Speedlite help (how to use): Looking for some help with speed lites, I just received a Yongnuo YN685 as a gift & have no clue as to its workings. Can anyone out there recommend any...

pgerardi Loc: Bethel Park, PA

Looking for some help with speed lites, I just received a Yongnuo YN685 as a gift & have no clue as to its workings. Can anyone out there recommend any sort of reference material as to how to use & understand speedlites? I googled & searched YouTube but all I get is reviews on the YN685 which isn’t helping at all, just trying get the basics as a start would really be great. I appreciate your time & any assistance that can be offered.

SonyA580 Loc: FL in the winter & MN in the summer

Here's a good place to start: https://www.scantips.com/lights/flashbasics4.html

pgerardi Loc: Bethel Park, PA

Thank you SonyA580

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

SonyA580 wrote:

Here's a good place to start: https://www.scantips.com/lights/flashbasics4.html

Forgot about that site.
Great tips!
Thanks for posting.

BebuLamar

Generally you only need the camera manual and the flash manual. I do think the Yongnuo manual is too brief.

CO

I don't know where you can get manuals specific to the Yongnuo flash. There is a book that I would recommend. It's "Understanding Flash Photography" by Bryan Peterson. What's great about the book is that he covers many different techniques. He has a method for dealing with situations where the main subject is close to the flash and is overexposed. He puts both the camera and flash in manual mode and exposes for the background using the camera settings. He exposes for the foreground by adjusting the flash output level. The LCD on the flash displays the ideal flash to subject distance. He adjusts the flash output level until the LCD displays the estimated flash to subject distance.

BebuLamar

CO wrote:

I don't know where you can get manuals specific to... (show quote)

This is the manual for the 685
https://www.yongnuo.fr/wp-content/uploads/notices/YN-685_en.pdf

But as I said it's not very clearly written (compared to that of a Nikon flash unit manual).

pgerardi Loc: Bethel Park, PA

BebuLamar wrote:

This is the manual for the 685
https://www.yongnuo.fr/wp-content/uploads/notices/YN-685_en.pdf

But as I said it's not very clearly written (compared to that of a Nikon flash unit manual).

Thanks everyone for the information, it really is appreciated & I guess I need to do a lot of reading.

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

pgerardi wrote:

Looking for some help with speed lites, I just received a Yongnuo YN685 as a gift & have no clue as to its workings. Can anyone out there recommend any sort of reference material as to how to use & understand speedlites? I googled & searched YouTube but all I get is reviews on the YN685 which isn’t helping at all, just trying get the basics as a start would really be great. I appreciate your time & any assistance that can be offered.

There are hundreds of excellent books on that topic, I think that would be the best and easiest route to go!

OnDSnap Loc: NE New Jersey

https://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101.html

Notorious T.O.D. Loc: Harrisburg, North Carolina

Check out Robert Harrington YouTube videos on single speedlight portraits. Good information well presented.

As for instructions on your speedlite I would look online for the manual that is published by the manufacturer that your speedlite copies. I know Canon manuals are online. Probably Nikon too.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

At first, using flash could be intimidating. Many photographers get frustrated because they do not know the techniques to make their flashes work as if flash has not been used. There is nothing worst, except when working outdoor, than pointing straight flash to a subject. There will be lots of contrast and ugly dark shadows behind the subject. Soon you will be learning a technique called BOUNCING by which the flash is directed to a white wall to diffuse the light, make it wider and make it softer on the subject.

Flash in basic terms imply a double exposure, one exposure for the ambient light when there is enough ambient light and another for the flash. The exposure for the flash depends on the aperture of the lens that has been set while the set shutter speed regulates the amount of ambient light the subject receives. This is all basic flash photography as you will soon discover. Another basic flash principle is that as the flash is moved away from the subject there is light fall off which is called "inverse square law." The closer the light is to the subject the softer the lighting.

