Off-camera Flash Photography for Any Skill-level

Easy Setup: A Single Off-camera Flash


Photo: Bruce Dorn

Using a single off-camera Canon 580EX II Speedlite (inside softbox) at full manual power, photographer Bruce Dorn filled in the shadows cast by the sun on this partially backlit model. He softened the Speedlite’s output by popping it through an F.J. Westcott B.D.S. Shallow Softbox of his own design (A). He placed it at ground level and aimed it up at the model. Dorn triggered the flash wirelessly with a PocketWizard Plus II transceiver in the camera’s hot-shoe (B). Along with the flash, the transceiver was mounted on an F. J. Westcott Magic Slipper off-camera flash bracket (shown below, also inside the softbox). Dorn’s company IDC Photo Video Gear manufactures a similar bracket. The photo-grapher used a Canon EOS 40D and 70–200mm f/2.8 Canon zoom (C), with an exposure of 1/250 sec at f/10, ISO 100.


Kris Holland/Mafic Studios

Gear Used:


F.J. WestcottvMagic Slipper flash bracket ($200, street) with speed ring, flash, and flash trigger (all optional).
Canon 580 EX II Speedlite ($500,street)