March 13, 2010

Experimenting with a flash

So as you know, I have just invested in a Pentax flash for my kit. I deemed it a necessary piece of equipment if I wanted to be serious about photography. The examples of flash photography around the web proved to me that it changed the way you can take photographs. Here are some examples of how a flash can change your imagery. p.s. don’t laugh, no one was around to model.

The scene is that I am standing in front of a wall painted gray, there is one tungsten light on in the room, its dark outside so little light is coming in through windows, and I am wearing an Indiana Jones hat. All the photographs were taken with the same settings.

ISO 100
f/4
1/180s

Pentax k-x built in flash

Typical harsh flash lighting. Notice the dark shadows below my arm, and the pale look of my skin. Makes me look sick. ugh!

Pentax k-x with 540fgz flash mounted on camera pointed directly at subject

Yay! my skin tones are back to normal, but there are still some real harsh shadows in the image. Basically the flash has adjusted itself to add less light than the built-in flash did.

Pentax k-x with 540fgz flash mounted on camera bounced off the ceiling

Now it pretty much looks like I am being lit naturally. Even the hat is blocking the light from my face just as it would look with natural sun light. No more harsh shadows. Looks much more natural.

Pentax k-x with 540fgz flash off camera (wireless mode) pointing at my face

For this I set the flash over to one side pointing at my face. An interesting effect, and very fun to play with. The k-x built in flash fires first and triggers the remote 540fgz flash to fire while the photograph is being taken. Fun.

Pentax k-x with 540fgz flash off camera (wireless mode) pointing at my face with rosco gel (sun 85)

I decided to try the sunlight gel over the 540fgz to see what sort of look it gives. Nice. This is going to be fun a fun toy during these rainy days!

You can totally see the value in having a nice flash on your camera. I think the bounce flash is probably the best lighting of the group.

Share and Enjoy:

Post Info

Category: Gear, Share, Tips

Tags: flash, Pentax, Photography.

7 comments to “Experimenting with a flash”

Coloring Pages says:

August 5, 2010 at 4:28 pm

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August 17, 2010 at 6:41 am

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Wijou says:

August 31, 2010 at 12:06 am

Tried the same sort of set up about two days after getting my K-x. Used an off camera flash triggered by the camera flash. Bounced off the ceiling and gives a much better effect than head-on. Also I’ll cover the camera flash with tissue paper sometimes and turn the power of the flash down that way it helps reduce the harsh shadows. I also have a 110volt slave lamp that really works great with this setup. As you say, for rainy days it really is a fun way to get all the use out of your camera that you can! Going to set up some closeup lenses now and work on that next. Boy Oh Boy what a great camera this is.
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