Your flash has an i-TTL (intelligent through the lens) function meaning that the flash works with the exposure meter of the camera when making an exposure. The meter in camera communicates with your flash to add only the necessary amount of light for a good exposure. Bright or dark subjects will require some type of exposure compensation and if you do not understand for now do not worry, you will learn all this as you study flash photography. When using TTL the flash illuminates the subject with little consideration to the background, ideal for indoor use. Techniques like mixing ambien light and flash will extend your knowledge of how to use flash and will be an important factor in improving your outdoor flash photography.

You will find lots of information with a Google search and there are very good books and tutorials available to improve your use of the flash. The rest is practice.
Based in New Jersey there is a very good South African photographer who has specialized in portraits and weddings whose name is Neil Van Nieker. In his website Planer Neil he has tons of useful information about flash photography and you could read some of it in addition to what you have already been recommended. Take lots of notes, go slow, if at all possible get into a camera club assuming there is one in your area and then begin to practice.

Start by learning everything about your flash and how it works.

clemente21

The YN685 is a very good flash for the money. I have three of them. But to get the most out of it, especially remote triggering for off-camera flash, I have the RF-603 and the YN622 which includes High Speed Sync. (I think there is an updated model of these). Also, I have the YN560-TX to control manual flash remotely.

The booklet included with the flash is very basic. To have a better understanding of the flash I watched youtube videos to learn the features and just plain experimenting. Then wrote down what I found.

PM me if you have a specific question.

clemente21

camerapapi wrote:

At first, using flash could be intimidating. Many photographers get frustrated because they do not know the techniques to make their flashes work as if flash has not been used. There is nothing worst, except when working outdoor, than pointing straight flash to a subject. There will be lots of contrast and ugly dark shadows behind the subject. Soon you will be learning a technique called BOUNCING by which the flash is directed to a white wall to diffuse the light, make it wider and make it softer on the subject.

Flash in basic terms imply a double exposure, one exposure for the ambient light when there is enough ambient light and another for the flash. The exposure for the flash depends on the aperture of the lens that has been set while the set shutter speed regulates the amount of ambient light the subject receives. This is all basic flash photography as you will soon discover. Another basic flash principle is that as the flash is moved away from the subject there is light fall off which is called "inverse square law." The closer the light is to the subject the softer the lighting.

Your flash has an i-TTL (intelligent through the lens) function meaning that the flash works with the exposure meter of the camera when making an exposure. The meter in camera communicates with your flash to add only the necessary amount of light for a good exposure. Bright or dark subjects will require some type of exposure compensation and if you do not understand for now do not worry, you will learn all this as you study flash photography. When using TTL the flash illuminates the subject with little consideration to the background, ideal for indoor use. Techniques like mixing ambien light and flash will extend your knowledge of how to use flash and will be an important factor in improving your outdoor flash photography.

You will find lots of information with a Google search and there are very good books and tutorials available to improve your use of the flash. The rest is practice.
Based in New Jersey there is a very good South African photographer who has specialized in portraits and weddings whose name is Neil Van Nieker. In his website Planer Neil he has tons of useful information about flash photography and you could read some of it in addition to what you have already been recommended. Take lots of notes, go slow, if at all possible get into a camera club assuming there is one in your area and then begin to practice.

Start by learning everything about your flash and how it works.

At first, using flash could be intimidating. Many ... (show quote)

I follow Neil's Tangents site. Check out his numerous articles and tutorials. https://neilvn.com/tangents/

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

B&H provides a good description for your flash. It can be used on camera or off with a Yongnuo transmitter. With that said, for indoor flash, start by making sure your flash is in TTL mode and set your camera as follows: camera in Manual mode, ISO at 400, aperture at F4.5, and shutter at 1/200 second. This will cover about 95% of your flash needs indoors. And remember that when you’re using flash you’re dealing with two light sources, the flash and ambient light. Using the ISO and aperture settings, the TTL feature on the flash will provide proper exposure on the subject. A high shutter speed will reduce the effect of any ambient light in the room. On YouTube, Lite Genius has a great video on how this works at https://youtu.be/wLeaX_WXUJ8.