When you hear the word flash, it’s easy to think of a bright W burst of light from a studio strobe or flashgun that covers the whole scene. While you can use a flashgun to broadly illuminate large swathes of your landscape and urban night scenes, there are times when you might prefer some more control.
By getting a little creative, you can create a custom flash stencil from an old shoebox. Draw and cut out the shape you want your stencil to take on; simple shapes such as butterflies and flowers work well. It’s then just a case of running a long exposure on your camera and manually firing your flash stencil at various points throughout the scene to stamp colourful patterns around your photo.
Dan Mold