Some Simple Options For Positioning Speedlights

So easy a kid can do it. Image by Neil van Niekerk (http://neilvn.com)

Today I want to share some ideas I have for positioning speedlights. If you are at the point where you are tying to find ways to position speedlights off the camera, that means you have won half the battle. What I mean is, if you are shooting images with the flash on the camera, you are most likely making images that are flat. Yes it is possible to bounce your on camera speedlite off a wall and make some pretty nice images. However, the only way to make great images is to place the light in that perfect spot. Now remember, when working with any light, it is a matter of inches between the hero shot and the complete dud.

When working with speedlights, you will often find it a challenge to place the light in the perfect spot because you do not have the benefit of the modeling lamp. I am here to tell you, if you play with your lights enough, you will know exactly where to place them.  Here is an example, I was teaching a speedlite workshop last week where I was demonstrating how to make the Rembrandt pattern of light on a subject. The fun part was, I did it on the first press of the shutter. Shhh don’t tell them but I cheated a little, I used the DOF preview button on the camera which causes a speedlight to flicker off and on very quickly acting as a modeling lamp. When I did that, I was able to verify that I had in fact nailed the right spot and height for the light to create Rembrandt.

Now with the bragging over, lets say you find a wonderful spiral staircase to shoot on. You decide to place your subjects at the top and want to light them. You can place a light stand at the top with them but it’s a long way up and down between shots to adjust the light. Not to mention the light stand might be in frame half the time. Also, what if you wan to make a picture with the subjects facing over hand rail, the light would have to be floating in mid air to be in the right spot. On second thought maybe not, have an assistant hold a boom pole with the speedlight and modifer way up in the air.

I am going to bet that most of you have a mono pod, I am also going to bet that most of you have an umbrella adapter. Put them together and you have an instant voice operated boom poll. I use the Manfrotto 026 because it’s great and it comes with two brass spigots. These spigots will turn your mono pod into a wonderful voice activated light stand that can reach very high. All you need to add is the assistant.