What flash add on do you recommend?

[BrittanyCollins42]

When I’m doing indoor photos, I don’t have any portable box lights, so I considered buying a flash for my camera (Canon Rebel T6). What flash would you recommend? I’m not familiar with the manual flash settings. Also, do you recommend a flash diffuser? Last one, how do you feel about ring lights, or ring lights that attach to the lens? TIA!

[Brian]

As with anything, I always start of with this question: "What is your budget?"

Flash is a whole other world and the costs can be minimal to costing you thousands for just one light. That's not including the modifiers that you will also need. (Softboxes, Umbrellas, Diffusers...all that stuff.)

The second question is, "What are you shooting indoors?" Babies? Families & Portraits, Headshots or just something more basic? Will you be using a background in some sort of studio or are you mostly running-and-gunning?

Ring lights, they are useful and have their place. Especially if you do YouTube Videos and the like. If you are using one to shoot portraits, they are also nice to have...but I wouldn't start with ring light. When it comes to portraits, getting a ring light properly aligned so it looks good in the catch-lights in the eyes, that takes practice. Which leads into the answer of your next question...

Flash Diffusers, Yep! I recommend them. Unfortunately there is all sorts of gadgets that mount to flashes and I just can't really recommend one. I have a bunch including a flash-rig that I will get into later. So yes, having modifiers on your flash is a good thing. You can start out with a basic diffuser / strobe cap and then waste a bunch of money like me buying different ones. This is one of those things with a traditional flash that I'm always on the lookout for. I can't recommend to "Just get this one..." because I haven't figured it out.

Again, having the right modifier needs to match up to WHAT you are shooting indoors. Oh, one more thing, are you thinking about using the flash off-camera?

As far as a Manual Mode for Flash, it's not as hard as one might think. It just takes getting used to. One of the things with Manual Flash, is your camera's built-in meter is COMPLETELY WORTHLESS because it's re-active and not pro-active.

"Huh?"

It works by reading the existing ambient light around your camera. Since your flash hasn't fired, it's not reading that light because it isn't there yet. So how do the manufactuer's get around this? Something called TTL or Through The Lens Metering. This is a algorithm that is based on thousands and thousands of pictures taken with and without flash with a consensus of "This is a good exposure..." It works for the most part if you are running-and-gunning, but it's not fool-proof.

One of the worst things you can do is just put the flash on top of your camera and just start shooting. Some of the photos will come out "fine," while others will come out "Icky..." Which is what drives people to "Specialize in Natural Light Photography..." Please don't become one of those people. Because all that screams is, "I'm afraid of flash, I don't understand flash, and have no idea how to create my own light." Since you are asking, I'm assuming you aren't going to become one.   Anyway, I feel a rant coming on so I will stop.

So about that budget and what you are planning on shooting....

Edit: I will go over manual flash settings at another time. It's not as difficult as you would think. That being said, it is more logical and methodical than anything.

[BrittanyCollins42]

@Brian thank you for responding! My budget (as of right now, where I’m still a beginner) is around $100-$150.. I’ve done some boudoir, as well as family portraits indoors. I don’t have a studio, so it would be along the lines of running and gunning. I’ve done a wedding as well. Of course it wasn’t one of the more elegant weddings, and the family loved the photos but I just feel like more lighting is needed. I do hate my flash on my camera. I had to use it a few times during the wedding. I had no choice. l hate the shadows. But other than family & portraits, and MAYBE boudoir, that’s all I’m looking to use it for. Only when NEEDED. Maybe later down the road when I’m more experienced, I’ll want to get in to using it more often. 

[Brian]

11 hours ago, BrittanyCollins42 said:

l hate the shadows.

Yep! That's what you get with a Pop-up On-Camera flash. Since the light is physically so small, it produces harder light and more contrast in the shadows. The bigger the flash, especially the modifier, the softer the light. This is the reason that flash gets a bad wrap; it's not the flash's fault, it's the photographer who doesn't take the time to learn. Way back when, where the wheels were square instead of round, SLR camera bodies did not come with a pop-up flash. That came along with beginner DSLRs in the 2000's. If you wanted flash, you had to buy an external one, which is usually larger.

11 hours ago, BrittanyCollins42 said:

My budget (as of right now, where I’m still a beginner) is around $100-$150..

My advice right now is: KEEP SAVING. You need more money. There are 3rd party flashes out there, but in my personal opinion, they just don't hold up over time. Plus Quality Control can be an issue. A few Admins own these flashes and recommend them, but also recommend having 2-3 spares on hand in case the one you are using dies during a gig. So even though this flash is just under $140, you probably are looking at least buying two to start with. Personally, I wouldn't trust them on a gig. That said, this is the Yongnuo Speedlite YN600EX-RT II for Canon Cameras.

If you really want the real-deal, and the kind that I use on Weddings and don't have to worry about, this is the Flash you want to buy: The Canon 600 EX II. I have the Nikon equivalent and they have never let me down. Unfortunately, this flash is $500 and we haven't even bought the rechargeable batteries and charger, plus modifier. So in reality, I'd shoot for about $700 or more. We could go to the flash that is a little cheaper, and that would be the Godox V1 Flash, but at $320 (plus the extra battery, etc.) it's still above your budget. Again, you really need to save up more. It seems the bottom-price to really get started with quality products is around $600 or so and the more you can save the better.

[Brian]

@BrittanyCollins42: I just noticed this creativeLIVE class is on sale for $12 right now. If you really want a good foundation on flash/strobe photography, Zach Arias is the one who you want to teach. He covers everything better than I ever could. He also has a OneLight DVD series where he just uses a Single Flash. Here is the creativeLIVE class.