The POWER of Off Camera Flash Photography (vs using available light) Pt 2 

I love that you brought this series back!

A great shoot. You are the master of mixing natural and flash. Not as easy as it looks.

Definitely make a big point Manny, when you don't have an assistant, you gotta check everything, recheck everything. Stop and start with your subjects. I live in Miami, so when my assistance isn't there it's a real undertaking. You also have to have someone watching your gear...

Ah yes, the blue wagon that magically can hold everything that you ever need. Classic! Great video!

Manny, Chicago, Elisabeth. = art period.

Always nice seeing other people bringing the wagon setup just like me.

Manny, I have to thank you very much for your videos about Off Camera Flash, it saved me from paying a lot of money for courses in Brazil. I learned a lot from you. success always to you!

Just found your videos a few days ago and I’m watching your 4-5 year old videos to help learn more about cameras as im wanting to become a photographer in the near future. Thank you for your great work and patience and love for your viewers. We appreciate you, don’t give up. God is with you.

Idk guys, I know I'm in the wrong place for this opinion but the bright backgrounds of natural light just do it for me. Certainly times I wish I'd have a flash but man I prefer the natural light in most of these images. Great video Manny

On location are the best, glad to see you back outside.

Love this video because it shows the major difference in both styles and I use the word style because I’m a natural light photographer. Only last year I started experimenting with ocf and really loving it to be honest. Truth be told I do like some shots with the natural light because you get to enjoy the beauty of the building structure and the model at the same time; whereas with the flash it makes the viewer focus on the model in full detail which is also great and that’s what I love about photography, we can chose to select what we want the viewer to see. Nice work Manny, I’ve been a follower some years now.

That shot @7:38 STUNNING!

You’re always putting out such informative information that is so useful.. 👊🏻

I''m shaking my head. There is just no substitute for being a professional. I just wish I could get to that level.

Hi Manny. Great to see that you're doing video on technique again. It's a pleasant break from seeing gear-related videos. Hope you'll give us more.

The colors of photos are vivid and they are so nice when taking them with flash.

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK MANNY! YOU ARE APPRECIATED!

My G’ you are the man. Im a Videographer first but also doing some side photography and will definitely be using your tips. Thank You for all the tips you provide

Thank you many for another great insight into flash photography..I myself have been using it more in my work and I am definitely getting more comfortable with it.

Thank you for the information Manny alot of us are still learning the basics and your videos help us learn.

Just something about using the flash ! Nice work as always !

Thanks Manny the way you do this kind of video is amazing

These shots look soooo good. Thx for teaching all this!

TOTALLY AWESOME JOB !!! THE EXTRA EFFORT ALWAYS PRODUCES GEAT RESULTS 👍

I love the outdoor video's Manny. Please make more

Mannal i love your camera bag can you tell me the name of it thank you

Good video! I think you nailed it showing the difference between available light and flash. Rarely, do I shoot without flash. I envy that Hasselblad, that leaf shutter is a game changer.

Very nice work and very helpful. Inspiring too. And kudos to your talented model.

Dope work as always

Man, I can’t be the only who thinks what I’m about to say… I learn so much from you lol appreciate all of the tips you give out. Thanks bro! 💯

Really enjoy these types of videos!

Great lighting tips and tricks

Beautiful images and the wagon is a life saver as I often use one as well. I like to take more gear than I usually need so that’s something I may need to work on but hate the idea of wanting something like extra lights etc and then not having it. I’m also usually along with no assistant but totally agree when I have one, it does seem to make life easier when on location. Also I love using the reflector dish and grid on my lights. I’ll use the standard reflector dish as well on my Flashpoint lights but love the Westcott long throw reflector dish and grids as well as the collapsible MagMod XL set up. Taking the lights around is a pain but agree for most scenarios it’s worth it in the end. Beautiful work!!

I love watching tutorial videos like this. 👍

Can you go over your beauty dish and talk about when to use the deflector plate and it's purpose vs not using it. Similar to the diffusion screen. I always assumed the deflector plate and diffusion was used in every look.

Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy using natural light in the right conditions. The strobe can take your photos to another level especially when you can shoot during those bright sunlight hours

Thank you for the video.. Got some kickass pictures there

Manny these are my favorite videos. One topic I'd be interested to hear you talk on is how you deliver images to your clients

That was a great way to teach about lighting!

NIce work Manny!

Love your work ❤

Great video. I like the ones with flash because as you said is different, and I think the subject pops out.

He's back!

Love those shots, Manny, they really do look so different. Also, it's nice to see that your lighting setup fits into a Volkswagen Golf 🙂

Well done, Ortiz.

Thank you so much! You won yourself a new subscriber ;-) Still learning photography from the ground off, with pre-war medium format still cameras (Zeiss Ikon) shooting film, I am bound to available natural light since these antique cameras do not even have flashs at all… From these amateur results in my family of always over-exposed flash shots of the 1970s, I am still so shocked that I never wanted to even think about using flash lights at all… Your video helps me _a lot_ to understand how this is done properly in modern times ;-)

Great video Manny. In the future I would love to see a video from you utilizing some small on camera Flash or some small off camera Flash that you can hand held. This would be a great video for people when they travel to another country and can't pack big gear with them.

Nice!! When I saw the train tracks, I knew that's chicago, was there last month, and I loved the windy city. ✌🏾😎

Great video, thanks for sharing!

Very nice lovely photo shoot ❤

I have the same wagon but i use it to transport lawn chairs and booze from my house to the beach 😁 You just inspired me to use it for something else so thank you!! Great video!

