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Fill Flash

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There is a neat little trick that, if used correctly, can really perk up photographs. This is the addition of some supplementary light into a picture. By this I mean the use of an electronic flash or a reflector to add to the ambient light falling on a subject. The flash can either be built into the camera like on the point and shoot models or something a little more powerful that attaches to you single lens reflex camera while the reflector could be a sophisticated purpose build unit or something a simple as a sheet of white paper. Both these tools can add just enough sparkle and zest to take a picture above the ordinary.

Film has its limits as far as reproducing what's in front of it when compared to the human eye, so quite often the shadows caused by strong light appear, in A little fill flash adds a bit of sparkle to the eye of this bride at her wedding

the photograph, unnaturally dark. But, what also sometimes happens, is that when the light is not very strong, like on and overcast day for instance, photographs can appear a little flat and dull. Using some additional light from either a flash or a reflector will improve the results in both instances – lightening the shadows in harsh lighting conditions as well as adding a little contrast when the ambient light is flat. Let's first have a look at how to do this with an electronic flash

For those with point and shoot cameras there is usually only one control and that is to switch the flash on and for most subjects – portraits, close ups of flowers and so on – this will be more than sufficient. For those with more sophisticated gear things get a little more involved.

For fill flash (as it's called) to work there needs to be just the right amount of flash added to the ambient light in any occasion. Too much and things start to look unnatural and obviously “flashed” while too little looks much like just the ambient lighting alone. It has been found that around 1 and 2/3 stops underexposure on the flash creates a good balanced fill. But how does one ensure that this amount of flash is added? Well if you are the fortunate owner of a reasonably modern dedicated flush gun with TTL (Through The Lens) metering then it is simply a matter of dialing in this amount of underexposure on the camera's or flash's controls (refer to your manual). If you have a non-dedicated flash then you have to fiddle with things a little. Normally auto flashguns will have a scale somewhere that specifies a lens aperture and gives a range over which the flash will work on auto. Let's say that this is f5.6. Now we need to underexpose this by 1 and 2/3 (or there abouts) so instead of setting the lens at f5.6 set it to f10 if your camera can do this or mid way between f8 and f11 if that's all that is available. So now the flash is set up to ensure the correct exposure but what about the ambient light? Use the shutter speed to set this while being careful not to go above the flash sync speed for the camera (usually somewhere between 1/125 sec and 1/250 sec, depending on the model).

If the flash gun is removed from the camera and the light directed from the side the effects become more pleasing, especially when working under low light conditions. One can almost create the effect of the sun shining onto the subject. In order to do this you will require all the necessary cables and attachments for the TTL flash and just a low priced extension cable for the auto flashguns. This technique also works very well with strong directional light - simply position the flash on the opposite side of the subject to the main light source (the sun for example). In flat light conditions it sometimes looks a better if the flash is exposed at a little more than 1 and 2/3 under. Closer to 2/3 stop under to zero compensation is more appropriate.

A small amount of light was added to the Star Fish (Sea Stars) with a white reflector.

The advantage of using a reflector instead of a flash for fill is that you can see exactly what effect it is having. Any reflective medium will work and the trick is to just reflect the light from the sun (or whatever) into the shadow areas of your subject. Remember that if the reflector is not pure white it will add a colour cast to the final result. This can often be used to advantage and I prefer a soft gold to a white or silver reflector because of its warm colour balance. There are some very fancy models available for professional work that easily collapse into small packages and are available in a host of colours and fabrics. A lower priced option is a sheet of white batting (a fibrous material for padding clothes and available from material suppliers) stitched to a wire frame. One of the cheapest I have seen are those collapsible, round blinds that are used to place in the windscreen of your car to keep out the sun. Just make sure its white.

This whole process is highly experimental so the effects are not always predictable, particularly the fill flash side of things. As I said, with reflectors you can actually see what is happening but with flash you only see the results after you get the films back from the lab. Experiment wildly. Try using very low shutter speeds with fill flash and move the camera, the subject or both during exposure. Try placing different colour gels on the flash. Try placing a yellow filter on the flash and a blue one on the camera and see what happens. (Yellow is the opposite of blue so they cancel each other out – but what about the area that is not covered by the flash?) Have fun though!

If there's something that you would like to read about in this column or questions you have , feel free to contact me on e-mail at info@africaimagery.com . I will try to get back to you but things sometimes get a little hectic around here so please forgive me if I don't. It will, though, help to give me an idea of what you want to know.

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