Sony HVL-RL1 Lighting Guide - a lighting and lighting accessories - Page 10
Fill Flash, fill
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fill flash Fill flash is a technique used to brighten deep shadow areas, particularly when photographing backlit subjects. Fill flash is typically used outdoors on sunny days, though the technique is useful any time the background is significantly brighter than the subject, or your subject has harsh shadows caused by an overhead light (like the sun). To use fill flash, the aperture and shutter speed are adjusted to correctly expose the background, and the flash is fired to lighten the foreground. In the first sample image (1) a tree shades our subject, but the rocks behind her are directly in the sunlight. Changing our camera settings to properly expose for our subject makes the rocks behind her overexposed. The second image (2) is the same scene, but this time we have adjusted our exposure for the rocks in the background. Now our subject standing in the shade of the tree is grossly underexposed. Since we now have the rocks properly exposed, all we have to do is add flash. We used the same settings for the final image as used in shot (2), the only difference is that the flash fired. We were able to use the natural light to illuminate our background as well as use artificial fill flash to illuminate our subject in the foreground. 1. Over-exposed background 2. Under-exposed subject Set it up in advance. When photographing a person, do a test shot before the model is in the scene to get the exposure spot-on in advance. 18 Properly exposed with fill flash on subject F5.6, 1/125 SEC, ISO 100 Split-second Breakdown Shutterblade position over time Flash Total exposure: 1/125 SEC On-Camera Flash Basics What is it? Technique used to add light to shadows to balance exposure between the foreground and background. How to use it? Fill flash works with any flash in any camera mode. For a flash built into a camera, make sure you are at least 10ft or closer to the item you want to illuminate. Where to use it? •To remove unwanted shadows from your subject •Balance lighting by adjusting for an overexposed background and use fill flash to illuminate an underexposed foreground •Landscapes where you want to illuminate the foreground 19