Taking Professional Portraits with Hot Shoe Flashes

In this lesson, we will show you how to use two Olympus FL-50 flash units to create a simple and professional classic portrait. We set this shot up in our studio, but the tips and techniques we will teach you can be used anywhere you like.

Setting up the Key/Main light

To get started we set up a gray seamless background and our portrait stool in the studio.

We set up the first AC-222SM adjustable shoe mount and the Shoemount Multiclamp, then attached this assembly to a 2214 LiteStand with Casters. The adjustable shoe mount is used to mount the flash unit to the soft box connector. The Shoemount Multiclamp lets you attach the flash/soft box assembly to a light stand and provides tilting capability.

We then assembled the Extra Small LiteDome with the AC-200SC strobe connector and attached it to the adjustable shoe mount. With the accessories assembled, we then attached the Olympus FL-50 flash unit to the adjustable shoe mount, made our adjustments, and attached the back cover onto the soft box.

Now that we have our key/main light set up, we placed it to the right side of our set at about 45 degrees. We had our model take her place and we set the height of the light to about 6 inches above her head, then tipped it down at her face (figures 1 and 2).

Using Radio Slave units

To simplify our set and eliminate the need to string a sync cord from the camera to the flash unit, we attached a Quantum FreeWire radio slave unit to the key/main light and set it to "receive" and a second FreeWire unit to the camera and set it to "send". Each time the camera's shutter is released, the "send" unit tells the "receive" unit to fire the flash.

We then made our settings for our Olympus E-1 digital camera. Since we are using flash units as our light source, we set the White Balance to 5500 or the daylight setting, set the Resolution to TIFF, set the Exposure and Focus to Manual, and the ISO to 100. We then posed our subject and fired off our first exposure (figure 3).

In our result image (figure 3), we see how the modified light through the off-camera Extra Small LiteDome has created a pleasing pattern and direction of light on our model's face.

Applying a Bounce Fill to Control Contrast

The next action we need to address is the contrast of the shot. With a single light source the size of the Extra Small LiteDome, contrast will always be an issue. To control this contrast across the model's face, we need to add some fill to the lighting solution.

For our fill, we set up a LiteDisc Holder on a 2214 LiteStand, and then attached a 22" White/Silver LiteDisc to it. We placed this assembly to the left side of our set at about 90 degrees from the model at an even height with the model's face. Then we positioned it so that it captured and bounced the light from the key/main light back onto the subject (figures 4 and 5).

With our bounce fill in place and adjusted, we posed our subject again and shot the next result image (figure 7).

When we compare our new shot (figure 7) with our first shot (figure 6), we can see how the addition of the LiteDisc as our bounce fill has opened up the shadows and sparked up the eyes of our model. We now have control of the contrast, or ratio of light, of the image.

Using the LiteDisc Holder as a Boom for Your Hair Light

To add the final touch to this shot, we set up a second FL-50 flash unit in the same manner as we did the first, but for this light, we attached a second LiteDisc Holder mounted to a 2218 LiteStand. We then extended the Holder out to its maximum length and hung a Weightbag to the other end to counter balance it.

Once we had our hair light assembled, we attached a third FreeWire unit to the stand and set it to receive. Then we placed the entire assembly on the left side of the set and positioned the light over and just behind the model's head (figures 8 and 9).

With our hair light in place, we re-posed our model and shot the result image (figure 11).

When compared to the previous shot (figure 10), we can see in the final result (figure 11) how the hair light has added the finishing touches. Our subject is now separated from the background and the beautiful color of her hair really pops off the page.

While hot shoe style flashes are designed for on-camera use, they can also be used off-camera as we have demonstrated. With a little planning and a few inexpensive pieces of gear, the hot shoe flash can provide great results when shooting portraits.