Lacock Positive 10th April 2025

This evening, Pete Shaw, of our own parish, gave a talk on how to use flash to achieve straightforward portrait photography shots.

Studio flash units are mains powered, big, heavy and expensive.  A cheaper, more portable alternative is the Speedlight.  "Speedlight" is Nikon's name, "Speedlite" is Canon's, although the term has now become somewhat more generic, although "strobe" and just "flash" are popular, interchangeable, terms.

In past times, the major camera manufacturers made their own proprietary units which were only compatible with their own cameras (the pin configuration on the camera's hotshoe being different).  More recently, the same manufacturers have stopped producing new units as the alternatives from companies like Godox or Nissin are so good (and so much cheaper), they just can't sell their own units any more.

Units are often powered by AA batteries (in which case use Eneloop rechargeables), although occasionally they may take proprietary rechargeable batteries.

Using a Speedlite on a camera gives results somewhat like putting a rabbit into full beam headlights - lighting is flat, stark and unflattering.  Generally it is better to take the flash unit off-camera.  This is possible with cables (which are usually really expensive), but units these days use either a sophisticated pre-flash to talk to one another, or more commonly, radio frequencies (RF).

RF units invariably operate on a number of different "channels" so if you're controlling your flash units, you won't accidentally start controlling anyone else's nearby.

A unit (essentially a transmitter) invariably placed in the camera's hotshoe is the "controller" or "trigger" while the actual flash guns themselves can be referred to as "slaves".  Individual flash guns can be placed into "groups" and controlled collectively.

The next thing to consider is how to support your off-camera flash. Lighting stands are a popular solution, with an important consideration being the proportion of the leg length to what you want to support - heavier loads require longer legs.  Although you may consider the average flash unit to be very lightweight, don't forget the additional weight of umbrellas, softboxes, etc.

Use a translucent umbrella to either fire the flash through, or as a big reflector to bounce light back.

Bouncing light off a translucent umbrella
© https://fstoppers.com/

Firing light through a translucent umbrella
© https://fstoppers.com/

Bigger umbrellas mean softer light.  The only problem with translucent umbrellas, light is lost in directions you might not want, so perhaps a reflecting umbrella might be a better option (all the light is bounced back):

Reflecting umbrella
© https://westcottu.com/the-essential-guide-to-photo-umbrellas

Another alternative is to use a softbox, which also guarantees light only goes in the direction you want:

EzyLite Fluorescent Softbox
© Pixapro

They tend to be more expensive compared to umbrellas, but are getting cheaper all the time.

Whatever your source of light (umbrella or softbox) you choose, it will tend to give harsh lighting across the face, leaving one side in almost darkness.  To illuminate the other side, you may want another flash setup, but a cheaper alternative is to use a reflector, which come in various shapes and sizes:

Combined diffuser, reflector, background

For convenience, these should be supported by another stand.

The aim is to get a one or two stop light difference between the two sides of the face.  Also, never forget the inverse square law, which says if you increase the distance between the light source and your subject, light levels will fall off by the square of the distance.

To add a final touch and achieve a perfect portrait image, a source of light falling on the the hair gives separation from the background.  You may also want to illuminate the background as well.

Use softer light for women, harsher light for men.  An 85mm lens (on full frame) is about the minimum that should be used, as anything wider might give rise to perspective distortion (things closer to the lens, like hands, tend to look much larger than they are).

The overall lighting setup would look as follows:

Camera shutter speed should always be set to "X" (the camera's flash sync speed).  Choose your aperture wisely, as this will effect your depth of field.  Finally don't forget to set your white balance to flash.

Finally remember that although it may be better to stick to these rules when starting, rules are made to be broken.  Here are some resources to refer to:

https://rangefinderonline.com/news-features/tips-techniques/off-camera-flash-for-portraits/

https://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101.html

and YouTube can also be a good source of information:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZKXYqhcNHQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuoc53wcnbc

After a break for tea and coffee, we then followed with our challenge for the letter "P":

P is for Pond © Adam Jacques

P is for Puffin © Amanda Gregory

P is for Purple Crocus © Amanda Gregory

P is for Paddling © Anne Horne
(one member commented this might be "P for Pushing it a bit")

