How to prevent shadows on the back wall when she is coming down the isle????

nikonrick

New member
Hello all:

I shot a wedding yesterday without an assistant. I had no-one to hold the flash off camera as usually I do. I had an SB900 on camera, with a LumaQuest difuser, white insert, with the soft diffuser screen on it.

As usual, the horizontal shots came out ok, but when I flipped the camera to vertical, I got hard shadows on the back wall.

Can anyone please give me some ideas on how to prevent this in the future????

Thanks a bunch.....

Richard H
 

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
You would have to either get a bracket that could change the flash position when you go vertical, or just use a synch cord and hold the flash up like we used to do in the good old film days with a medium format and a metz flash head. I'm old enough to just know these things :)
 

nikonrick

New member
Thanks.......Good suggestions, however, I shoot those shots with my 70-200 VR on my D3S, and that combo is just too heavy to hold with one hand while holding the flash above me with the other hand..... Thanks, though. Any other suggestions guys??????? Richard
 

Scott Murray

Senior Member
Thanks.......Good suggestions, however, I shoot those shots with my 70-200 VR on my D3S, and that combo is just too heavy to hold with one hand while holding the flash above me with the other hand..... Thanks, though. Any other suggestions guys??????? Richard
Really? I am regularly shooting with one hand with my D800E and battery bracket and 70-200.... Also you are asking why the dark shadow occurs! That is obvious in it self. If you are shooting weddings you need to be able to adapt to changes. Maybe hire another assistant or maybe a flash bracket.
 

FastGlass

Senior Member
I have the Custom Brackets QRS-E2 flash bracket. Sounds like your in need of one. Your problem is one of the biggest issues while using a speed light on camera while trying to shoot in portrait. Maybe worth looking into. While using a tripod is probably one of the best fixes, I know of a few wedding photographers that strictly use on camera flash and get amazing shots.
 

WayneF

Senior Member
Posting an example should not be necessary, it's well known. Here is one that shows the same thing:

Back to Tiffen Home Page

If you turn the camera so the flash is at the side, you can get the dark shadow on other side of subject (top picture).

The purpose of a flash bracket is so, regardless of camera orientation, the flash is sill directly above the lens. This hides the shadow behind the subject (second picture).
 

FastGlass

Senior Member
..or.. shoot everything landscape & crop to portrait? :p
Cropping images in post is part of the process. Although if shooting in landscape and cropping to portrait is your intention to begin with, you loose allot of usable pixels especially if making a large print. Probably not the best solution.
 

nikonrick

New member
Wayne:

Thanks again for all the great info. Looks like I will be getting one of those. Are they expensive? Also, how are they to use? I don't want to be figgeting with a bracket and flash every time I go vertical.....Thanks again, Richard H
 

WayneF

Senior Member
Wayne:

Thanks again for all the great info. Looks like I will be getting one of those. Are they expensive? Also, how are they to use? I don't want to be figgeting with a bracket and flash every time I go vertical.....Thanks again, Richard H

There is a great variety of many, and lots of them are relatively expensive. See B&H - Flash Bracket: Error
I bought a Stroboframe for $20, which these are inexpensive, but maybe a bit more awkward to flip. You do have to flip the bracket when you rotate the camera - that's the whole point. Some instead rotate the camera under the flash. Choice probably depends if you are using it all day every day, or only now and then.


You will also want a Nikon SC-28 cable to connect TTL flash to camera. This cable is a bit awkwardly long, but you can wrap it around the handle. The previous version SC-17 cable works too, and I bought one on Ebay that had been shortened for this use, less bulk in the way.
If you use manual flash, you can use a short PC sync cord instead.

Commander probably works too. It does seem to work fine, but is not line of sight, and I'm not sure it is supposed to. :)
But Commander adds shutter delay, and worse, much flashing in the subjects face that causes pictures of blinking, and IMO, it seems a poor plan for this use.
 
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