photo by BartekSzewczyk via iStock
Ask any professional portrait photographer what artificial lighting they use for outdoor portraits, and the chances are good that many of them will respond by saying they use a monolight.
Monolights are ideally suited for outdoor portrait photography because their light output is highly adjustable and their heads can be fitted with modifiers and other attachments to modify the light.
The problem with monolights is that they aren’t exactly lightweight, nor are they easy to carry around, especially once you have a modifier, light stands, and so forth in tow as well.
Besides, there’s a much cheaper option than using a monolight, and that, my friends, is a speedlight.
Editor’s Tip: One of the best accessories you can have in your camera is a good speedlight. As you’ll see in this article, speedlights are hugely versatile, and can be used for outdoor portraits, indoor portraits, headshots, action portraits, and much more. Whether you need a speedlight for Canon, a speedlight for Nikon, or something in between, PAUL'S PHOTO has a great selection of flashes, modifiers, light stands, and more.
Speedlight vs Monolight
If you’re not familiar with outdoor flash photography, you might not know the essential differences between speedlights and monolights.
For starters, both speedlights and monolights are strobes, though speedlights are smaller and lighter weight than their monolight counterparts, making them an excellent choice for outdoor flash photography, as shown above.
Secondly, monolights are usually reserved for situations in which a large area needs to be lit. Additionally, monolights (like the one shown below) are often better suited to situations in which you need to shoot rapidly (monolights have excellent recycle time that helps keep up with rapid shooting) or when you want to enhance the natural light when shooting outdoors.
photo by angiii via iStock
Conversely, speedlights are better suited in very dark situations, like photographing an event indoors, or when you just need a punch of light to enhance the ambient light that’s available.
Third, monolights are more powerful and they have more options for modifying the light than do speedlights. For these reasons, monolights are often used in studio portraiture, though you’ll see portrait photographers using them for on-location shots as well. Of course, all that power and modification options mean monolights are more expensive.
Another difference between speedlights and monolights is that monolights are usually manually controlled, where speedlights are usually automatic or TTL (Through the Lens), which simply means the camera and a “preflash” work together to determine the appropriate flash output power for the given situation.
Lastly, speedlights are much more portable, and they’re more capable of accommodating very high shutter speeds.
So, while there are some similarities between monolights and speedlights - not the least of which that you can use either one to create classic portrait lighting patterns - you can see that there are far more differences.
Get a few more details on speedlights vs monolights in the video above by Joe Edelman.
How to Use a Speedlight for Outdoor Portraits
Despite a few limitations (i.e., power and modification options), you can use a speedlight (like this Promaster speedlight for Canon) to capture gorgeous outdoor portraits quite readily.
There’s really just two steps you’ll need to undertake to maximize your results when using a speedlight outdoors.
Using a Flash Outdoors in Daylight: Step 1, Modify the Light
YouTube Screenshot/Manny Ortiz
Using a speedlight for an outdoor daytime portrait allows you to fill in some of the shadows that you get when shooting outdoors.
To best fill in those shadows, you need to modify the light to soften it. Doing so results in more even light that minimizes highlights and shadows and results in a well-exposed, well-lit outdoor portrait.
Above, you can see what an outdoor portrait during the daytime might look like without the benefit of a speedlight and modifier. But as you can see below, the results are much different once a speedlight and modifier are introduced. In fact, using a single light for portraits can often get you beautiful results.
YouTube Screenshot/Manny Ortiz
Now, in this specific situation, there was some cloud cover to help diffuse the sunlight, so the results were quite good. But when the sun is out in full force, using a single speedlight and modifier can be a little more tricky.
Speedlight for Outdoor Portraits: Step 2, How to Deal With Bright Sun
YouTube Screenshot/Manny Ortiz
When the sun is shining brightly, the first thing you should do is have the model face away from the sun and toward your modified speedlight.
Doing so accomplishes a couple of things - first, the model is less likely to squint because the sun will be at their back, and second, by facing toward the speedlight you can use it to lighten the model’s face.
Above, you can see how effective this can be. However, there’s a few problems.
YouTube Screenshot/Manny Ortiz
When the sun is so bright, the speedlight’s recycle time will be much greater because you have to use it at full power. That being the case, you should be prepared to take multiple photos in an effort to get the flash to trigger so you have that nice fill light that you’re after.
Another issue is that speedlights have to be placed very near the model because they don’t have enough power to compete with sunlight. This restricts you a little bit in terms of composition and posing options, otherwise, your speedlight and modifier might make an appearance in the shot (as you can see in the upper-left corner of the shot above).
Outdoor Flash Photography: Recap
So, to recap, to tackle outdoor flash photography, you don’t need a big, heavy, expensive monolight.
Instead, you can use a speedlight and an inexpensive softbox to get pleasing results.
You just have to place the modified speedlight close to the model and ensure that their back is to the sun. Additionally, when shooting in full sun, be aware that your speedlight’s recycle time will be extended, so you’ll need to be patient.
Get more details on how to use a speedlight outdoors in the video above by Manny Ortiz.