11 - flash brackets

flash photography techniques
just ambient light    flash brackets    other resources 


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Rotating flash brackets are cumbersome attachments between the camera and flash, which enables the flash to always be over the camera.  Since the flash is always overhead of the camera with a flash bracket, regardless of whether you’re shooting horisontally or vertically, there is no sideways shadow … if you use direct flash to some extent, or a flash modifier on your camera. 

Digital photography technology is steadily improving to the point where we now have cameras with fairly clean 1600 ISO settings, and very usable 3200 ISO. It is now ever more easy to get great results with bounce flash, and have all the light from the flash be indirect.  With this, the need for me to use a flash bracket, has been greatly reduced.

It is now possible for me to get vertical images like these, using on-camera flash, with no trace of sideways shadows …. because there is no light thrown directly forward from the flash itself.  It is all indirect.  This means there will be no noticable shadow.

So these days I get by without a flash bracket.

However, a flash bracket would still give you an advantage when you bounce flash such that al the light is indirect - and that is that the direction of your light source remainds the same between vertical and horizontal photos taken from the same position. This consistency in lighting can help.

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But back to the topic of flash brackets:

There are various makes of flash brackets. With some you have to let go of the lens to flip the flash over with one hand. With other more elegant designs, you rotate the actual camera.  I prefer the rotating flash brackets where the camera rotates with a deft flick of the hand holding the camera.

The make I use is Custom Brackets, although the one I have I modified with an angle-grinder to make it more compact and have less bits sticking out.

There is a lot of variation between the different makes, that it is worth checking them out for yourself instead of taking recommendations from the photography forums.

One of the other highly touted brackets by a different company, has such a clumsy design, making it near impossible for me to use the zoom control on my lenses.

 

  

As I mentioned, flash brackets are bulky and heavy, and these days I work without one.  But they can help with the consistency of bouncing flash, and definitely do help in avoiding side-shadows.

A flash bracket isn’t entirely necessary in daylight, since flash will then mostly be used as fill-flash, and the direction of the flash is of less importance than when using bounce flash indoors.  Besides, there is rarely anything to bounce flash off when working outside, and the loss in flash output because of bouncing would most likely render the flash light imperceptible.

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And finally - other resources on flash photography …

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Please feel free to e-mail me with comments & questions.
Neil van Niekerk

If you feel you need more direct help or instruction with this and other aspects of digital photography, I do present workshops and seminars.
I also offer individual tutoring sessions.

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