Using Speedlite flashes

With the "unleashed" Canon Speedlite flash units, you can create studio-quality, spectacularly staged photos. Petra Selbertinger explains how.

Equipment needed

You need your EOS camera and lens and a Canon Speedlite as an external flash. The latter should have a receiver function.

Either a transmitter is attached to the camera to trigger the flash wirelessly. Note: There are transmitter-only units without their own flash diode, such as the ST-E3, but some Speedlite flash units also have this transmitter function. Most two and three body EOS models (EOS x0D, EOS xx0D) can use the internal flash as a transmitter. If the flash has the letters RT in its name, it can trigger the receiver flash by radio, thus increasing the range.

Here is an overview of Canon's Speedlite flash units:

Speedlite Transmitters

• Speedlite 600EX II-RT and earlier
• Speedlite 580EX II and earlier
• Speedlite 550EX
• Speedlite 430EX III RT
• Macro Ring Flash MR-14EX
• Macro Twin Flash MT-24EX RT
• Speedlite Transmitters ST-E2 /ST-E3
• EOS cameras with transmitter interface (e.g. EOS 90D)
• Speedlite EX 90 (with certain EOS cameras)

Speedlite Receivers

• Speedlite 600EX II-RT and earlier
• Speedlite 580EX II and earlier
• Speedlite 550EX
• Speedlite 430EX III RT and earlier
• Speedlite 420EX
• Speedlite 320EX
• Speedlite 270EX II

Camera settings

You don't need to darken the room to achieve a "low key" effect, you can achieve it with normal room lighting. The background does not need to be dark or uniform. The slight green tint in my picture is created by a green studio background that is close to the model and reflects the light.

Select manual mode M on the camera and set the sensitivity to ISO 100. In this example, I have chosen an exposure time of 1/200s. To eliminate ambient light, choose a small aperture, such as f11 or f16. For a test exposure without flash, the image must be dark. The flash is the main light in this photo.

Tip: If you are using a mirrorless EOS R or EOS M, you should switch off exposure simulation in the camera menu, otherwise you will only see black in the viewfinder.

Flash setting

The flash is set to "Receiver" and "E-TTL“. The Speedlites come with a small base on which to mount the flash. The base has a tripod thread at the bottom, so you can easily mount the flash on a tripod and position it behind the subject. The flash will have the LED pointing towards the camera. Make sure that the flash disappears behind the subject and does not flash directly into the camera. You can place the diffuser in front of the Speedlite's reflector to spread the flash light more widely.

Effects

The silhouette looks particularly striking when something transparent is illuminated by the backlight. You can take this into account in the hairstyle and use translucent accessories (tulle, silk, artificial snow). For example, I gave my model large punched-out pieces of silk paper to throw up, and the flash made the flying pieces of confetti glow like flower petals in the sun. Now all you have to do is catch the right moment.