At a wedding you are used to finding beautiful decoration and scenery. All this is painstakingly planned long before the big day. This is the reason we want it to be in frame in our final images. This is to say that we don't just want photos of our wedding couple illuminated by our flashes and everything in the background hidden in shadows. Another thing we don't want to do is to shoot in very high ISO's and no flash for every image. Although this can be a great technique, if used too much it gives the appearance that your photos were cropped down from a larger image.
Another reason we don't want to use this technique for all our photos is because sometimes there is fast action that we need to catch where we don't want the subjects face out of focus. So how do we shoot in low light situations and have the backgrounds visible, but our subjects also properly exposed, without harsh shadows and in sharp focus? The answer is bouncing our flashes. To properly expose your wedding couple, and not have your flash producing harsh shadows on their face, you need a bigger light source. Remember, the bigger the light source, the softer the shadows. That is why when you use an umbrella the shadows are so nice and soft, the umbrella is the source of light and it is a lot bigger than your flash. This is the way it is and there is no way around it. These little cups that you put over your flash do not make the shadows softer, they only even out the light so that there are not any hot spots. Other light modifiers you see do increase the size of your light source.
Examples of these may be the big Tupperware looking things you see, or else a large bounce card. But wouldn't the shadows be even softer with a bigger light source? How about one the size of a wall or ceiling? This is what bouncing your flash is: turning the head of your flash so that the light first bounces off a wall, ceiling, people, etc., before hitting your subjects. This increases the size of your light source.
I like to bounce my flash off corners if possible, the corners where the walls meet the ceiling produces some very nice results. If you have an assistant, make sure your assistant is bouncing the light for you. Now you just have to worry about your camera communicating with your assistant's lights. If it is wireless, or you are connected through a cable, no problem. If it is through Nikon or Canon incorporated system, you just need to make sure your flashes can see each other.
Now bouncing your flash to work in low light situations you do need to have your ISO bumped up to 1600. This is a big difference from 3200 and higher, and with cameras nowadays, the grain in 1600 isn't too noticeable. Also, you need to shoot 2.8 to get the ambient light. This is the big bonus of bouncing your flash, besides having softer shadows, is that the background exposed based on your ambient light. Adjust your camera settings so that you are underexposing the ambient light 2-3 stops for good results. This way, the flash properly exposes your subjects as they are the dominant element of the photo, and the background is also exposed, but a little bit dimmer and not competing for attention.
Another thing to notice is that you don't need to be worried by having a shutter speed slower than 60. This is because the action will be frozen by the flash. Imagine your wedding couple dancing fast. If you have a slow shutter speed the flash will freeze their faces, but the people behind them who are exposed by the ambient light may have a bit of motion blur. This is great since the motion blur in the background gives a sense of action, but the wedding couple is in sharp focus. I have found myself on the dance floor with my settings at ISO 1600. 2.8, and my shutter at 10-20 (but using good camera technique of course.) Remember that shooting at 2.8 you may need to recompose your images so that everything you want in focus is indeed in focus.
Another reason we don't want to use this technique for all our photos is because sometimes there is fast action that we need to catch where we don't want the subjects face out of focus. So how do we shoot in low light situations and have the backgrounds visible, but our subjects also properly exposed, without harsh shadows and in sharp focus? The answer is bouncing our flashes. To properly expose your wedding couple, and not have your flash producing harsh shadows on their face, you need a bigger light source. Remember, the bigger the light source, the softer the shadows. That is why when you use an umbrella the shadows are so nice and soft, the umbrella is the source of light and it is a lot bigger than your flash. This is the way it is and there is no way around it. These little cups that you put over your flash do not make the shadows softer, they only even out the light so that there are not any hot spots. Other light modifiers you see do increase the size of your light source.
Examples of these may be the big Tupperware looking things you see, or else a large bounce card. But wouldn't the shadows be even softer with a bigger light source? How about one the size of a wall or ceiling? This is what bouncing your flash is: turning the head of your flash so that the light first bounces off a wall, ceiling, people, etc., before hitting your subjects. This increases the size of your light source.
I like to bounce my flash off corners if possible, the corners where the walls meet the ceiling produces some very nice results. If you have an assistant, make sure your assistant is bouncing the light for you. Now you just have to worry about your camera communicating with your assistant's lights. If it is wireless, or you are connected through a cable, no problem. If it is through Nikon or Canon incorporated system, you just need to make sure your flashes can see each other.
Now bouncing your flash to work in low light situations you do need to have your ISO bumped up to 1600. This is a big difference from 3200 and higher, and with cameras nowadays, the grain in 1600 isn't too noticeable. Also, you need to shoot 2.8 to get the ambient light. This is the big bonus of bouncing your flash, besides having softer shadows, is that the background exposed based on your ambient light. Adjust your camera settings so that you are underexposing the ambient light 2-3 stops for good results. This way, the flash properly exposes your subjects as they are the dominant element of the photo, and the background is also exposed, but a little bit dimmer and not competing for attention.
Another thing to notice is that you don't need to be worried by having a shutter speed slower than 60. This is because the action will be frozen by the flash. Imagine your wedding couple dancing fast. If you have a slow shutter speed the flash will freeze their faces, but the people behind them who are exposed by the ambient light may have a bit of motion blur. This is great since the motion blur in the background gives a sense of action, but the wedding couple is in sharp focus. I have found myself on the dance floor with my settings at ISO 1600. 2.8, and my shutter at 10-20 (but using good camera technique of course.) Remember that shooting at 2.8 you may need to recompose your images so that everything you want in focus is indeed in focus.
About the Author:
Kevin is one of the leading Wedding and Commercial Photographers in Costa Rica. To see more of his photography tips click on his blog Costa Rica Photographer To see this article with illustrating photos please go to this article on his blog at Photography in Costa Rica
