Wedding query - use of Hammerhead flashguns

DiddyDave

DiddyDave

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For all you Wedding togs out there... (or anyone who fancies answering!)

When using a Hammerhead flashgun (or any other on a flash-bracket for that matter) in taking a 'Portrait' shot would you...

a) hold your camera so that the flashgun was above the camera pointing down towards your happy couple's faces,

or

b) hold your camera such that the flashgun is below the camera, and thus pointing up towards the faces of the happy couple ???

:shrug::shrug::shrug:

I was a guest at a Wedding yesterday and their tog was using their Finepix with a Metz hammerhead in one of the above - which should it have been in your opinion?

And why?

Cheers

DD
 
Neither to be honest, if I had a diffuser on it I might point it at the couple but otherwise and even with a diffuser I'd be pointing it upwards (assuming the ceiling is low enough to reflect). Some Metz flash guns don't have any vertical swivel movement though.
 
Steep said:
Neither to be honest, if I had a diffuser on it I might point it at the couple but otherwise and even with a diffuser I'd be pointing it upwards (assuming the ceiling is low enough to reflect). Some Metz flash guns don't have any vertical swivel movement though.
Click to expand...

That wasn't an option Steep - she was shooting outside as well as inside, the question then is... should the flash (as she was using it) be held above or below the lens ???

DD
 
Personally I'd go 'A' as it can look a bit macabre lighting people from below. Probably worth trying for effect on one of the more 'arty' shots but for general use I'd have the flash high pointing down.

Having said that I have no idea what a Hammerhead flashgun is.
 
I'd have the flash above the lens so any shadows created would fall down behind the subject, if you had the flash below the camera I think the result would like something out of a Hammer Horror movie as the shadows would be going up towards the ceiling. :D
 
Flash from below is instant Horror movie ;)

Cheers,
James
 
Yup - a) is the right way to do it because...

light from above is similar to butterfly lighting and more natural as it mimics the Sun (which is rarely below you), and as Hacker says reduces the shadows behind

And, because it's also the same as every shot you'd have already done in 'Landscape' format

This sill cow (soz, but she annoyed me for loads more reasons than this) shot upside-down in portrait mode all evening, and obviously correctly in landscape mode - her photos are going to look dramatically different and stupid because of it

My wife thought I was nuts for going on about it so much (too much wine didn't help!) so I shot an example of my daughter this morning and she was shocked at the difference it makes - sad thing too, it's her friend's Wedding

DD
 
I have a metz45 cl4 (and 2 x 550ex) - a great flash, and due to the position it is mounted on the camera, it will be below the camera when you use a second shutter release for vertical shots - you can obviously turn the camera around to have it above the camera, (or reverse the flash to have it on the other side)although holding the camera that way is less natural, and clearly for the evening shots where the flash was the only light source the photographer should use the flash above the camera for the most natural light and shadows.

For daytime work though, when you are using the flash as fill-in there are some advantages to using the flash below the camera - strange as it may seem - in most cases in daytime you are using the flash to soften shadows, and it is unlikely that you can do this by having your secondary light source (the flash) sending light from the same direction as the first (the sun). I use a flash below the camera for fill in at a number of events where runners and triathletes use baseball caps to shield their eyes from the sun - this puts a shadow across the face and having a flash above the camera (and most importantly above the line of the rim of the hat) does not help with this as much as if it is below.

In the case of a wedding the low flash will have the same effect for women with large brimmed hats that guests often wear, it will help to get the light into the shade, that is across these women’s faces - although clearly the flash should not be used like this as the main light source - only as fill in, unless you want the “house of hammer” look
 
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