{"id":58,"date":"2007-08-23T00:49:22","date_gmt":"2007-08-23T00:49:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetneil.com\/tangents\/flash-photography-techniques\/2-flash-ambient-light\/"},"modified":"2024-09-01T00:08:06","modified_gmt":"2024-09-01T04:08:06","slug":"flash-and-ambient-light","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/flash-photography-techniques\/flash-and-ambient-light\/","title":{"rendered":"Flash + Ambient light"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/flash-photography-techniques\/\"><strong>Flash Photography Techniques<\/strong><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/flash-photography-techniques\/natural-looking-flash\/\">Natural looking flash<\/a>\u00a0 ~ \u00a0Flash &amp;\u00a0Ambient light \u00a0~ \u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/flash-photography-techniques\/dragging-the-shutter\/\">Dragging the shutter<\/a><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/icons\/divider-31-center.gif\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/flash\/trumpeter\/NV1_7157-900.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"599\" \/><\/p>\n<h1>Adding flash to ambient light<\/h1>\n<p>The expressive trumpet player in the band at a wedding \u2013 a simple portrait of this musician, sweetened with some bounce flash. The light on his face, is mostly\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/about\/black-foamie-thing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">flagged on-camera bounce flash<\/a>. Flagging the flash\u00a0stops\u00a0direct flash from hitting him, as you can see by looking at the light pattern on his face.<\/p>\n<p>With a bit of thought, and understanding of some essential techniques, using flash need not look unnatural, nor spoil the ambient light.\u00a0For those who disdain flash and prefer ambient light only, quite often flash can help <strong>augment<\/strong> the available light, without appearing like flash at all. It just looks like great light. This is especially easy to do where the flash isn&#8217;t the\u00a0primary source of light.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">camera settings: 1\/60 @ f2.8 @ 2000 ISO \/\/ TTL bounce flash, flagged<br \/>\nNikon D3; Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 AF-S VR II; Nikon SB-910 Speedlight<\/p>\n<p>Here then we&#8217;re going to look at examples where flash is used in conjunction with the available light.<\/p>\n<p>The <strong>basic technique<\/strong> here is that we meter for the ambient light, and then either:<\/p>\n<p>a.) \u00a0make sure our ambient exposure is correct, and then could use flash to lift the shadow areas and make it a better image than it would&#8217;ve been without flash. This is essentially fill-flash. The flash isn&#8217;t the major source of light, and just helps lift the contrast.<\/p>\n<p>b.) we under-expose the available light to a certain extent, and then let the flash pick up the difference, and give us correct exposure.<\/p>\n<p>In the examples here I used TTL flash since the technology allows me to get to correct exposure faster than I would&#8217;ve with manual flash. Ideal for the times we need to shoot fast.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"banner_ad\"><div class=\"adsbygoogle\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><!-- Tangents-responsive --><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"style=\"display:block\"data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-5272216363056127\"data-ad-slot=\"2115071898\"data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><script>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); <\/script> <\/div><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>A.) Flash as fill-flash, where the ambient light is (nearly) correctly exposed.<\/h2>\n<p>With this portrait of a couple, the basic ambient exposure as shown in the left-hand frame, is correct. But the contrast is too high. I had posed the couple inside the archway under the staircase in Central Park. There is a flood of light coming in from the side, but not enough light coming in from the interior. This causes too strong a fall-off between the lighter and darker areas. Not as flattering as it should be.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/flash\/bounce\/Alli-Scott-e023-024_900.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"563\" \/><\/p>\n<p>By bouncing my flash into the area behind me, I created a large light source. A large light source = softer light.<\/p>\n<p>I don&#8217;t need the flash to &#8220;do all the work&#8221; in giving me correct exposure. The flash here is just fill light.<\/p>\n<p>A closer look at the final image, where fill-flash was added:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/flash\/bounce\/Alli-Scott-e023.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"750\" \/><\/p>\n<p>camera settings: 1\/125 @ f4 @ 800 ISO<br \/>\nflash exposure compensation was set to around 0EV, even though it was acting as fill light.<br \/>\n(More about <a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/flash-photography-techniques\/flash-exposure-compensation\/\">the choice of flash exposure compensation<\/a>).<br \/>\nNikon D3; Nikon 24-120mm f4 VR; SB-900 speedlight.<\/p>\n<p>To give an idea of the size of the place that I bounced my flash in:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/flash\/bounce\/Alli-Scott-e031.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"901\" \/><\/p>\n<p>I bounced my flash into the area behind me, because I tend to bounce my flash towards the direction that I want my light to come from. <a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/bouncing-flash-forward\/\">I rarely bounce &#8220;towards&#8221; my subject<\/a> except in specific situations. So the area behind me looked like that &#8211; a large open area with colored walls. With this, the light from the flash does pick up a color cast, and this is why <a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/raw-vs-jpg-the-final-discussion\/\">it is imperative that we shoot in the RAW file format when bouncing flash<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>related articles:<\/strong><br \/>\n&#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/on-camera-ttl-fill-flash\/\">on-camera TTL fill-flash<\/a><br \/>\n&#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/flash-photography-techniques\/bouncing-flash\/\">bounce flash photography<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/flash\/bounce\/Alli-Scott-e576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"899\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The photo above, is of a couple, Alli and Scott, whose\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/oneperfectmoment.com\/central-park-nyc-photo-session\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">New York photo session took place in Central Park<\/a>, earlier this year. It is typical of how I use bounce flash to sweeten the contrast, and enhance the available light. I bounced the flash behind me into the large open area there. Enough light returned to brighten the shadows and make the photograph just that little bit more romantic.<\/p>\n<p>camera settings: 1\/60 @ f4.5 @ 800 ISO &#8230; on-camera TTL flash at 0EV<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>B.) Under-exposing the ambient light, and letting TTL flash give correct exposure<\/h2>\n<p>With this next image,\u00a0I bounced flash off the church wall. The church was large, and the ceiling high .. but by holding the camera in a vertical position, I could bounce my flash straight towards the church interior wall to my left. This of course created a large light source, and this\u00a0spilled enough light onto the couple to give flattering light.