Pixiq

Being creative with a flash means, usually, getting it away from the camera, but it’s not always as easy as people wish. The cost of some solutions might just be too much for your needs. But there is hope in the air: buy a new camera, for example!

Getting a flash to flash even if away from the camera can be done in different ways, some not very reliable, others … very expensive. In the old days people would just use cables — what a mess! — or optical slaves that would be triggered by the flash on the camera. Well, guess what: new cameras and optical slaves don’t always work together, for various reasons that aren't our concern here. This text is written to be a quick guide and not a look at the past.

So, optical slaves are not the best way to go with the new high-tech cameras with all the bells and whistles; and cables, besides breaking easily, have a limitation: length. While they can be useful in some situations, they usually are not long enough, and if they are, they tend to end up looking like a spaghetti junction if you are not careful. Not exactly the best aid to think creatively when you’re shooting.

The other way to get a flash to work is using infrared signals, which is the usual way for most of the system flashes from different brands. It works perfectly … until you need to place one flash behind something, from a wall to a tree. Infrared does not know how to go round the bend and usually you get a dark space where there should be light. It’s at that time that you can radio for help. Or better, radio will help you. Confusing? Confused? Don’t be; just keep reading.

I promise to go into more detail about radio triggers in the next article (so be sure to come back for more), but for now, let’s stick to infrared signals. I don’t know how all the systems in the market work, but for Canon, for example, — the system I use regularly — you can buy a ST-E2 Speedlite Transmitter that sits atop the camera and commands (that is the reason why it is also called Remote Commander) external flashes. Well, guess this: it’s not cheap; in fact, it’s nearly the same price as a Speedlite 430EX II, and does just that — commands the light. Great for pros with a large budget, less interesting for an amateur. Imagine having to spend money on a Remote Commander and a flash.

We’re talking infrared here. So for Canon flashes to work you need to buy either the Remote Commander or the top of the line Speedlite 580 EX II flash, which is rather expensive and might be too much for your flash needs. It’s only with a Speedlite 580 EX II that you can control other flash units if you have any camera launched before the EOS 7D.

I say this because with the EOS 7D Canon finally decided to do what other camera brands have done long ago: let you control an external flash with the small unit on top of the pentaprism housing. It’s about time. Even my Minolta Vectis S-1 from 1996, a fantastic APS format film SLR, could control external flashes without wiring. Yeah, Canon. Better late then neve r… And they just did it again with the EOS 60D. So now, if you’re the owner of one of these fine cameras, you can just buy a small Speedlite 430 EX II and you’re good to go. You have light on the camera and a Speedlite Transmitter, and you can just place the other flash anywhere within the range of the infrared beam.

It’s a very interesting option because, then, all you need is a reflector and some means to support it on the opposite side of the flash, and you get even light if you need it. You can even define if the in-camera flash is used as fill in or only to control the external flash. And you can also adjust the intensity of flash output and exposure compensation from the camera. So it’s much easier, now, to use flash. And cheaper too. Remember this if you’re in the market for a new camera from Canon and flash is something you want to live with. The newest EOS 7D or EOS 60D may be your best buy, because they talk with external flashes. That’s the reason why I wrote, starting this article, that buying a new camera could be a good solution.

Let me say this to close this first part of the article, which is also my introduction here at Pixiq: while great, this set-up is still very much dependent on line of sight. This is the reason I’ve started using radio triggers for most of my flash photography. And you can believe it’s something completely different. More on this later!