P is for Poppies © Caroline Howe

P is for Purton Ship Graveyard © Caroline Howe

P is for Perched © Craig Purvis

P is for Perched © Craig Purvis

P is for Pier © David Sage

P is for Peekaboo © Derek Liversidge

P is for Poppies © Derek Liversidge

P is for Pademelon © Helen Day

P is for Puddle © Julia Lloyd-Parks

P is for Pebbles © Julia Lloyd-Parks

P is for St. Pauls © Lesley Cadger

P is for Pair of Pheasants © David Sage

P is for Plant © Pam Bamford

P is for Pelican © Phil Male

P is for Puffin © Phil Male

P is for Pink © Rob Macklin

P is for Parisienne Police © Sue Power

P is for Patterns in Rocks © Tony Bamford

We then continued with "picture of the month" for March:

Starling bathing © Amanda Gregory

Frosty Dawn, Silbury Hill © Caroline Howe

Red Kite's Piercing Stare © Craig Purvis

Avebury Dawn © David Liversidge

© Helen Day

A March Sunset © Julia Lloyd-Parks

Glastonbury Tor © Lesley Cadger

Obfuscated Outlook © Pam Bamford

© Phil Selby

Goldfinch landing © Phil Male

Porlock Weir © Anne Horne

© Rob Macklin

Having a Scratch © Sue Power

Llyn y Dywarchen © Tony Bamford

Westonbirt © David Sage


We ended our meeting with a brief recap of what needs to be done for the annual club exhibition.  
Members are reminded to finalise their image titles by 18th April.

Our next meeting will be on 24th April.














Lacock Positive 27th March 2025

This evening saw a presentation by Robert Bolton, of our own parish, on minimalism in photography, entitled "Quiet, abstract and otherworldly landscapes".

He said that in the beginning his photography was characterised by "saturated sunsets and leading lines", but as time went on he started to embrace a more minimal style, quoting Jonathan Critchley in that photographs "need a star, maybe a co-star, but no extras".

Over time he moved from colour photography to mainly black and white, changing this camera settings to display only black and white in the viewfinder and on the screen, and using coloured filters to achieve the effects he wants.  He prefers a square format to the more "normal" 4:3 or 2:3 ratio cameras so often provide.

Waiting for the Catch © Robert Bolton
Winner 2025 Sony World Photography Awards Open competition

Icelandic Waterfall Detail © Robert Bolton

Fishing hut, Japan © Robert Bolton
Won 2nd place in the Architecture category of the Monochrome Awards 2024

Lake Biwa, Japan © Robert Bolton 

Robert quoted John Ruskin, referring to the need to bring something of yourself to an image that has "kindly vacancies"... you might say a positive aspect to negative space!

Lone Tree, Japan © Robert Bolton

Luskentyre Beach © Robert Bolton

Salt flats, The Air Project, South of France © Robert Bolton

Salt flats, The Air Project, South of France © Robert Bolton

Salt flats, The Air Project, South of France © Robert Bolton

Iceberg off the coast of Greenland © Robert Bolton

Þóristindur, Highlands of Iceland © Robert Bolton

"Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass"
Washington Street, New York © Robert Bolton

After a break for tea and coffee, we continued with our challenge for the letter "O":

O is for an Old Ship © Adam Jacques

O is for Old Man's Beard © Amanda Gregory

O is for Ostrich © Ann Horne

O is for Other Birds are Available © Caroline Howe

O is for On the Wing © Craig Purvis

O is for Ointment (Anti Gas) © Derek Liversidge

O is for Oval © Sue Power

O is for Opinion © Sue Power

O is for Otter © Rose Porfirio

O is for Open Door © Rose Porfirio

O is for Onion © Rob Macklin

O is for Orange Tipped Butterfly (female) © Phil Male

Tawney Owl over Bluebells © Phil Male

O is for Odd One Out © Pam Bamford

O is for Orca © Jeremy Fox

O is for Orb Spider © Jeremy Fox

O is for Oradour-sur-Glane © Lesley Cadger

O is for Ocean © David Sage

O is for Ocean © David Sage

O is for Obscured by Clouds © Julia Lloyd Parks

O is for Obscured by Clouds © Julia Lloyd Parks

O is for (Barn) Owl © Lesley Cadger

O is for Owl © David Liversidge

O is for Oranges and Lemons © David Eagle

O is for Oil on Water © David Eagle

O is for Orton Effect © Tony Bamford

We then discussed further arrangements for the annual club exhibition. Members are reminded to finalise their image titles by 18th April and to get any requests for mounts, mounting board, tape and plastic cases to Danny as soon as possible.

Finally we discussed selling greetings cards at the club exhibition. Caroline will organise a Google Drive directory in which members can place images they want printed, together with a spreadsheet to say how many times to print each image, etc.

Our next meeting will be on 10th April.