Flash Brackets

The main purpose of a flash bracket is to control shadows. Brackets move hot shoe flashes farther from the camera and most allow you to move the flash to the side of your camera as well.
By moving your flash to the side of the camera you add shadows and detail to faces. Moving it above the camera will move shadows below your subject and hide them from view. We’ve all taken pictures where there is a shadow on a wall to the side of our subject. Brackets that “flip” allow the photographer to keep the flash above the camera whether the camera is horizontal or vertical. This can eliminate most wall shadows. Some brackets even allow you to use two flashes at the same time.

The photos above show how a bracket can control shadows with flash photography. The left image was shot vertically with no bracket. The image on the right was shot with the flash on a bracket that kept the flash above the camera even when the camera is making a vertical exposure.

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