Tag Archives: #flashphotography

PART 3 – FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY OUTDOORS

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Using flash outdoors is a great idea. Photo courtesy of Shutterbug.

AMBIENT LIGHT PLUS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY MAKES FOR A BETTER PHOTO:

By using the flash, I’m able to highlight the shadow areas and avoid shadows under the subject’s eyebrows, thus making it a better photo than it would have been without flash. But this does not mean that the image will turn up flat. Make sure you get your reading right.

Photo by A&A Photography; ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/200-second exposure.

LET’S TRY 2 EXAMPLES OF HOW TO DO THIS:

1. Say you’re taking photos of a couple in park under shade with a sunlit background:

  • Shoot in manual mode, because you need to be in control of your exposure metering for accuracy and consistency.
  • Meter for the ambient light, get your exposure right, turn off your flash, and take a test shot. With the correct exposure you will get a perfect natural surroundings but the wedding couple will be little underexposed or have some shadows around their faces.
  • Now turn on your flash and adjust your flash to TTL-BL mode which balances flash automatically with ambient light (as I’m using Nikon). Adjust your flash compensation. Start from 0 EV compensation and slowly go up until plus 1.7 EV. How much is enough? There is no one correct answer to that as it depends how much flash you need to use as a fill in flash. In this example you surely need a stronger fill-flash to match the sunlit background.

2. Say you are taking photos of the bride outdoors:

  • Again always shoot in manual mode.
  • Meter correctly for the available light.
  • Adjust your flash to TTL-BL mode. As for outdoors, I usually start from -1.3 EV because Nikon Speedlights on TTL-BL mode balance flash automatically with ambient light and I will always shoot with flash firing straight on. The real idea is to use the flash as a fill-light only and to lift the shadows.
Photo by Dennis van Zuijlekom; ISO 50, f/2.8, 1/200-second exposure.

The above two examples tell you that by just adding flash with the correct exposure set by reading the ambient light. Together with the right amount of flash value, you will have a perfect and balance natural looking image. Who says flash will look unnatural and spoil the ambient light?

WATCH THIS VIDEO TO HELP UNDERSTANDING OF FLASH OUTDOORS:

This is the best explanation of flash photography being used outdoors.

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Contributors to this blog today:

  • Affendy Ahmad.
  • Mike Smith

7 IDEAS OF HOW TO USE FLASH TO MAKE YOUR PHOTOS BETTER:

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Bouncing the light off the ceiling with your flash will give you nicer results.

A lot of beginner photographers make the mistake of assuming that a flash is used to add light when shooting in conditions where the light is insufficient. Well, this is only partially true. In fact, you can use flash even in situations where there’s enough natural light. Using a flash allows you to add a certain “pop” to your image that is not possible when only using natural light.

In this blog today, we want to go over the details of how to use flash effectively even if you don’t think you need to use flash. There are situations where using your flash will improve your photo immensely.

As I did in the previous blog, I found a video that explained how to understand the basics of flash photography. In today’s video I will post this great video on different ways to use flash to make your everyday photography look better.

7 Quick and EASY Flash Photography Tips

A common mistake a lot of beginner photographers make is to turn the flash head directly towards the subject. This has a lot of undesired effects. It creates unflattering hotspots and harsh shadows, and makes the image appear unnatural. As Joy demonstrates in the video, there are a lot of ways you can overcome this.

“Flash is not just about adding more light to your photo. It’s about molding the light to your photo.”

Vanessa Joy

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MORE IDEAS OF HOW TO USE YOUR FLASH:

A lot of beginner photographers make the mistake of assuming that a flash is used to add light when shooting in conditions where the light is insufficient. Well, this is only partially true. In fact, you can use flash even in situations where there’s enough natural light. Using a flash allows you to add a certain “pop” to your image that is not possible when only using natural light. In this context, today we have professional wedding and portrait photographer Vanessa Joy with Adorama who shares seven tips on how you can use flash to take better images:

MORE IDEAS OF HOW TO USE YOUR FLASH:

The idea is to think of a way to make the light source as big as possible. Joy shares a ton of ways you can do that. Starting from the bare minimum, you can use the small diffusion cover that a speedlight comes with. Or, you can also use a small white card to bounce the light indirectly toward the subject. For better results, use a reflector to bounce the flash towards the subject. You’ll instantly see how much better the images come out.

In cases where you need to use flash indoors, the task is even easier. Just look for neutral-colored walls or ceilings and turn your flash head in that direction. The entire wall or ceiling acts as a huge light source and bounces off soft light, resulting in flattering images.

Joy also shares some interesting ways you can introduce colors to your images using flash and gels. And if you’re someone who loves to take portraits during golden hours, be sure to watch till the end. You’ll get to see how you can create your own golden sun using flash and gels.

Bounce flash diffuser

If you watched the video, you will know the value of this piece. This allows you to have bounce flash in areas where you can’t bounce your light off the wall or ceiling.

$29.95

Softbox attachment for flash for Canon, Nikon bounce flashes

As seen on the video, this is another tool that just helps you to spread the light all around the subject and a nicer diffused light on the subject.

$29.95

Electronic slave flash

A slave flash is a flash that will fire when another flash is fired. This will get some special effects that will allow you to shoot two flashes at the same time. A photographers great tool

$74.95

FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY FOR 2022

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Photo by Tom Pumford on Unsplash

In all the blogs I have done, I have not done much in flash photography. And there is a true art to using flash on your camera, that I don’t want people to think they don’t need to use flash. There are things that you can do with flash photography that will greatly improve your photos, as well as allow you to do things you couldn’t do before.

THIS WILL BE A 3 PART SERIES ON FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY

To make sure we cover flash photography well, this is going to be a 3 part series. This will be the first part, the basics of flash photography. Once you learn the technical aspects of flash photography, you can already see the different creative things you can do with flash photography.

A VIDEO SEEMS TO BE THE BEST WAY TO DESCRIBE FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY

I have chosen to use a video to show you the basics of how flash photography works. Watch this video several times if you don’t get it the first time. Once you capture the beauty of how wonderful flash photography is, you will become a master in “flash photography”

Remember if you have questions about this subject, watch the next tutorial in the next blog, coming in 2 days. Once you get through the whole course, you will be able to ask questions if you still have any.