[Photography] Off Camera Flash for Your Travel Photography

The creative use of artificial light in travel photography is a powerful tool that can take your images to the next level. While there’s a myriad of information available on getting started with off camera flash, the tutorial here is tailored for you. It will give you a start using these techniques with relatively cheap and portable equipment while on the road. The tutorial will cover the basics of gear you will need, along with real world examples of different techniques you can use to make your images pop.

It is assumed here that you have a full understanding of how to use your camera in manual mode, and some experience with the basics of flash photography. The techniques covered here are not overly difficult, and with some practice at home you will be able to approach your next trip with a new set of options to inspire your photography.

You may know, that images shot with on camera flash do not usually produce flattering results for your subjects. Moving your flash off camera often means an investment in more gear, though it doesn’t have to be super expensive or add too much bulk to your travel kit. The resulting images you get from this investment will be well worthwhile.

For this tutorial I’ll be covering some different options for putting together a basic one light setup that can be fired off camera remotely and modified through a small softbox or umbrella. This sort of setup is a practical way to travel, especially if you are on the road for an extended period, and don’t have help lugging around more elaborate studio style setups.

There are potentially many elements to your setup, each with wide ranging options in price, bulk and results. These bits of gear can be added to virtually any DSLR with manual functions and used with any lens that suits the type of images you want to produce.

Gear for Off Camera Flash Travel Photography

1. Flash gun or speedlight

There has never been a wider amount of choice when it comes to speedlites, or flash guns on the market. From the top of the range Canon and Nikon speedlights that cost upwards of $500.00, to excellent third party options, it can be a difficult choice to make.

Using off camera flash is best practiced via manual control of both the flash and camera, so higher end options like TTL (Through the Lens) flash metering are not essential, though this is increasingly an option with even cheaper third party flashes.

For a long time I’ve used a Canon 430 EX II, the mid-range option in the Canon Flash line-up, and a relatively affordable bit of gear. When starting out almost any flash will do, as even the cheapest can be fired off camera, and be modified to give you great quality light.

2. Flash Triggers

Once you have decided on which flash or speedlight fits your budget, then comes the maddeningly wide array of choices available to fire your flash remotely.

Radio triggers, which can be set to fire the flash from a small unit that slides into your camera’s hot shoe, and another attached to the flash itself, are amongst the easiest and cheapest way to get started.

You might hear many professionals touting the ownership of expensive ‘Pocket Wizards’ as something of an exclusive way into the mysterious world of off camera flash. They are great products but the market has changed. Cheaper options from Yongnuo or Photix cost a fraction of the price, and will work just as well.

I’m currently using a set of Yongnuo YN-622C Triggers, which have worked perfectly through some very tough travel. These also have the option on my Canon 5D3 of adjusting the flash power through the camera menu, which is really useful, though not essential.

3. Modifier

While bare flash can produce interesting results, this ‘hard light’ is not always desirable for the type of portraits most people will be looking to produce in their travel photography.

A ‘soft light’, produced by using a flash modifier, is the more common way to shoot, as it produces more flattering results for your subjects. Again, there is an endless array of options here. A small softbox or umbrella are the easiest and most versatile ways to get shooting.

A plain white shoot through umbrella is a cheap and compact option, and throws a fairly wide soft light that can be used for a range of portrait shots. The limitation with these umbrellas is that, as a travel photographer, you will more often than not be shooting outdoors. Any kind of wind while shooting with these might have you uttering expletives at the sight of your gear tipping over or the umbrella folding itself inside out.

A more easily managed item is a small softbox. While not as compact to transport or as simple to set up, these stay sturdy and produce a great, soft light that is useful in most portrait situations. I currently use the small Photoflex Light Dome XS, which has lasted a few years now without any damage. There are many similar options, and even DIY projects that you can find online.

4. Light Stand

This is an optional piece of gear that has the potential to be a lifesaver, or just a heavy metal rod in your bag. In most situations you will be able to get somebody to hold the flash or softbox, and roping in friends and family of your subjects to help can be a great way to help people relax.

If you do decide to bring a stand with you, it’s worth spending more over the cheap generic Ebay numbers, which from experience don’t last much past being taken out of the box. The Avenger range of stands are compact and sturdy.

