Flash of brilliance: Using hotshoe strobes

Get the most out of your digital SLR and flash unit with these hot tips.

Using your hotshoe flash can be a painless affair — just fix it on, aim and shoot. Chances are you'll get a properly exposed image of your subject with the background fading into dark oblivion. Personally, we're not fans of these shots, because they don't really identify the location where the photograph was shot. But with a little creativity, you can turn your hotshoe flash into an indispensable accessory for taking great-looking pictures. The techniques mentioned in this article can be mixed and matched to better effect, so experiment to see what kind of look you prefer.

1. Bounce 1
Some flash units, like Canon's Speedlite 580EX come with a white card built into the top of the flash. By bouncing the light off it, the harshness is diffused and spreads over a slightly larger area. Also, if location permits, a portion of the light may hit the ceiling (or other surfaces) and back to the subject, giving it better overall exposure.

If your strobe doesn't have a built-in bounce card, fret not. The unglamorous (but effective) way is to fix a piece of white card to your flash with a rubber band. The upside for this contraption is that you can use cards of different sizes, which can result in varying effects.

2. Bounce 2
Besides tilting, higher-end flash units have a swivelling head as well. This lets you set the flash in more different angles. By aiming it toward a nearby wall, you can diffuse the light through bouncing it off the surface.

Some flash units even allow for aiming behind you, which can be very useful for taking portraits in tight spaces when a direct flash may result in harsh shadows.

3. Off hotshoe cord
If you have a bit more dough to spend, invest in a flash cord which acts as the mediator between your camera and flash unit. With it, your strobe doesn't have to be on top of your camera and you can position it nearer to the subject or to the sides of it. This technique can create interesting effects like lighting up just half the subject (for that sinister studio look) and more. You won't know until you experiment.

Some strobes can be activated via radio frequency (RF), but you may need to buy a more costly RF transmitter to fix onto your hotshoe. The advantage is the flash is no longer tethered to the camera, and it can activate more than one flash unit. Also, depending on environments, some transmitters can trigger off units as far as 10 metres.

4. Gel/Diffuser
By affixing a piece of coloured gel on your flash and tweaking the white balance settings, you can get creative lighting effects on your subjects. For example, using an orange gel (for warm lighting) and setting the white balance to daylight, you'll get an overall warmer-looking picture than just using Automatic White Balance.

A translucent piece of gel, on the other hand, acts as a diffuser which cuts down on the amount of light that travels out from the strobe. Some manufacturers produce dedicated diffusers that clip onto your flash and these work pretty well, too.

5. Manual Mode
If your flash has a manual mode, use it to override the camera's settings. With it, you can choose how strong you want the output to be, or for the light source to be concentrated or spread over a larger area. Bear in mind that you will have to compensate the settings on your shooter as well.