking portraits
just about anywhere.

4.6.1 Get Your Lighting Together

For this assignment,
I'm going to start by showing you what I consider
the easiest way to go. Even though the investment in this equipment
is far less than what pros spend, the bottom line might still be more
than your budget allows (figure about US$600). If this is the case
for you, I'll present some low-cost alternatives at
the end of this hack. But let's start with the most
desirable and go from there.

First, I strongly recommend a camera that has Manual Exposure control
and accepts external flashes. A camera that has lots of flash
accessories available from the manufacturer is even better. At the
moment, Nikon and Canon provide the most options.

When you're shopping for external flashes, look for
models that can be triggered wirelessly by the camera. These units
are perfect for the photographer on the go. I'm
using two Canon Speedlite 420EXs (as shown in Figure 4-9) and a Transmitter ST-E2 for this assignment. The
transmitter mounts in the camera's hot shoe and
wirelessly triggers all the flashes when you trip the shutter.

Figure 4-9. Canon 420EX flashes in slave mode

Not only does this configuration save you from the tangle of wires,
but the flash units and camera also communicate during the exposure,
so you get perfectly exposed shots without having to calculate guide
numbers and f-stops. It's truly amazing.
Nikon's offering is equally fantastic.

Now, all you need are a couple of light stands (with brackets) on
which to mount your flashes and a photo umbrella to serve as a
diffuser for the main light. I've had good luck with
Bogen light stands, such as model 3097, because they provide good
height but fold down to a compact size and are lightweight. I add a
Bogen 028 flash bracket to the top of
each stand so that I can position the light at any angle. Plus, I use
these brackets to hold the umbrella, as shown in Figure 4-10. Just about any type of photo umbrella will
serve you well, so shop for price.

Figure 4-10. Flash on stand with umbrella reflector

I can use this lighting setup with almost any
Canon camera that has a hot shoe, including
both film models (the EOS series) and digicams, the
"G" series, Digital Rebel, 10D, and
on up the line. Figure 4-11 was shot with this
lighting arrangement and a Canon 10D digital SLR. But
I've recorded many successful portraits with the
more affordable Canon G2 prosumer model. They all work equally
well.

Figure 4-11. Portrait taken with two-flash setup

4.6.2 The Setup

Find a room
that gives you at least 10' 10' of working space. Lots of natural
light is helpful for accurate focusing and keeping the
subject's eyes from dilating too much. Attach a 6'
6' piece of backdrop on the wall. You can use
photographer's backdrop paper that comes in rolls,
butcher's paper, or just about any other smooth
surface. The main thing is that you don't want to
show wall texture, because that looks amateurish. Try to position
your subject at least four feet from the backdrop. This helps soften
its appearance in the final shot.

Now, mount one flash on a light stand and attach the umbrella. This
will serve as your main light. Position it close to the model, within
a few feet, and just off to one side. The lighting rule for this type
of photography is that the larger the light source (in this case,
light reflected off an umbrella) and the closer its proximity to the
subject, the softer the light. Soft light is good for portraits in
which light is reflected off an umbrella just a few feet from the
subject, as in Figure 4-11.

Mount your second flash to a light stand and position it behind the
subject but off to one side (so it doesn't show in
the picture). Cover the flash head with several layers of tissue held
in place with a rubber band. This will reduce the light output from
the flash. Elevate the stand as high as it will go and point the
flash at the top of the model's head. This will
serve as the hair light. Lighting the hair
separately is a sure sign of professional portrait photography.

Now, turn everything on, including the transmitter that
you've mounted in the camera's hot
shoe. Set the camera to Auto Program exposure mode and take a few
test shots. After reviewing the images in the LCD monitor, adjust
your lighting accordingly. Is the hair light too strong? Then add
more tissue or move it back a bit. Is the main light flattering for
the model's features? If not, move it to a different
position and try again. I usually take about a dozen test shots
before I find a lighting combination that I like. Once I do, I shoot
quickly, before my subject gets tired of posing.

You'll be amazed at how good your portraits will
look.

4.6.3 Alternative Equipment

The wireless flash setup is far and away the
most accurate, convenient, and portable arrangement you can use. But
if you don't have the US$600 to invest in these
tools, consider this alternative lighting arrangement.

If you already have a few older flash units available, make them
wireless by purchasing so-called slave
triggers, such as the
Wein WP-HS
that's available for around US$30. The slave
attaches to the foot of the flash and has a hot-shoe mount and a
tripod socket so that you can attach it to a light stand. Position
your slave-mounted flashes, as outlined earlier in this hack, and
then activate your camera's built-in flash. When it
fires, it will cause the other, more powerful flashes to fire too.
You might want to put a few layers of tissue or a piece of exposed
slide film over your camera's built-in flash so that
it doesn't adversely affect your lighting scheme.
Its job is to trigger the other flashes.

Some digital cameras emit a
preflash before the
real exposure. This can throw off the timing of your wireless
arrangement. Overcome this problem by mounting a small external flash
in the camera's hot shoe. It won't
emit a preflash like the built-in unit.

Now, we have to address the problem of exposure. Since
there's no communication between the camera and the
flashes, everything has to be set manually. You could calculate guide
numbers for this arrangement, but why? You get instant feedback on
your camera's LCD monitor.

Put your camera in Manual Exposure mode with the shutter speed at
1/60 of a second and the aperture at f-5.6. Set your main flash (the
one reflecting off the umbrella) to its most powerful setting. If the
hair-light flash has variable settings, set it to 1/4 power.
Otherwise, add layers of tissue as needed. Now, make an exposure.

If the subject is too bright, stop down your aperture to f-8. Too
dark? Try f-4. Once you find the magic combination of flash and
aperture settings, take notes! This will save you much effort the
next time you use this setup.

4.6.4 Final Thoughts

You can travel light and still shoot portraits like a pro. The best
route is to use wireless flashes made by your
camera's manufacturer. But with a little patience,
you can patch together just about any assortment of flashes for
fantastic results.