5. Flash Gels

CTO (Colour Temperature Orange) gels are simply bits of plastic that you can place over your flash to vary the color temperature of light that reaches your subject. Use of these, or not, is according to personal taste. Strips of this plastic are cheap and easy to purchase online, with the sample packs offered by many companies a great way to experiment. Attaching a bit of velcro to the sides of the plastic and the flash to keep the gel in place is one way to keep things simple.

6. ND filter

Another optional piece of gear. The use of ND (Neutral Density) filters with off camera flash adds another tool to your creative arsenal. Using ND filters makes it possible to add more drama to your images with underexposed backgrounds and/or shallower depths of field during the day.

I use a range of ND filters, with the Lee 3 stop Solid ND filter, mounted with the Cokin Z Pro Holder the most common choice. Again, this is not an essential part of a flash setup, and something that can be added once you are more comfortable with the basics.

Shooting Off Camera Flash Travel Photography

Once you have your setup sorted it’s worthwhile practicing to get it all working in the quickest time possible. Without treating it like a frantic pit stop, it’s really handy to be able to get everything in order as fast as you can. On the road you don’t want to monopolize somebody’s precious time more than necessary. Being confident with your gear and shooting style, helps put your subjects at ease as well.

The following examples from recent shoots are broken into two rough styles of shooting with off camera flash. The first is the technique of balancing flash with ambient (available light), producing images where the light from your flash is subtle, and blends with the background of your subject. The second is the technique of underexposing the ambient or background light, and using shallow depth of field to add more drama to your images.

The golden rule to remember with flash photography is that your aperture setting, combined with your flash power, controls the amount of artificial or flash in your photos. Your shutter speed will control the ambient, or background, light.

Technique #1 – balancing flash with ambient

Natarajan, Little Andaman Island, India

I had met this elderly gentleman a few days prior to the shot taken here. At the time of our meeting he was the oldest living man in a remote part of the Andaman Islands Chain which was devastated by the 2004 Tsunami. I wanted to take his picture for a magazine feature I was putting together. By the time I got to his place to take a few shots one evening, it was right on dark, with only dim ambient light left to work with. This was a great time to break out the flash for a simple portrait.

After setting up a small softbox and attaching the radio flash triggers to fire the flash, I first exposed for the ambient light, setting my shutter speed and ISO to ensure a sharp image. I then chose an aperture of f/4, which combined with a telephoto lens, helped throw the background out of focus.

At these settings, without the use of flash, Natarajan’s features were dark and flat. Adding in the flash, fired remotely, allowed for a better portrait by emphasizing his strong features and throwing pleasing catch lights into his eyes (the reflection of the flash in your subjects pupils).

I asked my friend Stephan to hold the flash at a downwards 45 degree angle camera left, just out of frame, aimed at the left side of Natarajan’s face (see lighting diagram above). I usually start with the flash in manual mode, set to 1/16 power and work from there. If the flash is too strong you can power down or vice versa.

In this simple portrait, the flash light lends some shape to the subjects face without its use being so obvious.

Laura Dance Festival, Cape York, Queensland, Australia

The picture above was taken of a young boy from the Injanoo tribal group from the far north coast of Queensland, Australia. At the bi-annual Laura Dance Festival, tribal groups gather to dance and celebrate their ancient culture with outsiders.

After shooting the dance action for a few hours I wandered off to find some kids practicing their routines, with light from the setting sun filtering through the eucalyptus trees around the camp lighting up their moves.

With a small army of enthusiastic helpers I broke out the softbox and triggers, working quickly to keep the setting sun as an element to the shot. For this image a fairly heavy CTO gel was used over the flash to give the light the look of the setting sun. It’s not exact but lends a nice warmth to the light that would have otherwise looked more out of place at this time of evening.

I asked the boy to stand with the setting sun positioned behind his head, and then exposed for the background, ambient light. I chose to shoot from a low angle, as this usually works to emphasize strength in your subjects.

The flash was again set to manual and 1/16 power, which was close to the right flash exposure for the subject. This time the flash was held by another young dancer, just over my shoulder camera right (see lighting diagram below).

In the final image the highlights needed some recovery in post, and a slight vignette was added.

Backlighting your subjects this way (with the sun behind the subject) adds some dramatic effect, with the flash exposing a subject that would otherwise have been in near darkness without it.

Technique 2 – Underexposing with ND Filters for Dramatic Effect

Adrian, The Marrinyama Mob

The image above is from a shoot in a remote part of Queensland, Australia. For part of the year the guys live a traditional lifestyle, hunting, dancing and performing tough initiations on younger boys. It was the height of summer, and I was working alone with searing desert temperatures and strong winds whipping up dust from the red earth around the camps which the group called home.

