While setting up for North Cove at Night, I took the opportunity to try out the Canon Speedlight 580EX II flash for night time shooting. I really don’t like using flash, but after pouring over the phenomenal wealth of knowledge and creativity at Strobist, and recognizing the need for flexible lighting, I decided to go for it.
Here’s an example from that night, my first use of the flash.
A couple of other accessories are improving my relationship with flash photography, especially this simple softbox flash diffuser, in 8×12 and 6×8 sizes. They both fold down into easily transported pouches. We’ll see which one I use more. And since one of my main beefs with flash photography is the proximity of the flash to the camera and all of the inflexibility that means, I also got an off-camera shoe cord, a very light, portable stand, and the bracket to attach flash and umbrella to the stand. So now, I can use the cord and either hold the flash in my left hand and shoot with my right (I’ve done it before with lights so this is way easier!), place it on the stand and tote it around next to me, or ask someone to hang on to it and aim it for me. I have yet to train the dog on this task.
For the eggy shot at the top of this post, I used the ever-popular and highly advanced flash technique, ‘set it to the side on the counter’. The 6×8″ softbox diffuser is on the flash.