Flash photography tip: Change the direction of your light
Thursday 15 June 2023, 20:02 by Elja Trum | 2,587 views | 0 commentsThis article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.
An important part of creating beautiful light with your flash is the direction of your light. The easiest way to take an ugly photo is to place the light directly in front of you. You will end up with a flat-looking photo.
If the light comes from the side or from behind, it gives your subject depth. You are already doing this when you bounce the flash off the ceiling or a wall. The light no longer comes from your camera, but from the surface you bounce the light off.
The direction of your light has a huge effect. To see this properly, it is a good idea to put your camera on a tripod and move the flash around your subject. Take a photo each time to see the effect of the light. You will see that each direction of light has a specific effect on your photo.
When the light falls on your subject from a different direction, the shadows caused by the light make you see depth in your subject. In that respect, shadows are actually more important than the light for the final result of your photo.
About the author
Elja Trum is the founder of Photofacts and online photography course website Photofacts Academy. He has been writing about photography since 2006. Elja is also the author of (Dutch) books on composition, black-and-white photography, flash photography and portrait photography.
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Elja Trum
Photofacts; everything to do with photography!
Would you like to take better photos and keep up with what is happening in photography? Photofacts publishes articles that teach you something about photography — from a product announcement to a practical shooting tip or a look at a website. Photofacts covers photography every day and is a hobby project of Elja Trum's that got out of hand. The articles are written by a team of volunteer authors. If you would enjoy writing one or more articles for Photofacts, do get in touch.More about PhotofactsPhotofacts is made possible in part by
