Flash + Ambient/Outdoor shooting

How does one approach this type of lighting? Should I meter and underexpose for the background first then add a 1/4 or 1/2 of flash?



Neil provided a quick tip but I cant seem to find this reference on his website. He basically showed samples of how to combine ambient and a single flash outdoors. And IIRC, it was underexpose for the background then add a flash, but please dont quote me on that, im sure its not that easy all the time. But is this a good rule of thumb for beginners?

As far as I've read here, you'd want to expose the background to your liking, and change FEC to light your subject correctly. I'm assuming it's because you're blowing out your background when shooting your subject, so I'd just get the background dialed in, then change FEC in regards to your subject. I've played around with 1/2 to 2/3rds stops.

Paolo.Leviste wrote in post #10307258
As far as I've read here, you'd want to expose the background to your liking, and change FEC to light your subject correctly. I'm assuming it's because you're blowing out your background when shooting your subject, so I'd just get the background dialed in, then change FEC in regards to your subject. I've played around with 1/2 to 2/3rds stops.

Thanks.
So, did you get the results that you wanted? and normally or approximately how far is the flash/strobe away from your subject?

Ive tried 1/2 and 1/4 and 1/2 appears to be too strong, and 1/4 is too weak. The umbrella was probably 3-4 feet away from the subject on an overcast day. ISO was at 200. I was at around 2.0 aperture/200 SS.

In this scenario, should I just move the lighting away, adjust the ISO or adjust the FEC. This is what really confuses me with flash photography.


I wish I could post a picture but I cant do it right now because Im at work at the moment.

eye2i wrote in post #10307271
Thanks.
So, did you get the results that you wanted? and normally or approximately how far is the flash/strobe away from your subject?

Ive tried 1/2 and 1/4 and 1/2 appears to be too strong, and 1/4 is too weak. The umbrella was probably 3-4 feet away from the subject on an overcast day. ISO was at 200. I was at around 2.0 aperture/200 SS.

In this scenario, should I just move the lighting away, adjust the ISO or adjust the FEC. This is what really confuses me with flash photography.


I wish I could post a picture but I cant do it right now because Im at work at the moment.

I *wish* I could give you an answer to your problem, but I'm essentially in the same boat as you are. But, with no umbrellas. As long as I've had my flash, I've only been wanting to use it lately.

Paolo.Leviste wrote in post #10307493
I *wish* I could give you an answer to your problem, but I'm essentially in the same boat as you are. But, with no umbrellas. As long as I've had my flash, I've only been wanting to use it lately.

Hey man,

I found the link.

http://neilvn.com …sh-with-ambient-exposure/

It has a lot of useful information about on-flash/ambient lighting. Great stuff!

What kind of triggers are u using? Simplify your approach. I usually take a few exposures of the scenery without the subject and adjust my settings from there. I usually like underexposing the background a bit, maybe a stop or 2 to bring out the colors. After that, place your subject in the scene and dial in enough power to properly expose them. This was taken with on camera flash, remember, u just want fill.

Im using cybersyncs^

As far as I know here's the basics from what ive read:

On bright/sunny conditions. Aim for the highest syncspeed (in my case its 250) adjust to the lowest ISO (50-100 on mine).

Meter the background using of course the aperture. Whether you want a stop or two is totally up to your preference.

At this point, you only have to worry about the distance/power ratio of your flas. An assistant will come in very handy here, as it easily allows you to just advise the person to move the flash closer or farther from the subject. 1/2 or lower is recommended for faster recycling times.

So I got the basics down, now I just need to see if it works for me.

Try shooting straight on with your flash and use maybe a -1 FEC after exposing for the background.

eye2i wrote in post #10307623
Im using cybersyncs^

As far as I know here's the basics from what ive read:

On bright/sunny conditions. Aim for the highest syncspeed (in my case its 250) adjust to the lowest ISO (50-100 on mine).

Meter the background using of course the aperture. Whether you want a stop or two is totally up to your preference.

At this point, you only have to worry about the distance/power ratio of your flas. An assistant will come in very handy here, as it easily allows you to just advise the person to move the flash closer or farther from the subject. 1/2 or lower is recommended for faster recycling times.

So I got the basics down, now I just need to see if it works for me.

Make life easier and get a flash meter. 1/2 or 1/4 on flash mean nothing unless you know what kind of exposure you getting on the subject. Modifier used and distance from subject effect that.

Your thought process is correct. Problem in bright sunny conditions is that little flash is not going to have enough power to properly light the subject unless it is used bare and very close to the subject. Even then you might need to be at full power.

Do some tests with your flash at various settings to see what kind of exposure readings it gives you. For example when using my 580ex II at 1/4 power, I get f5.6 at ISO100, distance 4 feet (just picking from memory). This is when using flash in a softbox.

bobbyz wrote in post #10308812
Make life easier and get a flash meter. 1/2 or 1/4 on flash mean nothing unless you know what kind of exposure you getting on the subject. Modifier used and distance from subject effect that.

Your thought process is correct. Problem in bright sunny conditions is that little flash is not going to have enough power to properly light the subject unless it is used bare and very close to the subject. Even then you might need to be at full power.

Do some tests with your flash at various settings to see what kind of exposure readings it gives you. For example when using my 580ex II at 1/4 power, I get f5.6 at ISO100, distance 4 feet (just picking from memory). This is when using flash in a softbox.

Thanks. I had one but sold it due to financial reasons, I must admit it made my life easier, at the time I was'nt really into flash photography that much. I would invest in one again in the near future, but since Im not getting paid to do anything related to photography, i can take my time and learn the hard way. The cheap way. The chimp way.

If you're shooting with off camera flash then ideally your flash should be in full Manual mode so FEC does not enter into the equation.

Rather than doing a lot of typing take a look at this website; or better yet get his book. You can get it from most public libraries even if you have to use an interlibrary loan.

http://neilvn.com …h-photography-techniques/

http://neilvn.com/tang​ents/

eye2i wrote in post #10307271
Thanks.
So, did you get the results that you wanted? and normally or approximately how far is the flash/strobe away from your subject?

Ive tried 1/2 and 1/4 and 1/2 appears to be too strong, and 1/4 is too weak. The umbrella was probably 3-4 feet away from the subject on an overcast day. ISO was at 200. I was at around 2.0 aperture/200 SS.

In this scenario, should I just move the lighting away, adjust the ISO or adjust the FEC. This is what really confuses me with flash photography.


I wish I could post a picture but I cant do it right now because Im at work at the moment.

PixelMagic wrote in post #10309031
If you're shooting with off camera flash then ideally your flash should be in full Manual mode so FEC does not enter into the equation.

Rather than doing a lot of typing take a look at this website; or better yet get his book. You can get it from most public libraries even if you have to use an interlibrary loan.

http://neilvn.com …h-photography-techniques/

http://neilvn.com/tang​ents/

Manual is always good, but ETTL can be used for off camera flash as well.

also, I already posted the link. See post # 5.

I didn't say that ETTL can't be used but it requires an ETTL cord or wireless triggers that are capable of tranmitting the ETTL signal. Most people have either basic sync cords or wireless triggers that can't handle ETTL. And if they have an ETTL cord its more likely to be the 3-foot coiled cord which limits the flexibility of using flash off camera.

Given those circumstances, if you aren't shooting rapid action its preferable to use manual rather than ETTL for off camera flash.

eye2i wrote in post #10311108
Manual is always good, but ETTL can be used for off camera flash as well.

also, I already posted the link. See post # 5.