Flash fill in. - DPChallenge Forums

Olympus 50mm f/1.8 MF Normal Zuiko

07/19/2006 07:57:48 AM · #1

If your shooting late in the day with that beautiful gold contrasty light but its going as the sun goes down.

I am often in this situation but still need to shoot pictures that day.

Like on a shoot I was doing in Wester Australia last December for a swimwear catalogue for MISSKINI.

We were shooting our last collection of swimwear for the day but the sun was going down very fast and I still had 4 shots left and they need to have a concistency with the rest of the shots Id been doing.

This is how I got over the problem:

I had an assistant holding a 1mtr gold foil reflector up to the side of myself so if I aim a flash gun onto the reflector it would bounces lovely golden light onto my modeI, I set the flash exposure to be approx 1 to 2 stops under the ambient reading taken from my models position.

This is one of the shots taken this way.

//homepage.mac.com/b.s/.Pictures/_DSC0381.jpg

Message edited by author 2006-07-19 08:11:16.

emorgan49

Olympus E-5

07/20/2006 11:08:54 AM · #2

lovely! And this weeks challenge is GOLD

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

07/20/2006 12:13:05 PM · #3

Woulds be nice iof some one else could post any flash fill tricks or tips on here to.

I will post a new one when some one else does.

I have lots of lighting tips.

Bruce

//www.brucesmithphotographer.com/index.php

rjkstesch

Nikon D700

07/20/2006 07:09:08 PM · #4

Bruce,

You are definately more sophisticated in this area than I am.

I did have a great time experimenting with the flash and changing the shutter speed to create some interesting movement effects while capturing the main subjects during some dancing.

Does that count as a tip, so we can learn some more of your tips?

Becky

07/21/2006 05:00:09 AM · #5

OK I guess.

If your shooting a shot inside, its a really nice bright day you have a lovely window that would be great to shoot your model by or maybe your shooting a wedding shot. Take along 1x5oo watt flash head with an 8 inch reflector/spilkill attached. When your have set up the position of your model, take the high light reading lets say its f11 at 125th sec, aim the flash head at a near by wall if the is one as long as its a nutral colour ie white or grey. set the power of the flash very low so your getting a flash reading on your model of f5.6 to f8. This will give you a very natyural looking fill in flash. If there are no walls near by or they are strong colours take along a large reflector and put this in place of the wall, aim your flash head at this so the reflected flash light bounces onto your model. Try it on a test shoot before you do a serious shoot like this so your confident of your results. Every different place you shoot will give you different results due to all kinds of ambient factors. WALLS LIGHT FROM WINDOW COLOURS ETC ETC. So dont expect every time you shoot like this to get the same results.

Here is a shot that was done using this technique.

//homepage.mac.com/b.s/.Pictures/Enigma-_313.jpg

Message edited by author 2006-07-21 05:18:03.

Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO M.Zuiko

08/02/2006 03:05:50 AM · #6

Has any one else got any fill flash techniques. I cant be the only one.

Brad

Olympus OM-D E-M1

08/02/2006 03:25:21 AM · #7

Originally posted by BruceSmith:

Has any one else got any fill flash techniques. I cant be the only one.

I use a very sophisticated setup for my fill flash:

Av mode, manually pop-up the toy flash on the camera, place ping pong ball with a slot cut in it over the flash to act as a diffuser, set flash EV to -1 and click.
Sort of a tongue-in-cheek reply, and certainly would get laughed out of town by the pros, but it works, and the ping pong ball doubles as a clown fake nose prop, just isn't red.

petrakka

08/02/2006 03:51:05 AM · #8

For skateboard photography during daylight it's usually good to power up your flashes as high as they will go (without going under a duration of 1/1000) to light up your subject and keep a more saturated background.

This can mean the flash needs to be close to the subject sometimes but a direct, harsher light often has a dramatic quality on the skateboarder that is preferred.

In the night time you can pull some color out of the sky by dragging your shutter, and since your main subject is lit up by the flash with an action freezing duration, you can hand hold your shots at slow shutter speeds sometimes. this last photo was shot at 1/10.

//www.phphoto.net/5/billykflip.jpg
//www.phphoto.net/5/nosegrind.jpg
//www.phphoto.net/5/backlip.jpg

Message edited by author 2006-08-02 03:51:16.

08/02/2006 04:44:56 AM · #9

Love the pink pong ball. It would be interesting to see results..

