Technique Demontration at The Flash Centre Stand, Focus on Imaging

Whilst looking around the Focus on Imaging exhibition at the NEC with John we came upon the Flash Centre Stand where there was a demontration on setting up and using quick lighting solutions using flashguns.

It was amazing to see how in just a few minutes, slowly adding extra flashes the demonstrator produced professional quality shots. What fascinated me most was how simple the set up was and he didn't use studio flash lights, just highly portable flash guns. What I also appreciated was how he built up the scenario which made it easier to follow as well as knowing what can achieved if you only have 1, 2 or 3 lights.

He also showed how to use a cheap white umbrella with your flashgun to diffuse the light effective. He also explained that using the flash in manual gives the user much greater control over the lighting, something that echoes what Steve has been saying about shooting in manual with our cameras.

I learnt that putting the umbrella closer to the model gives a better lighting over the face, using a light behind the model with a (see Steve) attached aimed at the models hair will help seperate them from the background as well as highlighting the hair. He used the last flashgun to light the background to further help separate the model from the background. Another thing that fascinated me was that when he applied a blue gel to the flashgun aimed at the background and fired it the black background turned blue. I bought a set of gels from them and will look forward to seeing the different effects the various colours have on the background.

I can't wait to get in the studio to practise this set up as it produced some amazing results.