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Looking at some of the questions about photography that appear via Google searches, I wanted to more directly answer some of the questions. This article is a selection of questions on the topic of photography, that I decided to amalgamate into one longer article.<\/p>\n
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Broadly speaking, there are two reasons \u00a0you would use flash.
\n1. If the light levels are too low to get proper exposure, or eliminate camera shake or subject movement,
\n2. The light on your subject or scene is uneven,
\nthen it makes sense to add flash.<\/p>\n
Now, the decision as to when light levels are too low … or how far you’d risk camera shake and subject movement .. or whether the light on your subject is uneven .. these kind of things are open to interpretation. \u00a0That said, I like clean open light.<\/p>\n
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As a very<\/em> general rule, you can get great results placing the off-camera flash<\/a> at about 30 to 60 degrees off from the camera’s point of view. It’s also a great starting point having the flash elevated by about 30 degrees over your subject’s eyes. \u00a0This is very general advice though. \u00a0But it would be a good starting point for a majority of simple lighting setups. From there you can (and should) experiment with light placement.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n You can easily get catch-lights in the eyes when you bounce flash indoors<\/a>, but considering the direction you want your light to come from. \u00a0This also relates directly to the question above about the placement of off-camera flash.<\/p>\n When I shoot indoors, even in fairly large rooms, the catch-light in the eyes are there nearly predictably so. That article has more examples and discussion of the technique.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n An interesting question. \u00a0First, you’d check your camera manual as to what your\u00a0maximum flash sync speed is<\/a>. Maximum flash sync speed is also the shutter speed where you can’t dial a higher shutter speed than around 1\/125 to 1\/250 (or 1\/300) without going into high-speed sync (HSS) mode.<\/p>\n However, I feel that I should answer the question as wide as it was posed, and mention that you can sync your flash at ANY shutter speed slower than maximum flash sync speed as well. \u00a0And if your camera is HSS capable<\/a>, you can sync it as high as the camera and flash was designed for. (Although you have to keep in mind that there is a penalty in light loss.) Again, playing with your camera will tell you the answer.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Interestingly phrased – and the answer is, yes, to an extent. To an extent you don’t need to adjust your camera exposure when you use flash photography .. IF (and a big if) .. IF your ambient exposure is low enough.<\/p>\n With this wedding portrait, my camera settings were \u00a01\/50 @ f4.5 @ 800 ISO, using\u00a0TTL bounce flash<\/a>.<\/p>\n The flash entirely dominates. It is in effect the only light source here. Since my ambient light levels are so low, I could’ve had a whole range of combinations of camera settings, and the TTL flash would still have taken care of the exposure.<\/p>\n In that sense, I need not adjust my camera settings. I could take numerous photos, and the TTL flash technology would take care of my exposure. \u00a0It’s now just up to me to make sure my composition and timing and direction of light is good. So to a large extent, I could ignore my camera settings. \u00a0But this only works when the ambient light levels are low. \u00a0The moment the ambient light becomes more prominent .. eg, in brighter light, or because of my camera settings .. then I need to think more carefully about how to balance my flash with the available light.<\/p>\n This somehow segues into our next question, by way of contrast …<\/p>\n <\/p>\n With manual flash, we have 4 controls for the flash exposure – aperture, ISO, power, distance. SInce the Sunny 16 rule tells us that we’re most likely in the region of: 1\/250 @ f11 @ 100 ISO … this means we have to get f11 @ 100 ISO out of the flash, or more. \u00a0We only have the flash’s power and distance-to-the-subject to work with then to get that f11 @ 100 ISO (or there-abouts). \u00a0Since we’re probably working at full power anyway, or close to it … this then only leaves us the distance to work with. \u00a0In other words, you have to get the flash close enough to your subject to give you that f11 @ 100 ISO (or more).<\/p>\n So for us speedlight shooters working in bright sun<\/a>, it is usually not so much the flash output per se, but rather the distance between the flash and the subject. Oh, and while we’re on that topic,\u00a0going into High Speed Sync mode will\u00a0not\u00a0solve your problem, but will worsen it<\/a>\u00a0… unless you have plenty juice to spare in your speedlight. Taking your shutter speed\u00a0over maximum flash sync speed<\/a>\u00a0into high-speed flash sync, means less flash power.