Love the last skateboard shot. REALLY COOL SHOT

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

08/09/2006 05:59:16 AM · #10

Does no one else have any techniques for shooting using fill in flash.

Id be really interested to know.

Bruce

dwterry

Canon EOS-1D Mark III

08/09/2006 07:21:05 AM · #11

Ignoring the border (which nobody seemed to care for around here ), this one was shot with my a Canon 580 on-camera, aimed at my boy standing on my left about 15 feet away. He was holding a Canon 550 with a translucent umbrella mounted in front of it pointing directly at the couple to give some side lighting to the image:

Same story, different people on a different day:

And again... only this time he is standing on my right:

So in each case, the light is coming from the side by taking advantage of Canon's "slave" technology. The on-camera master is not even pointing at the couple and instead used merely to fire the off-camera slave.

08/09/2006 07:28:16 AM · #12

This sound pretty similar to the way I did this shot in Australia

//homepage.mac.com/b.s/.Pictures/IMG_9886sml.jpg

08/09/2006 07:29:52 AM · #13

This sound pretty similar to the way I did this shot in Australia

I had one open flash head to the left above my shoulder to achieve this.

My aperture was set for the reading from the flash and the shutter speed was set to give me the correct exposure to give me a nice
sunset.

Message edited by author 2006-08-09 10:06:13.

08/11/2006 11:31:33 AM · #14

Any one else got any fill-in flash techniques

Bruce

Tamron 70-180mm F/2.8 Di III VXD

08/13/2006 07:51:18 PM · #15

I guess not.

MadMan2k

Sony Alpha a6400

08/13/2006 08:51:26 PM · #16

I wish I had models to learn about portraits with, I'm not very good at using flashes. When I shoot sports like skating and BMX I either put the flash on the tripod, set it to 1/4th power and point it in the general direction of the subject, or hold it off to the side and do the same. Then I set the camera to f/5.6 to give some DOF, and about 1.5 stops underexposed for ambient light.

Since I shoot digital when I'm using flash, I guess at the settings and make adjustments if I need to. Not very professional, I know...

lemondster

Canon EOS-20D

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

08/13/2006 08:57:45 PM · #17

Originally posted by petrakka:

does the D70 have the option of a second curtain sync for your flash?

if so, in your 3rd shot, using that setting would place your motion trails behind the skateboarder.

i dont know if that is considered a good tip but its a shot

alfresco

Nikon D700

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

08/13/2006 09:02:11 PM · #18

fyi - Yes the D70 has rear curtain sync.

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Nikon

08/14/2006 05:31:17 PM · #19

They are both great tips.

Its good that we all have the techniques that suit our type of shooting.

I learn some thing different every time I shoot.

Message edited by author 2006-08-14 17:31:45.

jazzmik

Nikon D300

08/14/2006 06:57:41 PM · #20

Bruce can you provide some detail on the settings you use for flash fill in? what do you set your camera to, what do you set your flash to, etc.

thanks!

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Nikon

08/15/2006 09:53:19 AM · #21

Hi Jazz

No point..

When your shooting the exposure values will be different.

But

Take a reading or a test shot of the sunset at lets say F8 or F11, Set your shutter spead to give you a good sunset at F8 or F11. Depending on your cameras sync speed you could be shooting anything upto 1000 sec if your using moder speed lights they will still sync at such high speeds This is out side of my knowledge Im old school. LOL.

Set your flash to go off at auto at F8 or F11 make sure the sensor on the flash is pointing at your model if your using it off camera and def not the background.

The best way to learn this is to test it.

Go out when theres a nice sunset and do bracketed exposures on shutter speeds and on apertures at least 2 or 3 stops either way up and down, so you understand which combination works so you have settings that allow sync on your shutters flash sync speed.

If this is not clear get back to me.

jazzmik

Nikon D300

08/15/2006 10:44:26 PM · #22

thanks Bruce, I'll give those a whirl and let you know!

Originally posted by BruceSmith:

CalliopeKel

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

08/17/2006 11:51:53 AM · #23

Not the best example but I did use fill on the 2nd pic.

12/18/2006 12:31:36 PM · #24

This was shot in a large white walled studio appartment using the available light comming in through windows on my right to the rear of the model.

Fill-in flash was bounced off the white walls to left of my model. The flash output was set to give me a flash reading of 2 stops less than the ambient reading. ie available light reading was 125th sec at F8, flash power was set to give me a flash reading of F4.