<\/p>\n<p>I purposely did <strong>not<\/strong> use an omnibounce \/ Stofen attachment, since I didn&#8217;t want flash to spill forward for the series of images I took here. I did NOT set my flash to 45` since this would not have been a correct angle to bounce at.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/flash\/bounce\/Melissa-C_0545.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"900\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>camera settings:<\/em><br \/>\n1\/125th @ f2.8 @ 1000 iso<br \/>\nmanual exposure mode &#8211; evaluative metering \u00a0\/ \u00a0TTL flash: 0 exp comp<br \/>\nCanon 1Dmk2N; \u00a0Canon 70-200mm f2.8 IS<\/p>\n<p>About the decision around the exposure metering and use of TTL flash:<br \/>\nI had figured out the basic ambient exposure before the bride and groom walked down the aisle. I did this by doing a few test shots of the backs of the guests towards the left-hand side of the photo. First without flash, and then with flash. This is how I arrived at a setting of 1\/125 @ f2.8 @ 1000 ISO. When the bride and groom then walked down the aisle, I had my exposure settings down pat.<\/p>\n<p>As the parents walked down the aisle, I had time to make a comparison shot without flash.\u00a0(I did this specifically for presentation here).<\/p>\n<p>So here are two shots in succession. The one with flash, and the one purely ambient light. The shot with flash had the WB slightly adjusted, the other is directly out of camera. Exposure settings remained the same, and I didn&#8217;t touch up exposure in raw either.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/flash\/bounce\/Melissa-C_0573-0574_1200.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/flash\/bounce\/Melissa-C_0573-0574_1200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"675\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Note that the flash shot has <strong>no<\/strong> flash shadow. It looks natural, and a hell of a lot better than the ambient-only shot. By using flash, *I* controlled the light, and didn&#8217;t merely shrug my shoulders and complain that the ambient light wasn&#8217;t ideal.<\/p>\n<p>To improve exposure for the ambient-only shot, I could&#8217;ve set a slower shutter speed, and risked blur as they move and from camera shake. Or I could&#8217;ve bumped up my iso to get the higher shutter speed, but then have to deal with increased grain. Also, the ambient light isn&#8217;t even. With flash I had much more control over how the final image looks.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/flash\/bounce\/Melissa-C_0573.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"900\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Adding the fill-flash, enhanced the image &#8211; we don&#8217;t just have to rely on the available light.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/icons\/arrow.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><span style=\"color: #6090b0;\">next section:<\/span> \u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/flash-photography-techniques\/dragging-the-shutter\/\">Dragging the shutter<\/a><\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Help support this website<\/h2>\n<div class='one_half'>\n\t\t\t\t\t<p>If you find these articles of value, please support this website\nby using these <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/?_encoding=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;tag=planeneilphot-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Amazon<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/bhpho.to\/3yhq3Ig\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">B&amp;H<\/a><\/strong> affiliate links to order your photo gear.<\/p>\n<p>I also offer <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/photography-workshops\/\">photography workshops<\/a><\/strong> and <a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/photography-workshops\/tutoring-sessions\/\">tutoring sessions<\/a>. There are also <a href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/online-photography-tutoring-sessions\/\">video tutorials<\/a>, which are online workshops on photography.<\/p>\n<p>Join us on the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/tangentsphoto\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tangents Facebook group<\/a><\/strong> for further discussions.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Neil vN<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class='one_half last'>\n\t\t\t\t\t<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/1608955702\/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=1608955702&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=footer-tangents-20&amp;linkId=DVUUKIZHH2ZZ37FU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/books\/NvN\/3-qualityoflight-250.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"140\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/1608952789\/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=1608952789&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=footer-tangents-20&amp;linkId=LE7N23FGFYQKFTUY\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/books\/NvN\/2-offcameraflash-250.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"140\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #999999;\">Books by Neil van Niekerk<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/1608959538\/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=1608959538&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=footer-tangents-20&amp;linkId=AVZEUKR4QV3W3EC3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/books\/NvN\/5-oncameraflash-ed2-250.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"140\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/1608958159\/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=1608958159&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=footer-tangents-20&amp;linkId=UIBJYREFEL3NLJH5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/books\/NvN\/4-lighting-design-250.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"140\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div><div class='clear'><\/div>\n<div style=\"clear: both;\"><\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<div style=\"clear: both;\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Flash Photography Techniques Natural looking flash\u00a0 ~ \u00a0Flash &amp;\u00a0Ambient light \u00a0~ \u00a0Dragging the shutter Adding flash to ambient light The expressive trumpet player in the band at a wedding \u2013 a simple portrait of this musician, sweetened with some bounce flash. The light on his face, is mostly\u00a0flagged on-camera bounce flash. Flagging the flash\u00a0stops\u00a0direct flash&nbsp;<a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/flash-photography-techniques\/flash-and-ambient-light\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Read more inside&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32588,"parent":56,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":{"0":"post-58","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/58"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/58\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52125,"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/58\/revisions\/52125"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/56"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}