Choosing between continuous light or flash for portraits

Saturday 1 June 2024, 21:42 by Nando Harmsen | 3,325 views | 2 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

When existing light is not enough, you need to add your own light. You can use a flashgun or continuous light. Choosing between them can be difficult, as both have advantages and disadvantages. I have listed them for you.

Using your own light has many advantages. It can brighten dark areas and significantly improve the quality of the light. It prevents ugly shadows, light coming from an unwanted direction, or high ISO values.

You can combine existing light and your own light source seamlessly. Nothing in the photo shows that flash was used. Or that a continuous light source was used, as that is also possible. In the past, this was a lamp. Now, in almost all cases, it is an LED panel or a COB LED lamp.

Chip-On-Board is a strange name. In the end, it is a concentrated light source made up of LEDs that has the characteristics of a normal lamp.
What is best to use? Continuous light or flash. Ask different photographers, and you will get different answers. It may well be that there is no single answer, and that everything depends on preference and circumstances.

That is why I have listed some advantages and disadvantages. You can then decide for yourself what is most suitable for your own photography.

Flash and no flash

The biggest difference between continuous light and flash is the flash itself. A flashgun gives a short burst of light. Continuous light is... Well, continuously on.

A continuous light source gives continuous light. There is no sudden, dazzling flash of concentrated light.
A flash means that there is light for only a short moment. This can be dazzling, but otherwise it has no effect on the ambient light. If you use continuous light, the surroundings will also be lit continuously. It can ruin the atmosphere.

Bright and not so bright

The energy used by continuous light is released all at once by a flash. As a result, a flashgun can always produce much more light during that short flash. In other words, you have more light available.

A flashgun gives much more light than a continuous light source. It gives you more flexibility in how you use it.
Continuous light often means you still need to use high ISO values, unless the light is very close. A flashgun gives you more freedom when positioning it. You can cover a greater distance.

Portable and easy-to-move light source

If you need a lot of light, continuous light often means using large LED panels or a very powerful COB light source. They also need a lot of energy, in the form of a battery or even a mains socket.

A flashgun is smaller and easier to take with you when it comes to light output.
Because a flashgun only has to provide light for a short time, it can be much more compact. It also needs much less energy, so you need less heavy batteries. It becomes portable.

Seeing the light and not seeing it

A flashgun only gives light when you take a photo. That means there must be existing light to see your subject and to focus. But more importantly, you only see exactly where there is light and where there is no light after you have taken the photo.

Continuous light allows you to work better in dark environments. After all, it is continuous light. That is why flashguns also have modelling light available.
Continuous light lets you see immediately where the light falls on the model and where it does not. You can already adjust the direction of the light without having to take a test photo.

What is your preference?

As mentioned earlier, one is not better than the other. Sometimes a flashgun works better, and sometimes continuous light is more pleasant. But it is also mainly a personal preference. What is your preference? Share it in a comment below this post.

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