Angelo .. when you use TTL flash, it has to be the FEC you adjust.

I see now that I didn’t specifically mention that the 2nd scenario was with TTL flash.

If it had been manual flash, it would’ve meant that my flash exposure is a stop (or more) under that indicated for available light.
eg, if available light is f8 (for a particular ISO / shutter speed combination), then I would make sure my manual flash gives me f5.6 for that aperture / ISO combination.

Neil vN

In the second scenario – “2. Your subject is well lit, but you want to use flash to bring up some shadow detail.”
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and in particular – “Therefore using getting correct ambient exposure for the subject is the base exposure, and then we’d just add fill-flash .. usually a stop or more under the ambient light.”
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When you mean .. “usually a stop or more”, is this the FEC you refer to ???.

Cheers

Angelo

Lydia .. it is explicitly covered in the book. It is also covered elsewhere on this website. Every article can’t contain an in-depth discussion of every topic.

Delve further into the website and the book. It’s all there.

Connect the dots. : )

Neil vN

Toni .. the method you describe there would work. But it need not be 2 stops (or more) difference between the flash exposure and ambient exposure.

Have a look at this recent post on a photo shootout, where I metered for the ambient light, and then under-exposed the ambient light by a stop. It could’ve been 2/3 stop .. or more. Don’t get stuck on it needing to be a specific difference.

Just so you know … f5.6 to f8 is one stop. The same for changing from 400 ISO to 200 ISO.

Your comment there about flash having to be the key light or else you will get blur … isn’t quite accurate. Your choice of shutter speed .. and whether your subject is static .. and how well YOU can hand-hold the camera .. these are all factors.

How can you be 100% sure not to get blur? Shoot at a fast shutter speed on a tripod. But this might not be entirely practical.

To get sharp images, you’d have to look at a number of factors, all incrementally adding to your success rate. Most importantly, is using a high enough shutter speed. But even in that, the change from 1/60 to 1/125 is incremental to an extent. The same for 1/125 to 1/250.

Neil vN

I know it’s been several months since you posted this but I just found this post and have a question about shooting outside with ‘dull’ light and avoiding subject blur when adding flash.

On a cloudy day when there is the same light falling on the subject and the background, and I want to add light in the eyes…Do I need to under expose the ambient 2 stops to make sure the flash is the key light and there is no blur?

Please tell me if what I am doing is right? I put the camera in manual mode and set iso to 400, fstop to maybe 5.6, depending on group size, and then ss to sync 1/250. I would then look at the in camera meter (through the viewfinder) and make sure the meter (with matrix metering) is at least 2 stops on the negative side. If the meter is in the middle, then I would increase the aperture from 5.6 to 8 or decrease the iso to 200 so flash is key. Is this how you do it?

If the subject is in even light outside and I only want to use flash to add light to the eyes, that’s not fill-flash right? The flash has to be the key light or it will cause blur – right?

Please tell me how I can know FOR SURE, with my settings, that there will be no motion blur because this is the only thing I can’t tell when looking at my histogram?

Thank you so much for your help!

Toni
D700 & SB800

Long time reader, first time poster here. Just wondering if for your future posts and sample shots you wouldn’t mind sharing exactly what lens you have used for the particular shots. Sometimes you do include the info into the blog posts which is great. The technical information that you provide already is extremely helpful, but sometimes leaves me wondering what lens and focal length was used for each particular picture. You already over-extend and bend backwards for us so I understand if you decline.

Your site and photography are truly an inspiration!

From Iowa,
Dinko

Vic .. thanks! There are no immediate plans for an E-version of the book, but I will have to check with the publishers on that.

Neil vN

I’ve been thinking to buy your book, but the shipping cost to Australia here is quite dire. Do you have an e-book version we can get? If not then i’ll order the print one.

Regards,

Vic

Many thanks for a clear explanation. I judge my highlights by the histogram and adore the control it provides.

If I mess up, I can only blame myself !

Jim