Using your wireless flash "MM" settings - Effective sometimes...

[Mike Fulton]

The other day while shooting a wedding a shot developed which I felt would somewhat show you the effects of changing the MM settings on your wireless flash. On your flash units (both Canon and Nikon) you can adjust the MM settings of the flash, this works much like the MM on your lens with the lower the number the wider the output of light will be and of course the higher the number the tigher or more "snoot" effect the flash will have.


So with that said here are three of roughly the same images taken at three different MM settings with the wireless flash.


The Master/Commander flash unit was turned off to flash and only on to transmit the signal so the only flash you see in the images is from our wireless unit which exposed the bride.


24mm (Note how much of the back wall is seen but nothing very bright, the flash simply did not have enough output to expose everything well.



70mm (Note how you can start to see the outline of the flash "circle" on the wall and the bride is getting brighter



105mm (Note the bed in front of the bride and the bride herself is nice and bright, almost as if I did a dodge and burn effect around her in Photoshop.) Effective if the light is placed correctly!



These settings are ones which the MASTER/COMMANDER CAN NOT adjust so it must be done mannually on the wireless flash when shooting.

I hope it helps you understand the true power of wireless flash shooting and why I love teaching our workshops on this subject and of course using them so much. So much power most of us never even use!

[Abel]

nicely done mike... thanks a ton for the info!