Off camera flash auestion?

Question

I still dont understand the concept of off camera flash photography.

I was wondering if i had a slave flash, it would only trigger if my camera flash popped up right?

How do I create this effect with a slave flash and minimal amount of materials needed?

Is there a way I could trigger my slave flash without my on camera flash popping?

Answer 1

You can trigger an off camera flash via 3 main methods;



- via a sync cable (your camera and the flash need to have what's called a PC sync socket - note: this is nothing to do with computers!) If neither the flash nor your camera have sockets, you can buy adapters that fit onto the hotshoe/flash foot.



- via optical slave (which is what you want). If your flash has an optical slave mode (not all do), you can trigger it to fire off camera using another flash (ie your pop-up flash). You MUST make sure your pop-up flash is in manual mode, not TTL. This is because TTL pre-flashes (which measure exposure for the TTL system) will set your slave flash off too early before the camera shutter opens. Unfortunately, the pop-up flash, even on low power, will contribute to the image.



- via radio triggers. This is the most convenient and is not expensive. A set of triggers (RF602's) cost around £20. You don't get problems of line of sight/distance, nor is there any unwanted flash in the image.

Answer 2

It would help if you had specified what camera you are using.

On a Canon you must fire the pop-up flash if you want to trigger slave(s) but you can set different modes in the flash control menu:

You can adjust the ratio between the pop-up and the slave. That will allow predominant light from the slave with minimal fill-in from the pop-up.

OR

You can use the pop-up as trigger only so it supplies zero light for the image. It still fires but before the shutter opens.



The icons on the camera menu are pretty self explanatory otherwise it is clearly described in the user manual.

Answer 3

With Nikon, use CLS. You can program the on-camera flash so it doesn't contribute to the image (not quite true, but close enough). This means you need a off-camera flash and camera body with the CLS features. Canon probably has something similar.



If you don't have an off-camera flash with a CLS, or equivalent, feature, then you can use your on-board flash to trigger the off-board flash. Set your on-board flash to manual and set the flash power to minimum so it doesn't contribute significantly. You can also use a business card in front of the on-board flash to redirect the flash to the ceiling to minimize the on-board flash contribution.

Answer 4

Off-camera flashes can be triggered without firing the camera's flash which is the ideal way of doing it. There are several wireless methods and the wired way.



If you use the camera's main flash to trigger the slave flash then that would be the optical (wireless) method. You will need an optical sensor that detects a sudden burst of light then converts that to an electrical impulse to trigger the flash that's attached to it. Back in the old days, we called it peanuts. Here's an expensive version.



http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/63118-REG/Wein_W940001_PN_Peanut_Slave_100.html

Answer 5

You would use a piece of hardware called a flash trigger. See link. Or you could use a lamp with no flash with a quick shutter speed and/or slow aperture. Use a little trial & error with a dose of patience.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCWNyq8b4Ag