Off Camera Flash 101_March

Off Camera Flash 101: Introduction
March 16, 2024 Instructor: Brian Mohr

As photographers, we see the ambient light and learn to use it. For many of us, flash photography seems complicated and feels intimidating. And yet, we see how using off camera flash can create amazing images. Instructor Brian Mohr designed this workshop for photographers who have little to no off camera flash experience. His January workshops were such a success that they were offered again in March.

Lorie:

Had a great time and learned a ton of stuff about lighting

and equipment. I didn't realize there were so many

different ways to light an image, indoors and out. I have

never used lighting before and now I can't wait to try it.

Brian and Beverly both brought great enthusiasm to the

day and made it enjoyable to all, if you had lighting

experience or not. I can't wait for the next challenge!

Adam:

I love using natural light. Searching for sunlight reflected off rocks or buildings, providing a soft warm tone; Or the cool, calm of bluehour light; Or sunlight dashing through trees closer to midday.
I love experimenting with sunlight. Get me inside with a flash and I'm completely out of my element. But a Saturday with Brian and Beverly has changed that. I learned that - wow, there are so many cool things you can do with flash, I've only begun to scratch the surface!

With these three images, I was going for different moods. The first photo (Emerging From Darkness), I wanted a sense of power and strength. For the second (Ghosts of the Past), it was a bit more sombre. The third (Portrait of a Portrait) was fun and playful, demonstrating a putting on a show. Without the use of flash, these all would have been dull, boring, and would not have conveyed any of these emotions. The flash brought it to life! These three images are hardly edited at all, reliant on the flash to do the heavy lifting instead of Photoshop. Can't wait to explore more!

Katie:

Learned many interesting things, the two most fundamental

concepts were Shutter Speed controls ambient light,

Aperture controls flash light.

Frank:
(Joining us for another round of 101)

So class 101.2 was once again awesome! Brian is sharing a

wealth of knowledge on off camera flash and it is a

wonderful learning experience. So thank you both for all

the extra work you are doing to improve everybody’s

photography!

Florence:
(Kneeling behind Katie)

I missed the first two sessions, so I was very excited to learn this lighting course would be offered again in March.

One of the first things Brian taught us was that shutter speed controls the ambient light reaching the sensor, while aperture controls the flash output that reaches it. Balancing both to get a natural look in our images was our challenge! He gave helpful personal attention as the newcomers struggled with the new key considerations.

Changing settings and positions for the flash were some of the valuable lessons I learned, as distance from the model can change flash power and depth of field can become an issue.

Beverly acted as Brian’s assistant and was most helpful in the experimentation that followed. She was always happy to answer questions and offer suggestions.

Thanks for the great opportunity to partake in Lighting 101. It was awesome.