Digital SLR Photography - UK (2020-01)

W

HENWORKINGWITHa single

flashgunyouonlyhaveonelight

source,ordoyou?A reflectoris the

mostobvioustoolforbouncinglightback

ontothemodeltoreduceshadows,andin

somecasestoaddwhatlookslikea second

low-poweredlightsource.But,depending

onthelocationyou’rein,youcanalsouse

naturallightasyoursecondarysource.The

advantageof thisis thatyoucanaddmore

depthtoyourportraitsandit alsomeansthat

youcantakemorecontrolof shadowsfalling

onthemodeldependingonhowyou

positionthemin relationtotheambientlight.

Forthistechniqueto work,it’sbestto

shootin locationswherelightis comingin

fromoneside– sothatmightbebya door,

windoworevenundera bridge.In termsof

camerasettings,shootin manualmodewith

ISO 100,shutterspeedat thecameraflash

syncspeedandapertureat f/5.6orwider.Set

theflashto manualoutputandstartat 1/4

powerthenworkfromthereuntilthe

exposurelooksright.We onlyneededto set

theflashto 1/8+0.7power,sonotmuchflash

was needed to balance with ambient light.

FORTHISTECHNIQUETOWORK,IT’SBESTTOSHOOTIN

LOCATIONSWHERELIGHTIS COMINGINFROMONESIDE–THAT

MIGHT BE BY A DOOR,WINDOW OR EVEN UNDER A BRIDGE

1 )SET-UP:A locationwherethesubjectis sidelit by

naturallightononesideandunderexposedontheother

is theidealscenarioforthistechnique.Thisprovidesthe

abilitytoreduceshadowswhenusingonlyoneflashgun.

2 )CAMERA& FLASH SETTINGS:Forthistechnique,you

mayneedlesspowerthanyourealiseunlessit’sthe

heightofsummer.Startwiththeflashsetto1/4powerin

manualmodewithyourdesiredcamera settings and

adjustyourexposuresfromthere.

3 )NOFLASH IMAGE:Hereyoucanseetheeffectofthe

ambientlightwithouttheflashadded.Whiletheoverall

imageis underexposed,thebrighterareasofthelight

colouredjackethavemaintaineddetailwithnoburnout.

4 )SIDE-LIT FLASHPositionthemodeltobeside-litby

boththeambientlightandflashguncreatesa kindof

cross-lightingeffect.Settingtheflashtoa slightly higher

output than the ambient light looks best.

LEARNTO BALANCEDIRECTIONAL

AMBIENTLIGHTWITHANGLEDFLASH

FOR MOREBALANCEDRESULT S

SIDE-LITFLASH

2

1

3

2

PhotoMasterclass

66 DigitalSLR PhotographyJanuar y 2020