How To Begin Using Off-Camera Lighting Setups With One Light

Here is a republication of an article that teaches about “Off-Camera Lighting” with some updated information. This type of lighting is what all professionals use to get the results they need for themselves and their clients. Depending on one’s commitment to really learning something about lighting and how to make your images even better, this information can be extremely valuable to your pursuits. Also, it should be noted that once you master exposure control in the camera, adding external light is the next step to creating stunning photographs.

How To Begin Using Off-Camera Lighting With One Light-Update

by William Lulow

Note: I have mentioned before that learning some of these techniques will not only help with photographing anyone, but will also teach you to recognize special light when you see it. You can also achieve these results with regular, continuous hot light as well as with flash.

Using light from a light source, no matter what it is, constitutes the next step in lighting once you have mastered exposure control in the camera. Adding light to a picture is exercising the ultimate control after doing so with just camera settings.

There is no question that placing a light on your camera is the most fundamental way to add light to any scene. The problem is that it produces a kind of harsh light that only lights the subject and nothing else. So, it is really impractical for doing any kind of good portraiture. Learning to use off-camera lighting techniques will require some investment on your part, because you will simply need more equipment than just a camera and a flash. You’re going to need light stands, ways of mounting your lights (and at some point you will want more than just one) on those stands and a method of linking everything together, especially if you will be using electronic flash. You can achieve some very interesting results if you’re just starting out, by buying some inexpensive hot lights and bulbs. Not only is it a great way to learn what off-camera lights can do, but it will be easily translatable when you begin using flash as well. So it’s probably not a bad idea to invest first in some hot lights. They are very cheap and you can probably buy everything you need at your local hardware store. No need to go to a photography store.

Off-camera lighting will immediately improve your portraits, but you will have to learn where to place them and how to use them. (You can refer to my archives for lessons in placing the lights and what some of the classical lightings are called, but I have included three setups here that you can use right away).  Once you have obtained a couple of light stands, you can begin trying to set up your hot lights. ( Now, with your flash equipment, there is a way to fire an external flash using your camera’s built-in flash. So consult your owner’s manual to get the steps).

Follow these steps:

• First, set up your flash as a slave unit. (This means that it will flash when the camera’s shutter is released, but the camera’s built-in flash will not fire).
• Second, enable your camera’s built-in flash.
• Third, make sure your external flash is on the same channel as the camera. (Refer to the manual)
• Fourth, adjust exposure.
• Fifth, take the picture.

When you use the flash on the camera, or the camera’s built-in flash, you are fairly limited with the kinds of lighting effects you can achieve. Take the flash off the camera, and you open up a world of different images you can make.

So, you can use your system’s external flash components or you can begin to investigate the world of radio-controlled flash systems. Probably the most popular one is the “Pocket Wizard.” Also, many flash units these days come with their own radio-operated flash triggers

This is a series of radio receivers and a transmitter that inter-connects all of your external flashes. It works with studio strobes as well as your favorite speedlights. You can start with just mounting the one unit you have on a light stand and connecting the receiver to it and the transmitter mounted to your camera’s hot shoe. This will allow you to move the light around so that you can have the light coming from various other directions. Then, you can move to buying a second flash with a second receiver. Now, you will have some control over the kind and amount of light you can use.

Note: I have noticed lately, that many new studio strobes or studio flash units are what are called “monolights,” that is, they have the flash generator as well as the flash tube in one unit. These have been around for a long time and there are pros and cons to them, but many have their own proprietary flash triggers you can buy with them. Flash triggers like the Pocket Wizard, above, work with just about any flash units. Here is an example of one:

So, it takes a modest investment in some equipment, but this next step will help you to be able to control your lighting a bit more. The electronic flash monolights you can buy for around $500 each.

The results you can achieve will be similar to those you can get by using a continuous light source. As I mentioned, you have to experiment with the various lighting setups I have written about and explained in previous articles.

These are the basic lighting setups to use when you can get your one light off the camera. You can refer to my archives on this site to read about more setups:

1. The Hollywood Light
2. The Rembrandt Light
3. The Side Light

Hollywood Light

Here’s the lighting diagram:

Rembrandt Light

Here’s the diagram for the Rembrandt Light:

Side Light

Here’s the diagram for the Side Light:

So, these are three of the classical studio lightings that will help you not only understand what light can do, but how to use it effectively as well. They can be set up with just about any light you want to use. You can use your camera’s LCD screen to see what the various lightings will look like.

Again, as I mentioned, knowing how these lightings are set up in the studio situation will also help you recognize them when you see them in your travels. Keep your eyes open!