56 DIGITAL CAMERA^ JUNE 2019 http://www.digitalcameraworld.com
Camera
College
áǝƏɎǣɀˡǼǼٮˢƏɀǝƏǼǼƏƫȒɖɎّ
If you only use flash to take shots in the dark, then you’re missing a trick. Learn how to create
more balanced and interesting exposures in the middle of the day with a little light relief...Following last issue’s
guide to flash, this month
we’re focusing on fill-flash. As
the name suggests, this is a
technique where the light from
the flash is used to supplement
existing lighting – to ‘fill in’
details in dark areas of a picture- rather than being the sole
source of illumination. It can
be used in both daylight and at
night; and can be used subtly,
with the flash blending in with
the ambient lighting to give
a natural-looking result, or
more dramatically, where the
flash-lit subject ‘pops’ from
a darker background.
Fill-flash can be useful
in portraiture – particularly
outdoors on sunny days,
where the contrast between
the brightly lit parts of a scene
and the dark areas can be tooextreme to record detail in both
without some intervention. You
can, of course, use a reflector to
bounce light into the shadows
on a person’s face, or seek the
softer light of shade and avoid
using flash altogether, but
neither may be convenient.
You can also experiment
with HDR or exposure-blending
techniques – taking separate
shots for different parts of thescene and combining the best
bits later – or simply shoot
raw and make some heavy
adjustments to the shadows
and highlights in software,
but the chances are you may
degrade the quality of your
picture or end up with an image
that just doesn’t look natural.
Fill-flash gives you more
options and allows you to get
things right in-camera.Marcus
HawkinsPhotographer and
writer Marcus is a
former editor of
Digital CameraThe complete guide to modern photography
áǣɎǝˡǼǼٮˢƏɀǝRIGHT: Use flash to bring
out the details, such as in
this image of a derelict
boat on the beach.zȒˢƏɀǝ