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Flash or Continuous Light: Which to Use?
Janine van der Kooij - Vink
Flash or continuous light?
Which light is best to use for portrait photography: flash or continuous light? Naturally, both forms of light are widely used, and there is something to be said for both types of lighting. With a studio flash, you can truly freeze movement, while with continuous light, you see the effect of the light on the photo beforehand. In principle, studio flashes are made for photography and continuous lights for videography. However, that boundary is starting to blur due to advancing technology.
Flashlight
Flashes emit an enormous amount of light in a fraction of a second. This amount of light allows you to use a short shutter speed, which in turn ensures that you can freeze movement more effectively. Think, for example, of children who just can't sit completely still. Because the shutter speed is short, you rarely get blurry photos.
Flashes provide more light than continuous lights. The advantage is that a flash is brief. Fortunately, because if you could leave a flash on continuously, it wouldn't be very pleasant for your model.
Another advantage is that there are many accessories and light modifiers available for studio flashes . You can soften the light, focus it with a barn door set / reflector, or even diffuse it using a honeycomb softbox. The aforementioned accessories fit all studio flashes since the connections on the front are the same. The color temperature is the same as that of daylight, so you do not need to use filters to correct overly warm colors.
Continuous light
If you choose to replace flash with continuous light , your shutter speed will be longer, and the risk of blurry photos is much greater. Your model must sit perfectly still, and using a tripod for your camera is also highly recommended. This is easily solved by using a higher ISO value . This makes the sensor on your camera more sensitive to light, allowing the shutter speed to be shortened.
Continuous light is also referred to as lighting with LED lamps . Why? This form of continuous light offers many advantages for you as a photographer. Consider, for example, ease of use, significantly lower power consumption, and the wide range of color temperatures. As mentioned earlier, you can see in advance how your subject is lit, and a major advantage is that the set light remains constant. If the lighting is not yet to your liking, you can easily adjust it with LED lamps. After all, LED lamps can display any color of light. In addition to the convenience for you as a photographer, it is also pleasant for your model if you use continuous light. When a flash fires, a bright flash is naturally emitted, but with continuous light, you have the advantage that no flash is involved and that you can shoot multiple photos in quick succession. A flash unit needs to be recharged, whereas continuous light does not.
What is the best choice now?
Flash and continuous light both have their own advantages and disadvantages. The advantage of continuous light is that you see immediately how your photo will turn out and that you maintain full control over the lighting. You can choose how you want to expose a subject, thereby determining how much light is exposed to the camera's sensor. Correct exposure depends on the ISO value, shutter speed , and aperture . In other words, the exposure triangle (directly connected). With flash, you reduce the chance of motion blur in your photos, and there is a wide range of different light modifiers available.
Finding good lighting for a specific situation seems quite complicated. We can, of course, give you tips and tricks, but ultimately, it is best to experiment with lighting yourself. When you use which light in which situation is entirely up to you as the photographer or your client. What atmosphere do you want to convey with your photos? And, of course, let's not forget: what fits within your budget?
