Flash brackets purpose

Sask2005

As a beginner I don't know why a flash bracket is needed. Yesterday I watched a wedding photographer using one and the flash stood high above his camera. Can someone please explain to me what they are used for and what effect a flash unit high above a camera would have?

Thanks
Bruce

rjpat

It produces a more natural looking photo, none of the deer caught in the headlights look of an on camera flash.

photoman

Hi Bruce

The technical reason is to reduce or eliminate "red eye" and to give the photographer better shadow control of his subject. Have fun. Joe:):

rjpat wrote:

It produces a more natural looking photo, none of the deer caught in the headlights look of an on camera flash.

SteveF

Flash Bracket
Hello,

As stated above the further you can get the flash from the lens axis the more "natural" the light will appear, and the less incidence of red eye you will have.

A flash bracket does that well.

The other big thing they do is allow you to keep the flash above the lens when you switch from landscape to portrait orientation with the camera.

With the lens in the hotshoe, when you turn the camera in the portrait orientation the flash will shoot from left to right across the frame. This gives bad looking shadows to the right of the subjects as you look at the picture.

This is all for people photography. Another use is with the longer lenses. If you have a flash in the hotshoe with a long telephoto lens it will create a shadow on the bottom of the frame as the flash will hit the end of the lens. By moving it further above the axis of the lens this can be avoided as well.

Hope that is helpful.

Mike258

And, let me also add that almost every active event photgrapher enjoys the added ease of handling provided by a quality flash bracket. One's hands will eventually tire of handling the camera body over a period of hours but the bracket provides a bit of ergonomic relief in that it gives a broader grasping area and usually a cushioning material.

I suggest that you look at the Custom Brackets models. I use the CB Digital-S which is one of the so-called "Flash-Rotating" brackets, meaning that the portion of the bracket which holds the flash unit itself rotates when configuring for a vertical shot.

Camera-Rotating brackets are of course available as well. Understandably the camera is rotated in one of these brackets for a vertical shot.

Best regards,

Mike Brown

Blurmore

A different opinion on flash brackets from a wedding photographer
First off you'd be hard pressed to create red-eye, from a properly mounted full size SLR dedicated flash. I've seen it happen, but you almost have to try to do it. Red eye is created because the flash and the lens are too close together, flash hits the retina bounces back straight into the lens. All but half size entry level SLR flashes position the the flash well out of align of the lens axis. For medium format equipment it is ABSOLUTELY neccesary to use a bracket, as much to get a good solid grip on the camera as for flash positioning. The bracket on the Mamiya C330 I use serves the triple purpose of providing a left hand grip, correct flash position, and feet to set the camera down on. Hasselblad shooters who use the SLR beasts hand held like http://www.adorama.com/SB300800.html Denis Reggie's Stroboframe bracket. A bracket for a 6x6 medium format is a simple affair as the camera is never rotated from from horizontal to vertical.

So far as 35mm or Digital 2/3's cameras go, I think a flash bracket is essential if you are using one flash on camera. Simply using a bracket will give much more "natural" looking light. However if you are using a 2 or 3 light set-up and some type of flash modifier on camera I think the difference is little. Some 'very famous' photographers like Gary Fong http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=garyfong1 the creator of the popular lightsphere hate using a bracket. I find the flip style brackets to be very clumsy, especially if wearing the camera on a strap. As most of the work I do at weddings involves a 2 or 3 light arrangement, I rarely use a bracket. I do use a sto-fen omni bounce, and occasionally a bounce card. I've seen other wedding photographers using lightspheres, but I personally think they look goofy.

My point in all these ramblings is there is no RIGHT way to illuminate a subject with flash. Experimentation and invention in the science of strobe photography makes some people very rich. But for most they just create something to use for themselves because there is nothing on the market to fit their needs.