Fill flash balance

Hi all,

 

So I am going to do some engagement photos of a couple by the beach,

and I have a question or two for the experts on fill flash. Usually

I go for open shade, and try to only use a reflector, but in this

case I want to show more of the background space, which is the beach.

 

My sebjects will be in open shade, and I know the background will

burn out if I don't use fill flash. I am planning to use a Uni 400

on a stand for the fill light. So, say I meter the background

sunshine, and it comes up at f16 at a 1/500th (400 speed film). If

I set my light for f11 and point it into the shade at them I figure

to get some decent balance.

 

Should I point the light direct, and use a shoot through white

umbrella? Pop it into a silver umbrella? Direct the light at my

subjects from the side, and use a second light for a catchlight?

 

Suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Thanks to all who post.

 

Patrick

Patrick, all three of your methods will work, just make sure your flash will sync at a 500th. I personally would use a slower film speed if you have a sunny day, say 100 asa or 160asa and shoot at f8 on the subjects with the background at around f11. It always seemed to work for me, giving just shallow enough dof to set the subjects apart from the background. I use a lumedyne and just feather it across the couple, no umbrella. Just food for thought. Good luck. jz

Thanks for the reply John,

 

When you say "just feather it across the couple" do you mean from the side?

 

I will definitely use 100 ASA film. F8 to f11 as a ration sounds better.

 

Thanks,

 

Pat

It's always nice if you can use the sun as a catchlight or as a kicker. I know the look below

is using the flash as main rather than fill like you want, but the neat thing is the 'veil light'

is sunlight coming through the trees.

 

Your choice of light modifier depends heavily on wether you have an assistant, and how

windy it's going to be. A softbox is always nice, but even with sandbags it can be a pain.

Umbrellas can be worse depending on the direction of the wind. At least at the beach you

could bring empty sandbags. If you only have umbrellas, I would use a shoot through

white aimed to the side enough that you are in the fall-off zone of the light pattern. But

that's just me.<div></div>

you can also take it an hour before sunset or an hour after daybreak.

Like someone above already said, all of the methods you mention will work...if you bring an assistant or it is very still (no wind), and if your subjects want only static poses. Most of the engagement photos I do on the beach involve action--walking/running along the water's edge, etc., and it is usually quite windy. Also, I have been told that if you look like a pro, with medium format or expensive-looking gear and/or extra lighting/assistant, the park ranger has been know to kick everyone off the beach for not having a commercial permit. I use fill flash, mostly on-camera, which need not look harsh if well blended with the ambient. I have used off-camera flash on a stand, but not a heavier unit like the UNI400 but a lightweight unit like a Vivitar 283 with a compact folding stand. 1/2 to 1 stop under the ambient is what I normally go for with direct sunlight as rim or back light. To get sunsets with deep colored sky, you need flash. Reflectors used with bright sunlight often make subjects squint. When using double lighting, be aware that 1:3 ratio lighting with key/fill flashes causes an increase of about 1/2 stop in the overall lighting measurement, so be careful, if going this route, to balance this with the background or your backgrounds will go darker than you'd expect. Just around/after sunset, you can use the sun itself as key light because it is soft at that point.

Patrick, when I say feather it across the couple, place your light on a stand at about a 45 degree angle from the couple, then point it as if you are trying to light up someone else about ten feet to their far side. If you look at my photo attached on the above thread. I am shooting them staight on with a lumedyne at camera left aiming about ten feet to the right of the bride and little girl. You can see the little girls shadow on the brides dress to give you an idea of the angle. (don't tell anyone about the shadow, no one ever notices). Regards, john

Flash on camera->>> nothing elaborate at the beach *** -1 to 1 1/2 stop reduction on flash--in true open shade...always use your hand meter

Some nice photos on this thread.

 

Make them 511 pixels max width and add a caption, and they'll show up with the post.

