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PhotoParents
Shooting with flash
AKA : how to have your own portable sun
Scared of Flash? Never got good results from it? Not sure how it works with your camera? Thinking it’s bound to be complicated and just for studio work? This is the course for you! We show you how to work your flash and your camera – on and off camera! - to get great, natural looking results. In this course you'll discover how to use flash not just to supplement light in dim spaces, but to use it creatively, to help you create images you wouldn't be able to capture with just natural light.
what you learn:
You will learn how to make your flash work with your camera and how to control it so that it gives you beautiful, natural looking light
You will learn to work with the flash off camera - giving you the freedom to position your light wherever it will most suit your subject rather than relying on what you have with natural or indoor light
You will learn to play with flash to capture a variety of creative outcomes and apply it to lots of shooting situations - from learning to fake pretty window light to freezing motion with Flash
KEY SKILLS COVERED:
This is the course for you if :
- You find yourself struggling with light especially in the darker autumn / winter months, and there never seems to be enough ISO or aperture to get you what you want
- You can already use your camera in manual and want to add mastery of detachable flash to your skillset - so you can never worry about insufficient or poor light wherever you are, or whatever unknown space you go into
- You want to be able to make flash images look natural rather than sporting that famous 'deer in the headlights look. A good flash image never 'looks' like a flash image
- You want to learn how to capture creative images using a flash - such as freezing motion, creating dramatic shadows, or adding a splash of light to specific areas of the frame.
- You want to add this versatile skill to your toolbox so you can adapt it to different shooting scenarios. ESPECIALLY if you're considering taking up photography professionally or semi professionally, this is an immensely useful skill to have.
The course is awesome!! It is soooo worth it! I am loving it. It has opened up a whole new angle to photography. Not been this excited since I started! Definitely worth doing!
Estelle Gibbs
The course covered exactly what I needed it to in terms of breadth and depth - thank you. The course has not only improved my confidence with using flash but made me consider light more generally which I didn’t expect. Thanks so much!
Michaela Strivens
Why shoot with flash in the first place?
“Don’t use Flash - it will wash out your child”
“Flash will make your photos look horrible”
‘You can’t control flash - no control over what your photos will look like”
You may have heard those statements, maybe even uttered them yourself. And to a degree - they can be true - but only because, if you don’t know how to control and work any tool, it’s likely to give you terrible outcomes – remember how much poorer your photos were when you first started with your camera on full auto?
Here is how I see Flash, and what this course is about:
PhotoParents
Shooting with Flash
Photoparents Fundamentals is available as part of the Photoparents Membership - along with access to the full course library, weekly assignments, Camera Clubs, and a community of 200+ parent photographers at a similar stage to you.
Monthly and annual membership options:
£
32
MONTHLY MEMBERSHIP
Rolling membership, cancel anytime
£
269
ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP
30% off compared to monthly membership
PLUS - exclusive for annual members only:
All the learning resources, all the community, all the support, all the personal help. Virtually failproof
COURSE PREREQUISITES
YOUR SKILLS:
We recommend that you are comfortable in shooting in full manual mode. It's possible to use flash in priority modes of course, but you don't have full control of its strength and level.
YOUR EQUIPMENT:
You will need to have a detachable flash for your camera make. This could be the same brand as your camera or a compatible third party flash manufacturer.
You will also need a way of triggering your flash OFF camera - in some cases, you may be able to do this directly from camera or via an additional remote trigger / controller. Click here to see our Flash buying guide below
Frequently asked questions
We assume you don't know much, if anything about shooting with flash so we will be taking you through it step by step. What we do need from you is the ability to shoot in full manual mode on your camera so that you really get to grips with how Flash works with it.
Unfortunately no, the pop up flash is not enough and you will need a detachable flashgun ( and possibly a trigger) to use in the course. This doesn;t need to be a major expense - please see below our Flash buying guide to understand what you need and our suggestions for great, affordable equipment.
We will be talking about flash modifiers such as softboxes or umbrellas in the course, but they are not needed as such in the course.
Unfortunately not, we are not providing flash rental at this time.
No. The course is a part of our membership offerring - we can support you best in that way, ensure you have all necessary resources available to you and that you can connect with a likeminded peer group - all the things we KNOW to greatly increase your chances of actually completing the course, rather than just downloading and forgetting about it. But the membership doesn't tie you down - you can cancel anytime, even after 1 month if tthat's what you want.
You will have access to the self-paced version of the course immediately after you join as a member and log into our learning space. Beyond that, all our courses get regularily scheduled Live, instructor led runs. You can will be able to see available live run courses schedule for the upcoming months from your membership area but if you've only just missed out on a scheduled course or need help before the next one is run, we can help too - just get in touch.
We currently have 13 courses in our range (with more on the way) and the cover a really wide range of core and additional photography skills:
- Core Photography skills : Clickstarter ( free), Photoparents Fundamentals and Photoparents Advanced
- Creative photography : Natural Light Photography, Flash Photography, Let's Play (creative photography techniques), Black and white Photography
- Editing skills : Photo editing skills, Essential and Creative Photoshop
- Photography FOR kids: Mini clickers - Photography course
- Wait, there's more! - Video skills for Parents, Smartphone photography, Action Cam Photography ( part1),
Beyond the straight up courses, you will also have access to our brilliant Camera club - with weekly tutorials and assignments, topical clubs, downloadable, printable materials and more!
Cancel anytime directly from your own member's account. No fuss, no explaining your reasons. To be clear, we hope you won't want to cancel but if you do - it's easy. You just need to cancel before your next billing period and it'll be all done.
Photography for Parents Fundamentals
Next course starts on 19 June 2023
Ready to start clicking? There are two 2 ways to learn with us:
OPTION 1: Fully immersed :
Where you get all the materials, all the personal support, all the bonuses. It's THE best way to learn and get the most of our course if you ask us!
OPTION 2: Light touch
All the core learning materials and bonus materials but excluding the interactive elements such as our live class, personal feedback on your images - perfect for the more independent students
recommended
Fully immersed
All the learning resources, all the community, all the support, all the personal help. Virtually failproof
SPRING SALE
Ends Monday
15th May
£259/£159
Self-paced
Core learning resources and follow on access to Photography for Parents community
£129
Ready to start using your own portable mini sun?