Flash Lighting: Introduction to Flash (using speedlights)

This is a 2.5-hour outdoor walk/workshop to give you confidence in using your speedlight flash on-camera. I'll teach you the basic principles and some cool flash tricks. There's so much more to flash lighting than ugly pop-up flash...

At first glance, flash lighting appears to break some of the rules of exposing a photo. This session explains why flash is different and covers the basic tricks that make flash a fascinating creative tool for a photographer.

Topics covered:

• TTL metering and flash exposure compensation

• camera sync speed

• basic principles: use of aperture and shutter speed

• blending flash and ambient light sources

• using flash with movement

• creative flash effects

• using speedlight zoom control

• bouncing flash off surfaces - indoor and outdoor

I will take a couple of minutes to explain each concept and then give you a specific exercise with suggested camera settings so that you can try it for yourself. As with my "available light" ( http://photos.gilliver.net/teaching/workshops/night-portraits ) walk, you'll be pairing up to take photos of each other.

This is the first in a series of 3 sessions on lighting with flash.

This walk has been designed for photographers who have a speedlight-style flash (eg. Canon 430EX/580EX/600EX, Nikon SB700/800/900/910/5000, Godox TT685/V860/V1 etc) that you "bolt on" to the top of your camera. A number of the set exercises can be done with pop-up flash but some are speedlight-specific. The concepts taught apply to both DSLR and mirrorless camera systems.

The main flash features required are the ability to control the flash power level manually and the ability to swivel the flash head in different directions. Tripods, light stands, umbrellas and remote triggering systems are not required on this walk - this session does not discuss off-camera flash.

I recommend bringing a general purpose zoom lens for this session. For example, a 24-70mm, 17-55mm, 24-105mm etc. Please ensure that both your camera and flash have freshly charged batteries and your camera has a blank memory card. You won't need a tripod.

This session is best suited to photographers who are comfortable with camera concepts such as film speed/ISO, shutter speed, aperture and white balance but have no understanding of their flash beyond knowing how to turn it on/off.

As this event is outdoors after dark, please ensure you have warm clothing and if rain is forecast, bring an umbrella (although the session runs mostly undercover if rain is about).

If you are interested in this walk but are not able to attend this date, feel free to leave a comment with your preferred time/date.

If you are having difficulties making payment via Meetup, you can go direct to Paypal ( https://www.paypal.com.au ) and make payment to "david@gilliver.net". Make sure you include a note indicating which session you're making payment for so that I can set your RSVP correctly. Payment in advance is preferred for my sessions.

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Some feedback from previous sessions...

"It was one of the best training educational sessions I have been to for a long time - simply presented, indepth, but well pitched. I had a lot of fun and learnt so much!" - Sean, April 2021

"Thank you so much David. What an eye opener. Taught me so much about flash photography in 2 1/2 hours. Highly recommend the class." - David, March 2018

"This is an amazing course, packed with lots of valuable technical information, David took the time to explain every single concept and demonstrate it with a practical exercise, this is a must do course for whoever wants to start with flash photograph !!! Really worth it." - Oscar, October 2016

"I'm studying a Diploma of Photo Imaging and was struggling to grasp flash. Until yesterday's session. David explained things in a way that made sense. The exercises clearly demonstrated why and how flash works. David made sure I understood each concept before we moved on to the next. He provided notes to reinforce the message after the session and even had spare batteries for power-hungry flash units. I was lucky enough to be the only person in his session last night and was grateful for the one-to-one tuition. Thanks David!" - Emma, January 2016

"This is the best value photography course I've ever done (and I've done plenty online and in real life)! David was incredibly professional and is actually an excellent teacher ... a skill that is hard to come by. He presented each new concept in a structured way before building on what had just been learned. The whole night was full of practical examples in a beautiful location overlooking the city lights. I went back to work the following week full of confidence to take excellent pictures to use on the company website. I cannot recommend David highly enough! Thank you David - I'll be back for another course soon." - Michelle, June 2015