How to use YN-560 II off camera flash

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So maybe you have finally mastered the functions of your DSLR no matter which brand? Now you have used the pop-up flash on your camera now to only realize that your photos are coming out boring and flat such as your subject coming out with red eyes, deer in the headlights look or they look like someone's mugshot! No you don't want that whether you are just trying to take some good snapshots at your favorite niece's birthday party, or you are taking wedding photos as a paid job. So your next step is to find an awesome external flash to mount on the hot shoe of your camera.

External flashes/speedlites, offer a number of advantages over your pop-up flash. One main advantage is the size of the light source. The pop-up flash of your camera is a very tiny thin strip of light about and inch long. Off camera speedlites flash sources are quite a bit larger than the pop-up flash counter part. Here are two examples below.

Here is the pop-up flash sized head and the external flash is below. You can see the flash source at the bottom one is much larger. The larger the light source the softer and more pleasant the lighting will be. Just one problem with that. You still only have flat front on lighting that does not flatter your subject. The remedie for this with the speed light is that its flash head can bend and swivel. With this you can bounce flash off of ceilings and walls that are white making your light source tremendously larger and softer. I strongly recommend the Canon 600 EX-RT Flash as it is absolutely amazing and nearly bullet proof if you truly must have one of the most dependable flashes on the market! If you are a hobbyist looking to venture into flash photography and want a speedlite that can hang with the best at an affordable entry level price then maybe the YN-560 II Manual Speedlite is for you. This flash is perfect for off camera strobist setup.







Even after being able to use bounce flash indoors this is still a severe limitation outdoors. Outdoors you usually cannot use bounce flash techniques. You need what is called 'Off Camera' flash.With off camera flash you can now place them at 45 degree angles which are usually more flattering for your portrait subject. With bare flash this works okay, but the use of a light modifier such as a Softbox , Shoot Through Umbrella , or Reflective Umbrella will yield you much better results with lighting that is both softer and more flattering.

Buy these stands by clicking the image

Okay, you have your off camera speedlites and possible light modifiers, now what? You most likely are going to need something to mount those flashes and or modifiers onto. This is where light stands come in. These Cowboy Studio Light Stands are just what you need and they are very affordable. I around ten of these personally because you can never seem to have enough of them.

Light stands are a must if you shooting outdoor portraits alone. You can position a kicker light behind your subject, a key light and fill light, or many possible combinations requiring more speedlites. Manual speedlites like the YN-560 II are perfect for off camera flash. If you use a shoot-through or reflective umbrella outdoors be careful as they can topple over in the wind or even become airborn! For event photography you might want an ETTL Flash, but we will talk about that later.

Here is a video we made to show how to trigger off camera optically, without expensive flash triggers outdoors using one on-camera YN-560 II flash as a master to control off-camera slave.









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