Martin gave us a very well prepared and thorough talk about flash photography. He was assisted by Liz Barber and used our ever willing vounteer Alex as a model. (He started off taking a couple of shots of Paul in his usual position at the front but thought better of it as the results were a bit scary!) Those of us who use Canon gear were asked to bring their flash guns, which I duly did, but forgot the batteries, plonker!
Martin had things set up so that he took pictures on his camera and the results came up on a screen via his laptop and the club's projector. He started with a single gun mounted on his camera and showed us the different results using the ceiling and walls to reflect the flash and by using different attachments to the gun like a diffuser, a favorite with Press photographers. He showed us his 'black foamy thing' which he attached with an elastic band and later a directional aid constructed by him using black straws held together with a bit of a Weetabix box (other cereals are available).
Liz moved a reflector around as directed and Martin also used a brolly, shooting through it and into it to get reflected light. All the time we had Alex's face with different expressions which his new wife would have loved to have seen. There were many other helpful comments coming from Martin, too numerous to relate here.
After the break, Martin used multiple flash guns. some fired at varying strengths and all contolled by the flashgun on his camera using different channels. Then as a finale, all those with guns, apart from me of course, set up their guns as directed and Martin took shots of everyone using his camera to trigger everyone's guns.
Martin recommended several books about flash photography:
'Speedlighters handbook' by Syl Arenaand two by Joe McNally, 'The moment it clicks' and 'The Hot shoe diaries'. These books give a lot of information on techniques and illustrates the results.
Finally, thank you very much indeed Martin for a very informative and entertaining evening and thanks to your assistants.