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I wanted to distill the essence of what we, as photographers, work with – light! Before we can truly grasp on-camera flash and off-camera flash, and really, any kind of photography, we have to be aware of the direction and quality of light. We need to observe the light that we have, and then decide how best to use it, or enhance it.<\/p>\n With this book, I try my best to share those \u201caha!\u201d moments with you, and I do believe this book can make a difference to your photography.<\/p>\n The book is available on\u00a0Amazon USA<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Amazon UK<\/a><\/strong>, or can be ordered through Barnes & Nobles and other bookstores. The book\u00a0is also available on the Apple iBook Store, as well as Amazon Kindle.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div> <\/p>\n Sometimes I feel like Don Quixote, tilting at this particular windmill … but really, aperture only controls flash exposure with manual flash. For TTL flash, there is an entirely different process at work. We really need to differentiate between TTL flash and manual flash, since\u00a0for TTL flash, aperture does not control the flash exposure<\/a>. When you hear someone say, “aperture controls flash exposure”, you just need to add the mental asterisk there yourself … *only for manual flash.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We can avoid that typical hard flash shadow, by\u00a0bouncing our flash<\/a>. Or using some kind of light modifier like an umbrella or softbox. But the method that is the most easily available to us indoors, is simple bounce flash.<\/p>\n If you do need to use flash directly, and need to shoot vertically, then your best option is a\u00a0rotating flash bracket<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In\u00a0theory<\/strong>, TTL flash exposure shouldn’t differ whether we shoot straight-on or with bounce flash. Keeping in mind that we need to stay\u00a0within<\/strong>\u00a0the range that the flash is capable of working in. Quite often we might be too close to our subjects when we shoot at a wider aperture. \u00a0(Check the scale on the back of your speedlight.)<\/p>\n In\u00a0practice<\/strong>\u00a0we could very well find that we need to bump up the FEC a notch or two when bouncing flash. I take it to just be “one of those things”. Camera make and models vary. The algorithms they use to calculate flash exposure, all vary. So we could very well find that somehow we need more FEC with bounce flash. \u00a0It’s one of those things we need to be aware of for our specific camera and flash, and then automatically adjust our settings for.<\/p>\n So why does TTL bounce flash need extra FEC some times? I don’t know. But I do know my cameras and adjust them accordingly, and get on with the photography.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It’s impossible to give a direct answer to this. It really depends on what your ambient light is doing, and what you are trying to achieve with flash.<\/p>\n That said, metering for off-camera flash is most easily done with a flash-meter. If you don’t have a flash-meter, then the flash’s Guide Number will tell you what you need to know. Or just look at the distance scale on the back of your flash.<\/p>\n Since manual flash is dependent on: … it means we need to adjust our flash’s power output for the chosen aperture \/ \u00a0ISO \/ distance combination. The\u00a0distance scale\u00a0<\/strong>on the back of the flash will tell us what we need to know \u00a0to get close to correct exposure for our manual flash.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It doesn’t quite work the way as stated there. If you have correct exposure for ambient light, then adding (correctly metered) flash to this, will just over-expose the photograph. To eliminate or reduce the ambient light, you first under-expose your available light to a certain extent, and then add flash to give you correct exposure. Now you can progressively eliminate the ambient light by changing your settings, but keep your flash exposure such that you get correct exposure.<\/p>\n You would change your shutter speed first to reduce the ambient light, but usually not higher than maximum flash sync speed. Then you need to juggle the aperture and ISO settings … and add flash to this. This is the usual technique when your available light is ugly. Think of tungsten lights in the ceiling, directly overhead.<\/p>\n This question then neatly segues into the next question and answer …<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It’s not so much the higher shutter speed specifically, but a combination of your settings – aperture, ISO and shutter speed. By the time you under-expose by 5 stops, you’re not going to see much ambient light register. You could therefore eliminate your ambient light by changing to a small aperture and low ISO when you work in light levels that aren’t super bright.