Different Light Sources Explained

Jerry Ghionis is a famous wedding photographer from Australia. He created this lighting tutorial in cooperation with B&H. Jerry covers different lighting situations (direct sun light, candles, on and off camera flash, window lighting, video light, LED light) by showing examples of his photo shooting. He shows that if you are creative with already available light sources, you may get great shots no matter what your location is. The masterclass is more for advanced photographers who know their photo gear. One of the tips he shares is how to use on camera flash. He does not mean the built-in flash in your camera, but rather a flash unit that you attach to your camera. The main rule is to bounce the light that comes from the flash off a wall or a ceiling. In order to do that you need to turn the flash head to the right angle at every shoot and change this position if you move around or go from horizontal to vertical framing. Even in a room with black walls you can still use this technique if you have something white, like a table or a reflector or your assistant's white shirt. This tutorial is highly recommended for those who want to learn profy's tricks and Jerry is generously sharing his experience with us.

How to shoot waterfalls

Juan Pons demonstrates how you can take pictures of a waterfall so that the water looks like smoothly flowing. The only technique to use in this case is slow shutter speed because if you set a fast shutter speed, the water will be frozen in its movement. You will need a tripod to stabilize your camera.  The shutter speed needs to be from 1,5 sec to 4 sec, it highly depends on how much water is falling down. If it is much water, you may get by with 1,5 sec but if there is a tiny waterfall, you had better choose a longer speed of 3-4 seconds. Set the lowest ISO that your camera can handle, usually 100 or 50 ISO. Also you can use small aperture (f8 to f16) to reduce the amount of light coming through your lens. If you are shooting in a daylight, you may need a neutral density filter (ND), they can reduce your exposure to 3 - 6 stops. A  poralizer filter is also a must when shooting water to avoid its reflections.

Read this in-depth tutorial: photo.tutsplus.com/tutorials/shooting/how-to-photograph-waterfalls/

How to Measure Flash Exposure

If you have no light meter, Mark Warren can help you by giving advice on how to measure your flash exposure. Since e-TTL is not very consistent, while the manual mode ensures a very stable exposure. This is especially useful in a studio environment. First set your external flash to a wireless mode. It will be triggered by your on-camera flash unit. You need to configure your camera's settings for the wireless flash control. Set your on-camera flash to behave as a trigger only which means that it does not contribute to the overall exposure. Change the flash mode from E-TTL to manual and start off with full power (1/1). Then you are ready to begin your exposure measuring. Have a white towel placed on a chair and make a shot at 100 ISO, 1/200 shutter speed and 2.8 exposure to begin with. If your towel is blown out, you need to adjust your flash power. You may need several iterations to achieve the right flash power of your external flash unit. By the way, you are controlling your external flash power from your camera and in order to do that you have to use a camera that supports that mode as well as the brand external flash. Always consult your histogram and make sure you have no lights clipping.

This method allows you to get very consistent results but just make sure you place the white towel at the same distance where your subject will later be located, otherwise the exposure will not be right.