Off-camera flash tutorial – Balancing flash with ambient light

In the previous off-camera flash tutorial, we started at the elemental level where we did not have to consider ambient light. This helped us in understanding a few of the basics. Ultimately though, where off-camera flash will be used most, is on location where you have to consider the ambient light as well. With this tutorial video, we look at how we would go about balancing flash with ambient light.

With this segment, we cover the essentials such as:
·  Using maximum flash sync speed.
·  Flash exposure compensation when using TTL flash.
·   Manual flash vs. TTL flash
·   Using a hand-held light meter to determine (manual) flash exposure.
·   Adjusting your speedlight’s power according to the light-meter, to get correct flash exposure.
·   And always, that acronym, PAID: Power, Aperture, ISO, Distance.

This video tutorial is one in a series that originally appeared on the Clickin’ Moms website in 2012, but licensing has now reverted back to me, and here we are – a tutorial that might be dated in terms of some of the gear used, but the principles remain the same. In conjunction with all the other articles about off-camera flash photography, these videos should make a good primer on the topic of off-camera flash.

• Off-camera flash tutorial – Flash with no ambient light
• Off-camera flash tutorial – Balancing flash with ambient light
• Off-camera flash tutorial – Off-camera flash on location
• Video tutorial: TTL fill-flash
• Video tutorial: Manual flash settings
• How to set up wireless flash with the pop-up flash

For a more up-to-date list of gear for off-camera flash, start with this: Gear list – Starting out with off-camera flash

Somehow in editing this video way back in 2011, I neglected to add the final photograph I took of Anelisa. Here it is, cropped to a 5×4 ratio to post here: