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Picture Perfect Lighting

Lesson 19 of 41

Speedlites: Zoom Flash


Picture Perfect Lighting

Lesson 19 of 41

Speedlites: Zoom Flash


Lesson Info

Speedlites: Zoom Flash

So we discussed manual on tt l now we're going to discuss zoom in the flash so the flash head this little guy basically khun spread the light like a like a big cone out this way or you can spread or it can be like a little laser beam it would just be a little tiny beam off light coming out okay, why would that be important? Here's? Why here's? How I use that feature at receptions if I'm shooting a wedding I point assumed the flash as hard as I can. So this six hundred cannon six hundred ex artie can go from like fourteen millimetres on the white angle panel all the way to two hundred millimeters. So if you put a two hundred millimeter lens on you zoom into two hundred millimeters it's like a tiny little angle of you you can make this flash head just illuminate that tiny little angle of you. So what I do is I put my eye put out a wide angle lens like a twenty four to seventy or a sixteen to thirty five on dh I assume the flash head toe two hundred millimeters okay when there is the firs...

t dance happening or the father daughter dance or whatever I point my flash at the couple at two hundred millimeters on they look, it looks like there's a lot a nice spotlight on them on the rest gets big netted beautifully around them with because if you don't do that if you let the flash zoom do it automatically is going to illuminate the whole scene and it looks that's where looks flat if you look at my reception photos there's like a a beautiful natural vignette to them where the audience or the guests look like they're in this moody darkness but they're still lit but the couple looks perfectly exposed so make sense so zooming the flasher to me is crucial another way you well you wouldn't want to zoom the flash head um see here you can sit down if you want come on chill for a bit in nikon flashes there is no radio transmission okay there is no radio transmission it's its line of sight when this light fires if you're doing groups when this light fires there's like this light has to see this life for this like to fire two whenever you have your outdoors if you're shooting with two different flashes one flash on the camera sir working us aside commander okay and the other flash working as a slave or off camera flash the only time this is going to fire is when it sees the flash off this one cool so one thing that I do if I'm outdoors sometimes the flash gets confused between the sunlight and the flashlights or when the flash fire station says I don't see anything because his full is bright daylight so I assume the flash to two hundred millimeters and that gives us so much more power this flash goes well I see it and then it fires makes sense took that's one good way to use the assumed flash it there the next feature that this speed lights half we've gone over manual and we've gone over teo we've gone over zooming the flasher there's a bun right there called zoom and you can push it on dh actually I don't have a camera here let me see I don't know if I can do this you have a good exposure there okay I'm a seventy million meters because my lances at seventy millimeters so it tries to read but I'm going to go to the soon I'm going to say I don't want seventy millimeters I want two hundred millimeters now two hundred millimeters so now the output is going to be this little spotlight look, um see if I can fire let me fire there oh, quick. I mean, can you stand in front of that red wall over there? Can I go in there right away? Scary gonna kill me, okay, it's gonna be I'm gonna go to two hundred millimeter zoom on the flash and it looks like a little spotlight so as you can see on the photo there see that's bullet and that's why it's great for father daughter that's our first dance or anything where you want to feature somebody you want to make the rest a little darker and you don't wanna do it in light room or photo shop just do it this way that I'm going to assume the flat I'm going to zoom out the flash shirt from two hundred two thirty five for whatever I'm at two you go now you have a wider angle of you on this kind of photo they're good now we're going to go from twenty eight millimeters we're gonna bring it all the way down and they should illuminate the whole scene pretty good well sort of good guy question so first a wedding reception if you have your additional speeds lights off camera would that be a good idea to use that zoom feature just because it's not putting a more concentrated room lighter it's it is a good idea I do use I do assume my flash cards and I point him at a couple uh during dancing sometimes I actually leave the suit this room pretties somethin throughout the entire reception except when people are going crazy dancing a lot and there's like a thousand people in the in the room I still do that but I go to let's say I'm shooting at twenty four millimeters I would assume the flashing like fifty like I wouldn't go two hundred and the reason is I don't want to feature to people on in the rest this old dark so what I want to do this kind of give you like a feeling off this dance floor but also in the outskirts if it's there's not a lot of action happening I want it to be dark and so it looks like the party's illuminated is like full of action okay zooming that they assuming the flash air can give you can make the photo look like it's a lot more active like it's like a night loving they're so good assuming the flash I mean rotating yes another question related from air em does the millimeters in the flash zoom correspond to the millimeters of the lens that you're using or is that something completely no I'm totally those yeah it's so it matches whatever you have or he tries to match it so if you're at twenty four millimeters the flash says ok, I'm going to go to twenty four millimeter zoom if you're if you have a seventy two hundred millimeter lens and you put it at one thirty five then the flash will say I'm going to assume toe one thirty five okay tries to match it so how does zoom when you're bouncing light how does the zoom effect you're bouncing light? Well it doesn't effect it's just it will be a stronger beam of light because you're thie, output is more concentrated, right? You're going from this much to only a little narrow, so it's bouncing a lot stronger remember yesterday we spoke about the angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection it will that will play there, because if your beam of light it's a tiny little narrow beam, then the angles more sensitive than makes sense. But if your flash is like wide and it's spreading light everywhere when the light hits, when that big spread hits a wall, it's also going to bounce on a big spread. So you that's a good question, because that allows you to that unless you get a lot of different looks. If you ever see me shooting a job, whether it's, fashion or editorial or weddings, I am zooming the flashing back and forth back and forth. I'm like twenty four, eighty, one hundred, two hundred twenty four fifty like I'm switching the the flash output constantly that's one of those techniques that when people see my work, they say your your photos look like super clean and beautiful, like it looks like there's no flash at all, and that is because I'm always working the flash zoom in the flash, assuming it out, giving me exactly what I want.

Class Description

Don’t rely on Photoshop tricks to make your portraits pop – learn how to use light to capture the moment in a camera. In Picture Perfect Lighting, Roberto Valenzuela will teach you how to make the magic happen with on-camera, off-camera, and natural light.

Roberto is a photographer and educator committed to helping other photographers overcome roadblocks and produce their best work. In this class, he’ll teach you how to achieve perfect lighting in your portraits without always relying on bulky and expensive modifiers. 

You’ll learn:

  • How to handle Speedlites
  • The best way to use natural light
  • Studio lighting techniques

Roberto will demystify lighting and help you become a more confident practitioner of your craft. You’ll learn to embrace lighting as a source of creativity and expression, rather than a source of fear.

In Picture Perfect Lighting, Roberto will help you reduce the time you spend retouching in Photoshop so you can focus on what is really fun about photography: taking pictures. You’ll develop a better understanding of the principles behind photography lighting and learn about the gear that will make your work more beautiful – without weighing you down.

If your unedited images could use a little boost, don’t miss your chance to learn how create Picture Perfect Lighting with Roberto Valenzuela.


  1. Intro and Who This Class is For
  2. 3 Groups for All Lighting Scenarios
  3. My Progress in Lighting

    It is boring when everyone shoots the same photos over and over. Roberto talks about developing a unique look.

  4. Analyzing Circumstantial Lighting
  5. Circumstantial Lighting Q & A
  6. Using a Reflector the Right Way
  7. 5 Behaviors of Light: Overview and Angle
  8. 5 Behaviors of Light: Inverse Square Law of Light
  9. 5 Behaviors of Light: Relative Size
  10. 5 Behaviors of Light: Relative Size Continued
  11. 5 Behaviors of Light: Color
  12. 5 Behaviors of Light: Reflective Surfaces
  13. 5 Behaviors of Light: Q & A
  14. Location SWOT Analysis and 10 Things to Look For
  15. Location SWOT Analysis: Examples and Exercises
  16. Overview Q & A
  1. Speedlites: The Basics and TTL
  2. Speedlites: Manual Flash
  3. Speedlites: Zoom Flash
  4. Speedlites: Zoom and Rotating Flash Head and Reflectors
  5. Speedlites: First Curtain vs. Second Curtain Sync
  6. Speedlites: High Speed Sync
  7. Speedlites: Optical vs. Radio Systems
  8. Speedlites: Groups and Channels
  9. Location Lighting Upgrade Examples
  10. Indoor Lighting: Building on Ambient Light
  11. Outdoor Lighting : Speedlights in Direct Sunlight
  12. Outdoor Lighting: Using Speedlites in Shade
  13. Outdoor Lighting: Romantic Look and Patterns with Speedlites
  14. Indoor Lighting: Creating a Window with Strobes and a Curtain
  15. Indoor Lighting: Moody Light with Speedlites and Gels
  16. Indoor Lighting: Reflective Surfaces
  17. Indoor Lighting: Shooting Against a Window
  18. Indoor Lighting: Adding a Reference Point and Ambience
  19. Indoor Lighting: Shooting into a Mirror and Creating Separation
  1. Why You Need to Learn to Get it Right In Camera
  2. Location Photo Review and Analysis
  3. Intro to Reception Lighting SWOT Analysis
  4. Reception Lighting Setup
  5. Image Critique: Lighting Problems and Solutions
  6. Don't Limit Yourself As A Photographer



Im sitting in my office listening to Roberto with my earplugs on and I know I have already left 2 reviews but he's so funny…. my family comes into the office asking me "whats so funny" Roberto makes me laugh out loud with his jokes but at the same time, he is SO great at teaching. Im watching for second time to make sure all his good info is ingrained. HIGHLY recommend you take his workshop on Picture Perfect Lighting if you truly want to take your photography to the next level! WOW thats 3 reviews now…can you tell I am impressed

Maureen T.

I'm taking a portrait photography course at NYIP online. one of the mentors there recommended the posing book by Roberto. I ended up ordering at the library the posing and the perfect practice book. I fell in love with both books...ended up buying them and signing up here for the year membership just so I can take all of his photos courses. I spent most of my weekend doing perfect lighting course here I am in love with the way that he teaches! He makes something so difficult and challenging for me make sense. I also like that he challenges us photographers to be true professionals. I am thrilled to have discovered Roberto and already noticed my photography is better in the short time that I've been studying him.


Roberto has the personaliyy and gift to relate to others.He is honest and shared some of rhe disaters that occurred, even with high paying and important clients when he failed to follow his proven and tested approaches. He has shared from his extensive knowledge developed by hard work and effort to master his craft. His dedication in attacking his weaknesses and making them a strength is inspiring. I have purchased many CL classes and all have worth the investment so I hesitated to purchase this course because I didn't think there was much new information. However the clear teaching and extensive knowledge shared by Roberto in his unique style caused me to purchase it gladly and believe it is an exceptional value. Roberto has shared his extensive tools, but you will never be the master of the craft without putting in the hard work and testing that roberto testified to. Thanks again CL for bringing the best to us and Thank you Roberto for taking the time and preparation to achive excellance in in this class.