Manny, I’m your first customer for your course, now you gotta to make it!!!❤️🙏🏼❤️. My Hassy and 45p are waiting!! 🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼

Hey Manny I really loved this video! I am new to photography, could you please explain how to sync camera with flash light? The photos you took are breath taking! Amazing!

Great work fam 🇯🇲

Hey Manny. As a natural light shooter who has only dabbled with camera flash, this vid also shows how having no assistance or being a lone wolf makes things much more difficult. Thanks for this.This is my struggle. 2 things to note - is that you have a car, and where you're going has elevators. Small things that are a huge deal to carry around equipment, even get to many locations, etc. My main question is how did you go from alone shooter to a studio? Not having a proper shooting space has been absolutely killing me. The its the stylists, the clothes..etc. there's a lot of things that I would like to do and try but I just don't have the resources. Cheers

You are so good!

Wooooow, muchas gracias bro

For me, flash is a must. I had to do natural light in a pinch, but the flash pics look so much better.🎉

I feel your pain!! I have the same cart and always try to get lighter. So I use the Godox AD300 Pro or AD400 Pro (AD600 and AD1200 are just heavy unless it's a commercial shoot, and then I will hire assistants). To get my weight down, I will use the Westcott 45-degree Deep Focus Reflector with Honeycomb Grids & Diffusion for a reflector. I bring the Westcott 70 Degree Reflector as a backup. Great Video.

I’m sold! Though about investing in a flash and your video just sealed the deal!

Manny, these photos are on point! If you could, would you do "refresh" video if you buying your first camera in 2024 for photography, videography or Hybrid?

I loved the pictures. I am partial to a portable pack like the Godox AD1200 or the original: the Broncolor move 1200. The light head and the heavy pack helped me with the stabilization. Even so for a kick of flash the compact portable monos are so difficult to resist. I have an AD300 and it's a blast to pack. In this case, I prefer the ones where you add flash. In Irene Rudnyk's case, she has shown that she is good with flash but I prefer it when she does not use it (So does her). So it's about style.

Thanks for this cool video. How would it look to add those light sources later in post ? I wonder if this could be achieved quick and dirty via photoshop.

Video is stunning.Which camera body and lens you have used for this video?

Nice car bro, love the rims...you got taste

Great Video!!!

Great video manny I am a profoto guy The b10 fits in my back pack and their modifiers fold flat and go right into my back a manfroto tripod case I have shot flash my whole life with the new TTL and a mirrorless camera life is good 😊😊

the flash is so much better. I hate lugging it around with me but it's worth carrying to get amazing results. Great videa as always!

Elizabeth always beautiful model

Thanks for this video. I’ve been curious about the X2D with flash outdoors and love seeing your portraits. That 90mm is crazy good too it seems. Are you using face detect on these shoots? I have some similar light equipment but have been too lazy to bring out anywhere. I need to get over that lol

@9:51 Great result, I never would have thought that it was actually taken in full daylight. Your flash is reflected in the car's right head light… ;-)

Hi Manny. I'm a big fan since 2018.

Great video

i love how manny refrained from saying "better" instead said "different" 😂 cause face it, everyone one of those shots where flash was used just looked better, its not up for debate

Nicely done Manny. Even the natural light shots look good. The sculpting power of the flash is well demonstrated.

I can't save your video to my fav list dude.

Could you include flash intensity settings with the camera settings please?

Do you pay attention to the exposure meter when shooting flash?

This video saved my life

Hello I have a Sony a7iv how to get a group of people in focus what is the best settings

How much, approximately do you under expose the ambient for your flash shots? Great shots!

Sir any recomendation for budget and cheap product?

Other than the photography tips and tricks, nice wheels Ortiz

Hasselblad you rich boy 😊 respekt Bro

I'm from Chicago. Are we allowed to use flash setup outside with a stand especially in downtown?

How do you like that Hassy?

Natural light + Flash Light = Kick ass

Thanks for the video. I wish you weren’t in the shade and able to talk more about overpowering the sun with the leaf shutter. It would be nice to know how close you got to 1/4000.

I got the same Konig wheels on my car!

ugh I love Elizabeth!😍 I can listen to her talk all day.

We can finally say “Manny got a wagon” and not sound weird😂 Great video!

You stated normally you use the white beauty dish... Do you mostly use the white beauty dish? Like what percentage of the time? What would make you switch between silver and white?

@9:50 why does the pavement/road paint appear in the flash photo but not the natural light photo? The two pix _look_ like the same location, lens, POV (almost); but the paint on the traffic lanes is totally different.

Nowadays, I only bring a light stand, MagMod Reflector XL and AD300. No wagon or sandbags needed.

Have you experienced problems while using TTL with sony cameras and westcott speedlight. I am using a7iv along with the westcott speedlight and TTL does not work like it should. It keeps underexposed all the images. I basically have to switch to manual which is a problem if I'm doing an event.

At 3:30 when erasing the light guy i still see the light stand shadow?

Genial tu trabajo y la forme en la que explicas, mi única observación es que las poses de la modelo siempre son las mismas, no se ve natural, parecen mas poses de alcoba, en muchas la mano esta en su rostro o en su cabello, por lo demás muchas gracias por compartir tu trabajo.

Bounce Back Brooo...

Looks like I need to get myself a wagon too

What about simply trying to balance the shot? For example for the look where you have her framed by the pillars, the first "natural" light shot would look best if you just used a tiny bit of flash on her to bring her up just a little; creating a more balanced shot. The second one with flash with the underexposed BG and the model blasted with light looks harsh and not balanced. If that's the look you're after, party on, but a challenge would be to use flash to make a balanced photo that doesn't necessarily look like flash was used.