Lighting & Flash
Good light matters more than the camera. A booth can use continuous light (always on) or flash (fires with the photo). Both work with the Pixture app.
Does my flash fire with the booth?
Yes, almost always. With a camera body connected by USB (Canon, Sony, Nikon or Fujifilm), the Pixture app takes the photo by pressing the camera's shutter remotely, exactly like pressing the shutter button by hand. Whatever fires when you press the button fires from the booth too:
- The camera's built-in pop-up flash (raise it and leave flash on).
- A speedlite on the hot shoe.
- Studio strobes or off-camera speedlites fired by a wireless flash trigger on the hot shoe, or by a sync cable.
The one exception is a Canon DSLR with a non-Canon flash or a wireless trigger, see below.
Quick test: turn on the camera's live view (the LV button on a Canon DSLR) and press the shutter button by hand. If the flash fires, it fires from the booth.
Canon DSLRs: turn on EXTERNAL FLASH
The booth takes Canon photos with live view running, and many Canon DSLRs do not fire a non-Canon flash or a wireless trigger during live view. Canon's own EOS 600D manual says: "A non-Canon flash will not fire during Live View shooting." The sign: the flash fires when you shoot by hand with live view off, but never from the booth.
On these cameras, open Camera Settings and, under CAPTURE, turn on EXTERNAL FLASH (app 1.2.37 or newer). The booth then pauses live view for each photo so the flash fires. Each photo takes about 0.6 seconds longer and the preview blinks once, so leave it off when the flash already fires.
Canon mirrorless bodies (the EOS R series) fire a flash in live view and do not need it. Canon's manual also asks for a shutter speed of 1/200 or slower with a non-Canon flash.
A webcam cannot fire a flash. With a webcam, use continuous light.
Continuous light or flash?
| Continuous light (LED panel, ring light, LED softbox) | Flash (speedlite, studio strobe) | |
|---|---|---|
| Works with | Camera bodies and webcams | Camera bodies only |
| Live view | Shows exactly what the photo will look like | Can look dark, see below |
| Photos | Good; needs a bright light to keep ISO low | Brighter, sharper, freezes movement |
| Setup | Simplest | Needs a trigger and the right camera settings |
For a first booth, one or two bright LED panels or an LED softbox is the easiest start. Flash gives the cleanest, most "studio" look once you are comfortable with it. The built-in pop-up flash works but is harsh and slow to recharge; use it for testing rather than events.
Camera settings with flash
Put the camera in M mode and set exposure on the booth's Camera Settings page:
- Shutter speed at or below the camera's flash sync speed, usually 1/125 to 1/200. Faster than sync speed gives a dark band across the photo.
- ISO 100 to 200, aperture f/5.6 to f/8.
- White balance Flash.
- Set the flash to manual power rather than TTL for consistent results shot after shot, then adjust power until the test photo looks right.
Recharge time: a flash needs a moment to recharge between shots. If a burst of photos comes out with some shots dark, lengthen the countdown between shots in the Pix Design UI Editor (at an event, in the event's Edit appearance > Countdown), or lower the flash power. Speedlites on AA batteries slow down over a long event; studio strobes, or a speedlite with an external battery, recharge faster.
Focus: the booth fires the shutter without refocusing. Focus once on where customers stand, then switch the lens to MF.
Live view looks dark with flash
At flash settings (low ISO, fast shutter) the scene is dark until the flash fires, and many cameras show that darkness in live view, so customers see a dark preview. Two fixes:
- Add a modelling light or a small continuous light so the preview is bright. Many studio strobes have a built-in modelling lamp.
- Or turn off exposure preview in the camera's menu, so live view stays bright regardless of the settings: Exposure simulation off on a Canon, Live View Display: Setting Effect OFF on a Sony, Apply settings to live view off on a Nikon Z, Preview Exp./WB in Manual Mode off on a Fujifilm.
Placing the light
- One large soft light (softbox or umbrella) in front of the customers, slightly above eye level, is enough for most booths. Two lights at about 45° on each side give even light for groups.
- Keep bright windows and lamps behind the camera, not behind the customers.
- Light the backdrop evenly if it should look clean in the photo.