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Introduction to portable flash
4 hour workshop
$140
Maximum class size, 12

This workshop is about the creative power and flexibility of battery powered, shoe mounted flash units including the Nikon SB or Canon EX series. These little flash units have transformed the concept of what it means to light on location.

By learning how to shape and control the output of your portable flash, you can create pictures with high production value without lugging around cumbersome strobes and hunting for AC outlets on location. We’ll look at some of the auto exposure modes that let you work quickly with often great results. Then we’ll dig into manual control for those times when you want to light more creatively and your camera’s brain just doesn’t understand what your brain is up to.

The instructor, Peter Poulides, will work with a model, shooting with the camera tethered to a computer and projector so the class can follow along with the demos. The photos will be imported into Lightroom for viewing and comparison. Students will be invited to shoot with their own cameras on some of the manual exposure setups.

The workshop is limited to 12 people so there is time for interaction and questions.

Some of the gear we’ll cover:

• Choosing a flash: compatibility, quality, power, size and price
• External battery packs
• Wired or wireless
• Radio vs optical triggering
• Umbrellas, boxes and reflectors
• Clamps, adapters and brackets
• Putting together a lightweight, portable kit

Some of the techniques you will learn:

• Manual vs TTL exposure control
• Hard light vs. soft light
• Bounced and diffused
• Mixing flash with ambient light
• Single and multiple units
• Front vs. rear curtain sync
• White balance, gels and color correction
• High speed sync