How to Use a Ring Flash in a Photo Studio Environment

Flash Photography  •  Photography Tips  •  Studio Photography

Lights, lights, lights. There are so many kinds of lights. Fill lights, soft lights, hard lights, natural lights, kickers, etc. Well here’s a video about another kind of light, one that you might be very interested to try out if you haven’t already: the ringflash. This light is often referred to as the shadowless light. Of course it doesn’t completely eliminate shadows, but it doesn’t present the kind of harsh shadows that other lights can:

Mark Wallace has shown time and time again that he knows his stuff when it comes to lighting. He clearly explains what every light is doing and how it affects the image. The greatest thing about the ringflash is its versatility. It can substitute for a fill light, beauty dish, or softbox with the right set-up and modifiers.

Using it as a fill flash is particularly useful because it eliminates the shadows that another off-camera flash would produce. Wallace says that he often uses the ringflash if he’s working in a tight space and can only use one flash. The only downside, he states, is that it will produce red-eye, but this can easily be fixed in post-processing.

Comparison using ringflash as a fill light

“I always save [the ringflash] to the very end because as soon as students start using a ringflash they just can’t put it down because they find it so amazing.”