Tips for Using Off-Camera Flash at Night

Nighttime photo settings DO VARY based on exactly how dark it is outside and your ambient light around two. The most important things to remember are: 1️⃣ set your camera as if you’re not photographing anything but the scenery. Since it’s dark out, that usually that means a higher ISO, lower shutter speed and for me a lower aperture setting as well since I like to blur the background a bit still. If you want a more crisp background you can raise your aperture settings for a greater depth of field, but keep in mind this is going to cause you to have to lower your shutter speed or raise your ISO which might introduce grain or camera shake. 2️⃣ set your light power to TTL, or auto for your flash. Let it do the work figuring out exactly how much power it should pump out. Then, switch over the manual and if you have a Profoto light it will hold that TTL power setting so then you can just adjust up or down from there to balance how bright the light is and how it matches with the surroundings. 3️⃣ probably one of the most important things in off-camera flash is the light modifier that you use. If you want a nice soft light then you’re going to have to use a larger light modifier, and keep it pretty close to your subject. If you want to pinpoint light onto your subject, then maybe try out a grid and keep the light further away from your subject. Whatever you choose, if it’s not getting what you want at first don’t be afraid to keep trying. Tell me what problems you have with flash either right now or when you first started!