In these situations being comfortable with your gear, and confident with what you are trying to achieve is really important. A flimsy umbrella or larger modifier for the flash shots would have been difficult to manage on my own. I chose to use my ever reliable little softbox setup, mounted on a decent light stand, and worked towards creating images that I had envisaged before the shoot.

For this shot of Adrian, a slightly more advanced setup was used. I wanted a shallow depth of field and for the portrait to look dramatic. This was achieved with the help of a 3 Stop ND filter to underexpose the background while keeping a shallow depth of field a f/2.8.

The flash was set to full power camera left, set just out of the frame (see diagram above). The result is that the flash is more noticeable than usual, with the background underexposed and blurred nicely for effect.

The video below is from a recent shoot in remote Arnhem Land, Northern Australia. The softbox – flash – trigger setup mentioned throughout the article is shown towards the end of the footage. Again, the flash setup was used to help out during less than ideal lighting situations on this trip.

The sun filtering through the smoke of a slow burning bush fire behind Tom helped to add some drama to the image, with the flash providing the correct exposure for his face. The flash was held close to Tom, camera right, and fired at 1/16 power.

Hopefully this tutorial has given you a starting point to work from with off camera flash for your travel photography. There’s many tutorials available for every aspect of what has been mentioned here. Happy shooting.

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[Photography] Updating your Camera’s Firmware – What is it and Why it’s Important

Does your camera have the latest firmware?

This topic is one that I often find myself explaining in more detail, and one that many people aren’t even aware that they can update their camera’s firmware, and how this may affect their digital camera. An analogy is to updating the version of software on your smart phone.

What is firmware and why is it important?

Inside your camera is a microprocessor (small computer), that uses software stored on non-removable flash memory inside your camera. This is called firmware and is the operating system of your camera which allows you to control the features and functions, with the camera’s menus and buttons. Firmware also controls autofocus, exposure, image processing, noise reduction and other important functions within your camera. Without firmware your camera would not be able to operate.

Why check for firmware updates?

Updates generally contain fixes or feature enhancements. Firmware updates aren’t always necessary – some cameras never have updates.

When a new camera is assembled the manufacturer loads the firmware that was designed at that time. After the camera has been released to the public, people may find that there are bugs or problems with the way the camera operates. The manufacturer investigates these problems and produces fixes for them in the form of firmware updates. Some of these fixes can be minor, but some of them fix more serious issues such as autofocus problems, battery-draining issues, or the camera unexpectedly locking up.

Other reasons why firmware updates are released is to include new camera features such as added languages, or to have manually adjustable settings that were once solely automatic. Some updates are to support new optional accessories for your camera (e.g. wireless functions or GPS modules, etc.). I like to think of them as free upgrades to your camera.

When to check for firmware updates?

I recommend checking for updates on a semi-regular basis, every few months or so, and after you purchase a new camera is also a good time to check. There will likely be fewer firmware updates for older cameras but still worthwhile checking, perhaps on an annual basis. If you have never checked your camera for a firmware update then now is a good a time to do so.

Does your camera have the latest firmware?

First check what version of firmware your camera is running. This information is found within one of your camera’s menu options. Finding it is different on every camera and not always obvious. Your instruction manual will help you find where to look in the menus.

You can check for the latest firmware by looking at the manufactures support and downloads section of their website for your brand and model of camera. Look for higher version numbers than the one found on your camera. If the version numbers are the same, there is no need to perform an update. Please note that some camera models never had new or updated firmware released and therefore new firmware updates may not be listed at all.

Important: You need to know the model of your camera and only use the firmware that is specific to your model.

The following links were recently current for the major camera manufacturers and may be of help when checking for releases of newer versions of firmware for your camera.

• Canon


• Nikon


• Olympus


• Sony


• Pentax


• Panasonic


• Fujifilm


• Leica

Why read the instructions carefully before updating your cameras firmware?

Read the instructions very carefully before updating the firmware on your camera – you don’t want to end up having a dead camera! If the battery fails during the firmware update or the update is interrupted in some manner, the risk is having a camera without usable software. Meaning you have a dead camera that you have to take to the manufacturer to fix!

How to find out what has been fixed or updated with the new firmware?