<\/p>\n Why 5 stops? Consider that changing your settings by a stop, double or halves the amount of light hitting the sensor (or film). Then, if you consider 18% as the middle tone .. then one stop down is 9% .. another stop down is 4.5% … another stop down is about 2% … another stop down is 1% … and another (the fifth stop down), isn’t much light at all.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n … because you insist on bouncing your flash forward at 45 or 60 degrees, or using a piece of plastic on your speedlight when you’re shooting indoors. More careful consideration of what you want to achieve with your light<\/a>, is essential here.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n You know what? It doesn’t bother me. I am sure the more classical portraitist will have a conniption at this, but it really doesn’t bother me. I know, heresy!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n … and I have to add that neither will it be accurate when photographing pale people in light colored clothes. TTL flash, and any other automatic mode of your camera, is dependent on your camera’s metering system … which tries to evaluate the scene & subject as seen through the lens. Therefore the camera (in this case with TTL flash) will be dependent on the tonality of the subject \/ scene.<\/p>\n Your camera is always trying to expose for the subject \/ scene as a mid-tone, and whenever the subject \/ scene is darker than average, your camera will over-expose (trying to expose for the darker subject \/ scene as if it is a middle tone. You need to interpret your camera’s metering display, and adjust accordingly<\/a>. My recommendation will always be to shoot in manual metering mode. Then you have control.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This book is explains a cohesive and thorough approach to getting the best from your on-camera speedlight.<\/p>\n Particular care was taken to present it all with a logical flow that will help any photographer attain a better understanding of flash photography.<\/p>\n You can either purchase a copy via\u00a0Amazon USA<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Amazon UK<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0or can be ordered through Barnes & Nobles and other bookstores. The book\u00a0is also available on the Apple iBook Store, as well as Amazon Kindle.\nAlso check out the Amazon Kindle store.<\/p>\n Learn more about\u00a0how\u00a0the cover image<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0was shot.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div> <\/p>\n Well, you could use aperture priority with flash, if \/ when: One of the cries for help I often see, is a photographer saying they get great available light exposures, but the moment they switch their flash on, they get over-exposed photographs. The reason for this is that they are using Aperture Priority, and getting settings like 1\/1000 @ f4 .. but the moment they switch the flash on (without HSS enabled), the camera limits the shutter speed<\/strong> to maximum sync speed<\/a> .. and they get over-exposure.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Aside from the (small) chance of your light meter being faulty, the most likely reason why you might get a faulty or obviously incorrect reading from your flash meter when metering your speedlight’s output … is that you are shooting in TTL mode. Most flash meters are fooled by the pre-flash that the camera uses to determine TTL flash exposure (and the final output of the flash).<\/p>\n You can see the position of the pre-flash there, a low output burst of light from your speedlight. The camera senses how much of the light is returned, and from that will calculate the TTL flash exposure you should need. Hand held light meter readings are usually triggered by that pre-flash, and since it is lower in intensity than the actual output from the speedlight, will give you a reading that just doesn’t make sense. I drove myself crazy with this one weekend, when I couldn’t figure out why my flash meter would give me an f2.8 reading, no matter what aperture I set my camera to.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Seriously, there are none. That plastic crap they want to sell to you to give you better light from a pop-up flash, is better spent as money going towards a better hot-shoe mounted speedlight<\/a>. There are no short-cuts here. There is no good news I can give you about your pop-up flash, other than … you’re going shopping!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This is a tough one to give one definitive answer for. \u00a0It really depends on what the light is like, and how you position your subjects in relation to the light.<\/p>\n The simplest scenario is where you position your subject so that their faces are in open shade, and then you just add a touch of fill-flash<\/a>. \u00a0The easiest way of doing this is to use TTL flash, and dial your flash exposure compensation down to around -3EV.<\/p>\n Where you have more uneven light, then using off-camera flash with a large diffuser (eg, softbox or umbrella)<\/a>, will give you the best looking results. \u00a0The light from your flash will look really good, but I can’t say that it will be imperceptible as flash. \u00a0Meaning, if you look at the image, then a logical conclusion about the light is that additional light like flash must’ve been used. \u00a0But, it does look good!