Take your first steps in flash photography

Trying to get a good flash exposure can appear complicated and best left to the pros. But everyone has to start somewhere – and it’s not as hard as it seems…

- Marcus Hawkins

It’s somewhat ironic that, as a lighting technique, flash can leave many photographers shooting the dark. The world of flash photography can be a confusing and disorientating place when you’re just starting out. With a new set of initialisms to wrap your head around (TTL, HSS, GN…) and the challenge of negotiating two exposures for every shot (one for the background and one for the flash-lit subject), it’s no wonder that a lot of people would rather stick with natural light, or reach for an LED panel instead.

But flash can be a wonderful creative tool. While a pop-up flash unit is limited in terms of position and power, a flashgun allows you to position the light so that it strikes the light from a more interesting angle, as well as experiment with a raft of light modifiers and coloured gels. LED panels don’t offer the same level of versatility or the raw power of flash. Flash lighting isn’t just for shooting indoors or lighting up the night either, as it can help solve tricky exposures in daylight, too. If your flash unit is close enough and powerful enough, you’ll be able to open up ugly shadows in portraits and even overpower the sun to turn day into night.