Take control of lighting in any setting and master the art of using off-camera flashes and strobes

Studio-based photographers are experienced with the use of flash, including both speedlights - known to some of us as flashguns - and strobes. The studio can be seen as the home of flash, as the indoor setting usually makes artificial lighting the main light source.

When you’re shooting on-location, the use of flash isn’t essential, but rather a great way to create dynamic images. Whether this is through the use of fill light to lift the shadows and balance the presence of natural and artificial illumination, or rim light to outline the subject, or even a strong backlight to create faux effects, location lighting would be uncontrollable without flash.

A main skill you’ll need when shooting any subject on location is crafting the light ratio between natural and artificial light. While there are challenges with shooting in a studio, the main advantage is that lighting structure can be built from the ground up and be completely tailored to the subject and style you’re shooting. In an outdoor location, or an internal setting with different lighting sources, you need to work with lighting to either blend, overpower or make use of sunlight.

The lighting decisions you make will be based on image style, the practicality of setting up complex lighting, and the quality of the illumination, so consider each of these factors before you decide which technique is best. Over the next few pages, with the help of professional photographers, we’ll take a closer look at some top location lighting techniques and help you to use flash with ease.

Full control Using flash helps you to take control over the style and mood of your images, as well as inject extra creativity © Gettyimages

Plan your shoot

Pack essential accessories, and decide what to use based on the location and conditions

By its very nature, location-based photography is going to impose time, space and weight restrictions on your shoot. Lugging many kilograms of equipment to remote outdoor spots, or taking up 30 square metres of floor space with a mobile studio in an interior setting, is rarely a practical solution, and also increases both the cost and the amount of time needed to set up the kit. The more gear you take, the more complex the setup becomes, and the greater the requirement for assistants and lighting technicians. Unless you have experience of directing large-scale shoots, and unless the economics of the assignment work in your favour, this can often introduce unnecessary stress that actually reduces your adaptability and preparedness to make the most of the location.

One of the cornerstones of successful flash photography is the concept of simplicity prevailing over complexity. If you can function using a single light and achieve the look you want, then it is completely unnecessary to add a second or third flash to the mix. The more light sources you add to a setup, the more you have to consider lighting ratio, diffusion and direction, as well as the functional challenges of setting up radio-trigger frequencies to control each lighting group individually. Once the shoot has started this can quickly become a drain on your time and concentration, increasing your frustration levels and slowing down your shoot.