Here's a really stupid question.....

Dal

Dal

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Right, I read alot of topics on here and on flickr and I often see 'fill flash' being mentioned. I keep reading on and then think I understand it all, but in reality I'm lost lol.

Can someone explain to me very simply (because I'm very simple) how to achieve fill flash.

For instance if I've got an SB800 mounted on my D300 in TTL mode how would I take a photo of someone with 'fill flash'. Should the flash point straight at them? reduce exposure compensation on flash??

Help me lol.

:thumbs:
 
For instance if I've got an SB800 mounted on my D300 in TTL mode how would I take a photo of someone with 'fill flash'. Should the flash point straight at them? reduce exposure compensation on flash??
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Thats pretty much the right idea :D just dial your exposure comp down to avoid blowing out the highlights and that kinda thing. The aim is to just soften up/remove some of those annoying shadows... that's how I do it at least :)
 
ah right brilliant, I take it the exposure compensation on the flash will vary depending on how strong the difference between the highlights and shadows?
 
A rubber band and white business card around your flash will help out tremendously, as will a white board.

I'll post a shot if flickr is up and running.
 
Yea it all tends to vary depending on the situation, if your in bright sunlight or in shadows you will need to adjust accordingly :) Just fire off a few test shots and see how they look. I usually dial it down to -1 / -1.5 EV and go from there

EDIT: I'm just assuming you are talking about fill outdoors here btw - many other things you can try indoors, such as the post above states :)
 
Here it is, very simple, great when you bounce your flash as it provides fill at the same time, very effective and very cheap.

3851236395_be6a43673e_o.jpg
 
PerfectSpeed said:
A rubber band and white business card around your flash will help out tremendously, as will a white board.

I'll post a shot if flickr is up and running.
Click to expand...

PerfectSpeed said:
Here it is, very simple, great when you bounce your flash as it provides fill at the same time, very effective and very cheap.

3851236395_be6a43673e_o.jpg
Click to expand...

Your first post confused me as for some daft reason I thought you meant to put the card infront of the flash :bang:, that makes sense now :D

Rob_Ashton said:
Yea it all tends to vary depending on the situation, if your in bright sunlight or in shadows you will need to adjust accordingly :) Just fire off a few test shots and see how they look. I usually dial it down to -1 / -1.5 EV and go from there

EDIT: I'm just assuming you are talking about fill outdoors here btw - many other things you can try indoors, such as the post above states :)
Click to expand...

is the main aim to lighten up the shadows but to still see them if that makes sense?

Flash In The Pan said:
Of course with an SB-800 there's no need for that, as it has a built-in bounce card :D
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Whoop whoop

PerfectSpeed said:
Haven't owned a nikon, thanks for the heads up, I should have looked first :bonk:
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I never thought about using that for it, I always thought it was more of a bounce card.

I need to get a book on this all I think. :)
 
is the main aim to lighten up the shadows but to still see them if that makes sense?
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That all depends on how you want the image to look :D Its not always possible or desirable to try and reduce all shadows, but if it was what you wanted you could get rid on most of the shadows.
Fill works well for example, when a subject is back lit, say in front of a sunset or similar, which will cause shadows on the side of the subject facing you. You can use your fill to get rind of the dark shadows, depending on the amount of fill you use, the more or less shadow there will be :)
 
Rob_Ashton said:
That all depends on how you want the image to look :D Its not always possible or desirable to try and reduce all shadows, but if it was what you wanted you could get rid on most of the shadows.
Fill works well for example, when a subject is back lit, say in front of a sunset or similar, which will cause shadows on the side of the subject facing you. You can use your fill to get rind of the dark shadows, depending on the amount of fill you use, the more or less shadow there will be :)
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Ah right, that makes sense.

Thank you :thumbs:
 
Some people pref to use the word balance, rather than fill. In other words you expose for the background/ambient light, then balance that with your turned down flash. As said, you are really only lifting the subject lighting to be in line with the ambient. That's not to say that's all you can do of course.
 
V8burble said:
Some people pref to use the word balance, rather than fill. In other words you expose for the background/ambient light, then balance that with your turned down flash. As said, you are really only lifting the subject lighting to be in line with the ambient. That's not to say that's all you can do of course.
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^^^ That's it. Fill-flash is short for filling in the shadows with flash in order to balance the dark shaded areas with the brighter background illuminated by the ambient light.

The example quoted above is a typical one, of shooting a portrait of somebody against the light, when their face would otherwise come out dark or even in silhouette. It really brightens faces and puts a sparkling highlight in the eyes, while retaining the attractive backlit effect.

Normal technique is to use simple on-camera flash fired direct (the on-board flash is fine) with the camera set on aperture priority. The camera sets a shutter speed to give correct exposure for the ambient light illuminating the background, and the flash is moderated to give correct exposure for the foreground. In TTL auto mode, this is all done for you.

If necessary, you can lighten/darken the foreground subject by adjusting exposure compensation on the flash which changes the output power, and lighten/darken the background ambient exposure by adjusting the shutter speed.

The trick is to get the balance right, so it looks natural. This usually means less flash, rather than more. If you overdo the flash, it looks naff.
 
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