LIGHTING TECHNIQUES IN PHOTOGRAPHY

Godox Lux Junior model - Marcelo Isarrualde

on-camera flash


off camera flash godox Ad 200 pro lux senior junior

  • Lighting scheme 1

The name of my blog has been “off-camera flash” for 12 years. This is because I like to work with the flash off the hot shoe of the camera. However, on many photo shoots I have to work with the flash attached to the hot shoe, for various reasons.

For many famous photographers such as Weegee or Ron Galella in their day and Terry Richardson or Martin Parr today, the use of the “on-camera fash” has marked their styles.


Godox Lux Junior model 02 Marcelo Isarrualde

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A hot shoe flash is usually small and lightweight and nowadays with enough power to successfully solve many lighting situations. Whether it’s for events, fashion photography, weddings or just our vacations, it has become a very useful tool.

There are many models and sizes but I have always liked the ones called “Collapsible Fan style”. In my collection of popular cameras and flashes I have a Honeywell “Tilt-A-Mite” which is very nice and was very popular in the 60’s.


Honeywell Tilt A Mite speedlite

Honeywell “Tilt-A-Mite”

Nikon also produced the F SC-7 at the same time. Both were called “Bulb flash” because they required the use of a single-use bulb. The bulbs could be white or blue. The latter are identified by adding the letter B (Blue) at the end of the bulb number. For example, the Sylvania M2 bulb is white, and the M2B is blue. Blue bulbs are used for color film, while white bulbs (which produce warmer light) were typically used for black and white film.


Nikon F SC 7 speedlite

Nikon F SC-7

The big surprise today is that Godox had the brilliant idea to develop two very nice and effective flash models for today’s photography. It is true that there is a return to the “film era” and the use of analog cameras, so these two products that connect the style of the past with the technology of the future have been very well received. It is the Lux series, in its Junior and Senior versions, and I have tested them!


Godox- lux senior-marcelo-isarrualde-01-on-camera-flash

Godox Lux Senior

Lux Senior offers two ways to control the light: automatic fash mode and manual flash mode. If you choose A mode you can forget about settings and simply focus on creating, or M mode for total control over exposure.

Shooting functions include an optical mode offering S1 and S2 settings. In S1 mode, the flash will fire in response to another manual or TTL flash, while in S2 mode the flash will respond similarly, but ignore the first flash (pre-flash). The flash also has a sync socket, useful in some circumstances.


Godox lux junior marcelo isarrualde 02 off camera flash

Godox Lux Junior

Lux Junior looks more like the popular flashes of the 80’s. It has an easy to use dial that is used to adjust the flash in manual mode. With a universally compatible auto mode that helps you calculate the correct exposure, you can immerse yourself in the creative pleasure of both digital and analog cameras. The functions are similar to those of the Senior model but it is slightly less powerful, with an NG 12 instead of the Senior’s NG 14.

Let’s try them!

I started by testing the Junior. Any light source, the smaller it is, the harder, brighter and more contrasted it is. On the other hand, the farther away it is from the subject, the harder it will also be. With these premises I shot the following photo in Manual mode. The idea was to underexpose the background a little so that the model would be more prominent than the plants, and as the flash is very small, it is very close to the axis of the lens and minimizes the shadows on the background, blending in with the vegetation. As the shot was not very open, there is no drop in light intensity and his whole body is well and evenly illuminated.


off camera flash Godox Lux Junior

  • Lighting scheme 3

When testing the Lux Senior, not only do we have a little more power, but when the parabolic reflector is deployed, we have a larger illumination surface. As I said before, the light beam will not be as hard as in the Junior and will be wider so that when shooting open shots there is no loss of light.


godox off camera flash lux junior

  • Lighting scheme 4

The following diagram helps us to see how the illumination counter works when we move the light source away.


Flash distance scheme

Light contrast

Finally I wanted to test these flashes off-camera, in what we usually call “off-camera fash”. This was made possible with great ease using the Godox X2T radio transmitter. It fully supports automatic flash light metering in TTL mode; it also provides full control over flash output in manual (M) and strobe (Multi) modes.

In both cases, the user can use flash exposure compensation or manually set the flash output. Very short exposure synchronization (HSS) and first and second curtain flash modes are also available.


Radio transmitter Godox X2T

Transmitter Godox X2T

For the next photo I used the Lux Junior flash again because it was going to give me more contrast than the Senior and I wanted to give some volume to the model’s face, while separating the model from the background.


Godox model vintage lux senior speedlight

The experience with these little gems has been amazing! Both are very stable in light quality, emit enough power for situations like these and are also very beautiful. What more could we ask for?

Lighting scheme


marcelo isarrualde's scheme

Lighting scheme 1


lighting schemes designed by marcelo isarrualde

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Lighting scheme in photography designed by Marcelo Isarrualde

Lighting scheme 3


lighting scheme with godox lux

Lighting scheme 4

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Reproduction in whole or in part without the written consent of the author is prohibited.

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