At a wedding you are used to finding beautiful decoration and scenery. All this is painstakingly planned long before the big day. This is the reason we want it to be in frame in our final images. This is to say that we don't just want photos of our wedding couple illuminated by our flashes and everything in the background hidden in shadows. Another thing we don't want to do is to shoot in very high ISO's and no flash for every image. Although this can be a great technique, if used too much it gives the appearance that your photos were cropped down from a larger image.
Another reason we don't want to use this technique for all our photos is because sometimes there is fast action that we need to catch where we don't want the subjects face out of focus. So how do we shoot in low light situations and have the backgrounds visible, but our subjects also properly exposed, without harsh shadows and in sharp focus? The answer is bouncing our flashes. To properly expose your wedding couple, and not have your flash producing harsh shadows on their face, you need a bigger light source. Remember, the bigger the light source, the softer the shadows. That is why when you use an umbrella the shadows are so nice and soft, the umbrella is the source of light and it is a lot bigger than your flash. This is the way it is and there is no way around it. These little cups that you put over your flash do not make the shadows softer, they only even out the light so that there are not any hot spots. Other light modifiers you see do increase the size of your light source.
Examples of these may be the big Tupperware looking things you see, or else a large bounce card. But wouldn't the shadows be even softer with a bigger light source? How about one the size of a wall or ceiling? This is what bouncing your flash is: turning the head of your flash so that the light first bounces off a wall, ceiling, people, etc., before hitting your subjects. This increases the size of your light source.
For me the best place to bounce my flash is off corners where the ceilings meet the walls. This seems to be a very directional light. Now if you use a lighting assistant, just make sure your assistant is bouncing the light before it hits your subject. If your flashes are communicating through a cord or through a wireless sync you shouldn't have any problem. If you are using a Nikon or Canon wireless system than just be sure your flash and your assistant flashe(s) can see each other.
To make this work, at times you will need to have your ISO as high as 1600. With the newest cameras and post processing, 1600 is not too grainy, and a huge difference from 3200 and higher. Your F stop should be at 2.8 to be able to expose the background with ambient light. This is the plus you get with bouncing your flash, your shadows will be real soft, but your background is exposed nicely by the ambient light. You will need to set your shutter speed to underexpose the ambient light by two to three stops. You will find that your flash will correctly expose your subjects while your background will a little bit underexposed as to be visible but not draw attention away from your subjects.
Another thing to notice is that you don't need to be worried by having a shutter speed slower than 60. This is because the action will be frozen by the flash. Imagine your wedding couple dancing fast. If you have a slow shutter speed the flash will freeze their faces, but the people behind them who are exposed by the ambient light may have a bit of motion blur. This is great since the motion blur in the background gives a sense of action, but the wedding couple is in sharp focus. I have found myself on the dance floor with my settings at ISO 1600. 2.8, and my shutter at 10-20 (but using good camera technique of course.) Remember that shooting at 2.8 you may need to recompose your images so that everything you want in focus is indeed in focus.
Another reason we don't want to use this technique for all our photos is because sometimes there is fast action that we need to catch where we don't want the subjects face out of focus. So how do we shoot in low light situations and have the backgrounds visible, but our subjects also properly exposed, without harsh shadows and in sharp focus? The answer is bouncing our flashes. To properly expose your wedding couple, and not have your flash producing harsh shadows on their face, you need a bigger light source. Remember, the bigger the light source, the softer the shadows. That is why when you use an umbrella the shadows are so nice and soft, the umbrella is the source of light and it is a lot bigger than your flash. This is the way it is and there is no way around it. These little cups that you put over your flash do not make the shadows softer, they only even out the light so that there are not any hot spots. Other light modifiers you see do increase the size of your light source.
Examples of these may be the big Tupperware looking things you see, or else a large bounce card. But wouldn't the shadows be even softer with a bigger light source? How about one the size of a wall or ceiling? This is what bouncing your flash is: turning the head of your flash so that the light first bounces off a wall, ceiling, people, etc., before hitting your subjects. This increases the size of your light source.
For me the best place to bounce my flash is off corners where the ceilings meet the walls. This seems to be a very directional light. Now if you use a lighting assistant, just make sure your assistant is bouncing the light before it hits your subject. If your flashes are communicating through a cord or through a wireless sync you shouldn't have any problem. If you are using a Nikon or Canon wireless system than just be sure your flash and your assistant flashe(s) can see each other.
To make this work, at times you will need to have your ISO as high as 1600. With the newest cameras and post processing, 1600 is not too grainy, and a huge difference from 3200 and higher. Your F stop should be at 2.8 to be able to expose the background with ambient light. This is the plus you get with bouncing your flash, your shadows will be real soft, but your background is exposed nicely by the ambient light. You will need to set your shutter speed to underexpose the ambient light by two to three stops. You will find that your flash will correctly expose your subjects while your background will a little bit underexposed as to be visible but not draw attention away from your subjects.
Another thing to notice is that you don't need to be worried by having a shutter speed slower than 60. This is because the action will be frozen by the flash. Imagine your wedding couple dancing fast. If you have a slow shutter speed the flash will freeze their faces, but the people behind them who are exposed by the ambient light may have a bit of motion blur. This is great since the motion blur in the background gives a sense of action, but the wedding couple is in sharp focus. I have found myself on the dance floor with my settings at ISO 1600. 2.8, and my shutter at 10-20 (but using good camera technique of course.) Remember that shooting at 2.8 you may need to recompose your images so that everything you want in focus is indeed in focus.
About the Author:
Kevin is one of the leading Wedding and Commercial Photographers in Costa Rica. To see more of his photography tips click on his blog Costa Rica Photographer To see this article with illustrating photos please go to this article on his blog at Photography in Costa Rica. This article, Wedding Photography Tips - How to Maintain Ambient Background Light: Bouncing Your Flash has free reprint rights.
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