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n TTL flash exposure is calculated with a pre-flash signal that the flashgun emits before the main burst of light. \u00a0The main burst of light is what gives you (hopefully) correct exposure. \u00a0But the camera needs some way of determining what that correct exposure should be. In order to do that, the camera measures the amount of light returned from that pre-flash. Looking at this diagram of the sequence of events when your shutter opens and your flash fires, you will see the pre-flash there:<\/p>\n Now, if you set your camera to first curtain sync<\/a><\/strong>, then the pre-flash and main burst are so close together, that you can’t distinguish these as two discrete bursts of light. \u00a0It looks like one blitz. \u00a0Now, if you go to rear-curtain sync<\/a><\/strong>, and set a slower shutter speed … then there is a discrete time interval between when the pre-flash is emitted, and the main burst is emitted. \u00a0You will see this pre-flash then as distinctly separate pulse of light.<\/p>\n You can test this for yourself by setting your camera to any aperture (but let’s say f4), and any ISO (but let’s go to 800 ISO just for this exercise) .. and set a 1 second shutter speed.<\/p>\n Set your camera to first curtain sync, and fire your shutter. \u00a0You will see one burst of light. But when you now set your camera to rear curtain sync, you will see two separate blasts of light.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A higher flash sync speed is a real boost when working in bright ambient light. \u00a0The higher shutter speed implies a wider aperture, and hence more range on your flash<\/a>.<\/p>\n An alternate way to look at it, is that in bright light, you have a better chance of over-powering the sun with a higher flash sync speed. \u00a0The higher flash sync speed cuts more of the ambient light for the same aperture.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n03) \u00a0How to get catchlights in the eyes with flash photography<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/flash\/bounce\/NV3_3090.jpg\")
<\/p>\n04) \u00a0How do I test flash sync speed<\/h2>\n
05) \u00a0Do I need to adjust my camera exposure with flash photography<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/questions\/adjusting-camera-exposure-with-flash.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/weddings\/bridget-matt\/Bridget-Matt-1776-900.jpg\")
<\/p>\n06) \u00a0Flash output needed to overpower the sun<\/h2>\n
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t![\"Direction](\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/books\/NvN\/3-qualityoflight-250.jpg\")
<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\tDirection & Quality of Light<\/h2>\n
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\n07) \u00a0Aperture controls flash exposure<\/h2>\n
08) \u00a0How to avoid shadows when using flash vertically<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/questions\/how-to-avoid-vertical-flash-shadows.jpg\")
<\/p>\n09) \u00a0Why does TTL bounce flash need extra flash exposure compensation?<\/h2>\n
11) \u00a0What is the flash power setting for off-camera flash without a softbox<\/h2>\n
\n– aperture
\n– ISO
\n– distance of your flash from your subject
\n– power setting<\/p>\n12) \u00a0Increasing flash will eliminate ambient light<\/h2>\n
13) \u00a0What is the higher shutter speed to eliminate ambient light?<\/h2>\n
14) \u00a0Why is my bounce flash creating a shadow?<\/h2>\n
15) \u00a0Is there a problem having two catch-lights?<\/h2>\n
16) \u00a0TTL flash is not accurate when photographing darker people<\/h2>\n
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t![\"On-Camera](\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/books\/NvN\/5-oncameraflash-ed2-250.jpg\")
<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\tOn-Camera Flash Photography – revised edition<\/h2>\n
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\n17) \u00a0Why can’t I use aperture priority with flash<\/h2>\n
\n– you make sure you stay at or below maximum sync speed<\/a>, or
\n– you set your camera & flash to\u00a0high-speed flash sync<\/a>, and know that your flash output will be considerably reduced when you do go into HSS mode.<\/p>\n18) \u00a0Why doesn’t my light meter display an accurate reading when using a speedlight?<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/flash\/flash_preflash.jpg\")
<\/p>\n19) \u00a0Pop-up flash photography techniques<\/h2>\n
20) \u00a0Flash outdoors without looking like flash<\/h2>\n
21) \u00a0Why two flashes with rear curtain sync?<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/flash\/preflash.jpg\")
<\/p>\n22) \u00a0Benefits of 1\/500 flash sync speed<\/h2>\n
23) \u00a0Difference between E-TTL \/ TTL flash and manual flash<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/images\/questions\/terrible-flash.jpg\")
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