Check the release notes that come with the firmware updates. Usually you will find included a list of the fixes or updates in earlier versions of the firmware too.

Typical steps to update your cameras firmware*

* Sample only – Please read your own firmware update instructions for your camera model

1. Check the firmware version on your camera – it will be shown on one of the menu options


2. Check to see what the latest version of firmware is available for your camera on the manufacturers web site


3. Read the instructions carefully


4. Download the firmware


5. Install a fully charged battery into your camera


6. Format a memory card in your camera (read your manual if you aren’t sure how to do this)


7. Place that memory card into a card reader connected to your computer (do not connect via a cord from the camera)


8. Copy the firmware update file into the top-level (root) folder of the cameras memory card


9. Safely eject the card on the computer


10. Place the memory card back into the camera (remember to power off the camera any time you remove a card or open the slot door)


11. Follow the instructions to update the cameras firmware


12. Unless instructed to do so, don’t touch any buttons, or switch the camera off during the process


13. Check to see that the camera is running the newly installed firmware version – as per the first step

If you have a Nikon

Some Nikon DSLR cameras may have A, B and L firmware – what are these? Nikon A-firmware is for the I/O (Input/Output) processor, B-firmware is for the Control (“Expeed”) integrated micro-controllers and L-firmware is for lens specific updates such as correction for lens distortion. You need not know why they have this scheme, just know what version is the latest for your camera model and use that to keep your camera up to date. Other camera manufacturers generally have just one firmware version to install.

Want more features on your camera – try Magic Lantern! (Canon EOS only)

Believe it or not some people wanted more from their cameras and the only option was to team up with other smart people and write their own firmware! This started back in 2009 after Canon first released the 5D mark II, a full-frame (35mm) sensor body that was also capable of recording full HD video. The users (film makers) wanted to be able to have more control over the 5D mark II for video functions. The camera was much cheaper than buying a $25,000 commercial video camera to do the same thing.

Since then, there have been various updates to this firmware that include support for other Canon EOS cameras while also including useful still photography features such as: an intervalometer, custom bulb timer for long exposures, motion detection, voice tags for photos, etc. This firmware runs from your CF or SD card, instead of the factory firmware inside your camera. The Magic Lantern software is only available for certain Canon EOS camera models. For a full list of supported cameras, to find out what it can do and how it works, you may like to visit Magic Lantern’s website.

Please note: running third party firmware is not supported by the manufacturer and may void your warranty. So unless you are very comfortable with what you are doing, using this firmware may not be a good idea, especially if you are new to photography or just bought a brand new camera.

What to do if something goes wrong?

Check the manufacturers instructions again, have you missed a step or misunderstood what is required?

If something is still not quite right after you have done all the troubleshooting you may like to contact an authorized service centre for your brand of camera and ask for their advice and support.

I hope that you are now much better informed about firmware for your camera. Let me know if you have enjoyed reading this article and leave any comments below.

The post Updating your Camera’s Firmware – What is it and Why it’s Important by Roy Vieth appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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[Photography] Why Prints Matter to You as a Photographer

Digital has done wonders for our industry – it allows us to learn faster, it gives us technological opportunities that we could have only wished for in the “film” days and it has made completely new styles of photography possible. There’s no doubt that the digital shift has been a positive one.

While we embrace all of this change that digital has brought and explore the new depths of technology, I think it’s important to keep one foot in the “analog” world, at least one area – the physical print. The print versus digital discussion is a very controversial topic among professional photographers, and certainly everyone will have their own opinion. Regardless of where you fall in this matter, I’d like to share some thoughts and explain why I feel prints matter for us as photographers and for our clients as consumers of photography.

There are three topics of discussion that I will explore:

1. Why printing is important for you as a consumer of photography


2. Why offering printed products as a professional photographer is crucial to your long-term success


3. How printing your work is the best way to grow as an artist

The Nostalgia of prints

Forget about the fact that you’re a photographer and take your attachment to professional quality imagery out of the equation. Printing as a medium is one of the most meaningful ways that you can enjoy photography. Here are a few reasons why the printed image is so important to you as a consumer of photography.