Here is a photo where I used the sun as key, with flash fill 1 stop below. It is scanned from a print, so it probably doesn't look as good as a pure digital file. Also, I would avoid shooting at noon (harsh overhead sun casting ugly shadows). On this beach, sunset is the best because you can use the low setting sun as key light. On other beaches, sunrise might be better.<div></div>

Patrick,

 

Due to the necessity to create certain light balance between the sun and your flash, you

will need a 1/1000th or 1/500th flash sync on your camera. That limits you to a leaf

shutter type camera or possibly a digital camera. Therefore, you will have more choices as

to f stop and shutter speed combinations if you use 100 ASA setting/film.

 

As for using a particular setting of f11 or a fill, well, realize that you should be using ASA

100 firstly. Instead of f16, f11, you could possibly be using f8 at f250th if you would use

ASA 100. This will require you to have a flash unit that puts out 50ws or a GN of 110 or

more. Now, I realize that the readers will wonder why I recommend GN110 or better:

flash units are overrated, in my opinion for their GNs. So, we are going to use a GN 110 or

higher flash unit for this 50ws job to make sure that it puts out a true f8 at 10 feet: which

is a true GN of 80. O.K? (I distrust GN numbers and even on flash units I like, the

manufacturer's seem to over rate them! ) An f8 at 1/250th at about 6 feet of 2 people 1/

2 body shot is the kind of starting place you should be at. This means we can use Portra

160 rated at 100 ASA, too.

 

As for the fill, if you simply match the exposure of the sun, a f8 at 1/250th ASA 100 on a

sunny day, you will have a 1:2 ratio. If you want to improve this situation so that your

backgrounds don't get pounded down when the lab prints for the main light, the sun with

your flash overlay, then you will need to put up a black screen to reduce the power of the

sun on these people about 1/2-1 f stops worth. There are light discs that are "black

screens" that can do this. And as you lower the power of the sun on the people, you can

lower the power of the flash fill, too. You see, if you light them more powerfully than the

background, the background goes dark in the final print. Notice in the Golden Gate bridge

picture how dark the Golden Gate Bridge ended up! To avoid this, you need to place a

black screen up to reduce the power of the sun! Welcome to professional photography!

 

I think the shoot through umbrella is a good choice for the fill flash here, given that the

sun would be your main light. It would also be nice if you could punch a hole in the

umbrella for your camera to shoot through the umbrella, too. OOr, you could place the

shoot through umbrella alittle lower than the camera with the sunlight as you main light.

You could also bounce some light off of a white sheet with a hole in it for your camera.

This will allow you to bounce light off of the whole sheet, therefore making no dark

shadows. You will need an assistant for this, and more equipment. But I thought I would

mention it.

 

Flash meter for your fill light. This insures that you won't have dark shadows and any

reference to "darkness" for this positive feeling photograph. The main light will become

what I call a "decoration". You will have approximately a 1:2 ratio.

 

Forget about special catchlights. You have the umbrella; it will create a catchlight. Forget

about any silver umbrella, you need softness here. And the silver umbrella will show

micro-sweat; they will have shiney faces as a result of a silver umbrella which is contrasty.

 

If you don't have an incident meter, you need to bracket for this shot. Why? You don't

want to re-shoot this picture. You need to prove your abilities and create a good show.

You need their confidence.

 

I would not take for granted any auto mode flash fill output. You need total control here.

You really need a flash meter, but without that, you need to bracket. You really need to

find out what your flash puts out at about 6 feet. Forget about looking at graphs and GN

numbers, you need to test your unit personally. And if you put it through an umbrella,

you must use a meter, an incident flash meter such as a Minolta III or Sekonic or whatever.

 

I think that your direction for using an f stop which is one stop brighter, f11, than your

camera f 16 f stop is a bad choice. You should not be making your flash unit so

overwhelming compared to the sunlight. Make the f stops of the flash and camera the

same or use an f stop for the flash which is less, like f19 than the camera f stop, f16. But I

am using this only as a bridge description to help you understand what is going on here. I

do not recommend you use ASA 400 film and wind up using an f16!

 

I think you have a project here that takes some testing. If you cannot do the testing with

an incident flash meter, you should simply place them under shade wherein there are no

sunspots leaking through and do a picture there. If you want to practice a job, don't do it

with someone that needs to find confidence in you. Do the practice run with friends

instead of a client.

