Working with Off-Camera Flash is Great!

Step Two

Now that we’ve seen how a softened light will wrap around our model’s face, let’s apply this on a larger scale; in this case, the large soft light is applied to the background, as well. This is a different example of how we can mix things up when applying our new tools to an image. 

If we take our flash and work it through a large umbrella, high up over the model, we can create a sort of luminescent land-scape out of what was originally a pretty dull environment. With the right placement, this broad swath of light does wonders to mimic a soft, overcast afternoon, with a stray stream of light working its way down the wall to light our model. This allows us to set a mood and get a lot of mileage out of just one small light (see image on previous page).