A print will always be there

Digital media go out-of-date and out-of-style, and the files that you have stored in these digital formats will also go out-of-style and become unaccessible. Imagine having your vacation photos from 1995 on a 3.5″ Floppy Disk – how might you access those “digital files” today? Of course this is hard to imagine because digital photography wasn’t around in 1995. More recently then, consider the fact that for years you have used DVDs and CDs to store digital files and now that Apple has decided not to install optical drives into their computers anymore, that medium is slowly starting to disappear. You’ll soon have a generation of images that were stored on discs that may not even be (easily) accessible. On the other hand, if you made prints as well, then these changes in technology wouldn’t have a negative impact on you being able to continue to enjoy your images.

A print doesn’t need to be enjoyed on a screen

Being “in the moment” and away from technology is not a luxury that you get to enjoy all that often in today’s digital world. There is something nostalgic and romantic about being able to curl up on the couch with your children and look back at a wedding album, or old family photos, without having to flip open a laptop and press the “next” button dozens of times. When you look at a picture that is printed, you are free of distraction. There is no e-mail bouncing up in the bottom of your screen and no Facebook “dings” going off in another window. You can enjoy the picture and the story it tells in a quiet, distraction-free moment.

A print lasts a lifetime, and often even longer

Physical prints give you heirlooms to pass down as you move on in your life. Often you are not recording (capturing a moment) and printing (preserving the moment) for today, but instead for tomorrow, for your children and your children’s children. Passing down a box of hard drives doesn’t exactly have the same appeal, does it?

Professional photography – why printing is important

As a professional photographer or aspiring professional, it’s important to consider offering printed products to your clients. Besides the nostalgia, the emotional and logical reasons for enjoying the printed image as described above, there are also many business benefits to being a full-service photographer. Here are a few:

• Prints can separate you as “great” photographer, apart from the “ok” photographers. It’s easy to make an image look nice at a low-resolution on the web, but to make an image look great in print involves a whole other skill set.


• Printing your images increases your perceived value as a photographer. Everyone has digital files sitting on hard drives or memory cards. To offer a beautifully finished printed piece shows that you care about your photography and that you put effort into the presentation of your imagery for your clients.


• Making prints for your clients shows that you care about their customer experience and in delivering their images in their finished form, It also shows that you are a full-service photographer, when many these days are not.


• As a photographer, if you are trying to make a living with your camera, offering printed products gives you the opportunity to make additional income as opposed to just making your money from your session fees.


• When you make a print for a client, it means that you control the output quality and the finished product and you don’t leave it up to them to produce their own prints from a consumer-grade lab. Quality control is important for a professional!


• Ultimately, when you offer prints and other professionally produced physical products, you are supporting the industry (i.e. the labs, the album makers, etc.) who are constantly supporting photographers by providing educational opportunities, sponsorships, trade shows and so on.

Printing as a teaching tool

We’ve explored why printing is important for you as a consumer of photography and how you must consider offering printed products to ensure long-term success as a professional photographer. But, now I’d like to take another side of the argument: how printing your work can actually be the best learning tool to help you grow as a photographer and artist.

A print will always be the most realistic representation of an image as it is the only medium that is truly tangible and actual. This will ultimately be the best way to judge your work as an image isn’t truly finished until it’s in printed form.

It’s easier to judge an image when it’s printed – you can examine it closer, look at it longer, and see it in different contexts. I have been taught that a great way to judge and find improvement in an image is to print it, display it somewhere that you pass by frequently, and look at it often. Try changing its orientation and displaying it upside-down for a while. You will often see things that you wouldn’t otherwise notice if you didn’t analyze it to that extent. This is a much more effective exercise than staring at a computer screen for hours on end.

Consider that the process itself of creating a print will help you grow as a photographer because it gives you a greater appreciation for the bigger picture. At the same time, the exercise of getting in close, fine-tuning and perfecting an image for print will show you a lot about your work that you may otherwise have missed if you were just putting together a quick online gallery or contact sheet.

Lastly, a print is easier to pass around and get objective feedback from others. There is no limitation or interpretation that makes digital photography subjective – variations in monitor size, calibration, room lighting and so on. You ultimately can’t argue with print quality – it is either a good print or not – so the discussion and feedback ends up being more about the image than about the presentation.

Becoming a full-service photographer

When you offer a printed product to your clients as a photographer, you make yourself about more than just pictures. You are now about the preservation of moments and in ensuring that your work, and your clients’ memories, will be guaranteed to last a lifetime.

My next article and discussion in this series will be geared towards the mechanics of exactly how to actually sell prints and make your photography business a full-service studio as opposed to being a shoot-and-burn photographer. Check back soon!

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