 

You have selected a place with some complication. You need to choose how perfect you

want this lighting to be. Do you want a darker, unnaturally dark backgkround? You must

chose this type of background light/dark so that you can plan your equipment needs.

 

You say your subjects will be in "open shade". This sounds like an impossibility at the

beach: where are the trees? I cannot say that I understand what this "shade" is in

appearance. Therefore, I cannot give you a recommendation based upon using this

shade.

Photographers often intentionally want the background to be dark for aesthetic reasons. A mistake is getting something you didn�t want.

Timber, you make some valid points, particularly about how the background goes darker than you'd expect if you use flash, but I want to add a couple of comments. First, the background in my photo is pretty much how it appeared to the eye and that is how I wanted it to show in the photo. Second, I commonly overexpose the background by 1/2 stop if I am using fill flash at 1 stop below the sunlight exposure, to compensate for the darkening effect. This shot was on ISO 400 film, by the way, probably at f8 1/2 at 1/500th, fill at f8 (weaker by 1 stop than the sunlight exposure), because the sun was starting to set and was softer than usual. If, for instance, the sunlight exposure is f16 at 1/500th (correct for ISO 400 film), I would normally use f11 1/2 at 1/500th with fill flash at 1 stop below (f11). Not as precise as using a scrim but it works. With double lighting, sometimes I compensate a stop on the background. The latitude of color negative film allows one to use this trick. Also, I don't believe Patrick is saying he will use the flash at a stop more than the sunlight exposure, but one stop less. In fact, in re-reading the question, I realize that many, including myself, did not really answer the question. Of the methods Patrick mentioned, I would use either on-camera fill or one off-camera flash fill, no modifiers unless it isn't windy, at between 15-30 degrees from camera position. If not using an umbrella, I might put a white dome of some kind on a UNI400, though. Of the modifiers, I personally would use either an umbrella or a shoot through umbrella before the silver umbrella unless the "specular" look is what is desired. A second light just for catchlights is not necessary--you'll get them with the first light. Also, if the sand is white, it can provide a lot of natural fill light, even up to within two stops of the sunlight exposure.

Nadine:

 

Firstly, I like your Golden Gate Bridge Engagement Picture. If the background goes 1 f

stop darker, well, this is an artistic choice, and frankly, it serves to put a spotlight on the

couple: they are lighter than the background and they get the "spotlight" like in theatre.

 

But, since we are "talking tech" here, I'll match some of your statements with observations.

 

Another matter is that at the beach, the ocean and sand reflect light to make a total

exposure above that of an average "sunny day", possibly. This is reflected light from the

ocean adding to the direct sunlight. The ocean is like a mirror adding more light to the

sunlight! This is not a "sunny day at noon" sitution! Since the sun is setting, we don't

really have an honest sun light at noon exposure here of

1/500th at f16. The correct exposure would be 1/400th at f16 at ASA 400. ( So, you want

to show it as 1/500th at f11 1/2, fine.) When the sun sets, the light gets warmer, and

dimmer.

You can see this lovely warm light on their faces. No problem artistically speaking.

 

So, what it really comes down to.... is that we need a

meter reading. You are talking in absolutes of "sunny day" exposures and I think that this

situation really is variable and requires an incident meter. So, now that I can leave this one

matter behind I will go one to the next.

 

The darker background works for me in your picture. But the person questioning above

may have a situation where it won't work. Why? Because he may have dark sand dunes or

trees or something dark in the background. If we darken what is already dark, then maybe

the picture will look too dark in the background to enjoy.

 

Using a screen, whether white or black in color will reduce the light on the person's face; it

will reduce the sunlight on the person's face. It will not reduce the sunlight hitting the

background. (I know that you know this, but I am writing for the benefit of the readers.)

As a result, the imbalance creates a need to increase exposure in the camera. When this is

done, the subjects become properly exposed, but the background goes....lighter. So,

using the screen to dim the light on the person's faces will result in a lighter background!

It is like a titter-totter! What you take away here, is shown there!

 

Now, if you add a flash to the subjects, you are only increasing light in the nearby area.

This is because of the way the Inverse Square Law works for flash units. You are not

adding any light to the sand dunes 40 feet to the rear sand dunes or the Golden Gate

Bridge! A look-see at your picture will confirm that you have these dark sand dunes

uneffected by your flash unit! (Again, I

know that you know this; I realize that you are a competent wedding photographer and

this is old stuff to you; this is for the readers who aren't) So, if we add flash, we need to

reduce our exposure in our camera to compensate for this added light. When we reduce

our exposure level for the nearby subjects, we have to drag down the lighteness of the

subjects in the rear, the background, too. As a result, the sand dunes and the Golden

Gate Bridge get darker: if you add 1/2 f stop of fill, the background goes 1/2 f stop

darker in other words!

 

So, Nadine, i realize that you are being very, very careful to add subtile, weak flash fill, but

no matter how subtile you add that flash fill, you are darkening the background by the

same amount, whatever it is, that you add to flash fill. This is because the sun is

illuminating both the couple and the Golden Gate Bridge! The sun is equally lighting both

near and far, but your flash unit is only illuminating the nearby subjects!

 

Now, if you are alone on the beach, with no assistant, you will be motivated to use flash

fill; there's nobody around to hold a screen! But my recommendation is to go whole hog

and provide the screen. If I didn't have an assistant to hold the screen, I would be using

flash fill or a reflector too like you.

 

Think of areas of beach wherein the rocks are dark and moody. Would you want to darken

these rocks even more? Probably not for such a picture. So, this is a reason to use a

screen on the subjects: to lighten the background! Sounds illogical until you put the

understanding together: "If you add light to the near, you darken the far...sounds

illogical! But that is how it works! In fact, you could lighten the background quite a bit to

make an

unnaturally light background if you wanted.

 

As for his use of f11 to designate a fill which is "less than" a f16 main light. Well, I

thought

of f11 as being 1 f stop MORE light than f16. And I was thinking like I turned into an

human aperture and admitted more light; and this lead to my assertion. I think your

convention is the best way to write about flash fill power. f11 becames a signal that the

flash fill is weaker than f16, so it is 1 f stop LESS light nomenclature. Got it.

Hey Timber--isn't your explanation what I just said in my last post? I was trying to explain my imperfect method of countering the darkening effect by overexposing the background when using fill flash. The photo was not taken with f11 1/2, 1/500th, but probably at f8 1/2, 1/500th, because, as I stated, the sun was less powerful since it was close to sunset.

Nadine,

 

I like the picture you have posted very much. So, I don't think that using a black screen in

this particular photo will do much to improve it, if at all. Reason: You want attention to

be pulled to the lighter areas: the couple. Photographers do darken edges in order to

create attention to the lighter subject matter: the couple. So, in this way, the slightly

darkened background works great for you!

 

But increasing exposure of the "main light" whether it is near sunset or not will simply

make the sides of their faces lighter, and possibly lose detail. We are getting into artistic

waters here. Let's just say that sometimes a darker background works, sometimes it

doesn't. I just wanted to expose a alternative tool, the use of a black screen that could be

used to alter the lighting ratio on the couple, and as a side benefit, lighten the

backgrounds at the same time.

 

When you use fill flash, you may be adding, oh, 1/2 f stop (finessed) or 1 full stop to their

faces in addition to the sunlight. As a result, you compensate your exposure to their face

by dropping down about 1/2 f stop or whatever you chose (artistic choice) . As you do

this, you drop down the background lightness with your exposure change.

 

I know that you know this. However, I am being detailed for the readers.

 

Therefore, since we are getting into "finessing" flash fill, we are treading into artistic

waters and it becomes,....an artistic decision. At any rate, there are 4 ways to do this shot:

 

all natural light;

 

natural light with flash fill;

 

natural light with flash fill and use a black screen over the sun light hitting the couple;

 

natural light and use a black screen over the sun light hitting the couple;

 

The last, the 4th way, "use natural light and use a black screen" will give you the lightest

backgrounds. this procedure will force the photographer's exposure to be opened up to

allow for the effects of the black screen reducing the main sunlight on the couple.