Comments on: Balancing Flash and Natural Light for Portraits

By: Darlene Hildebrandt

Darlene Hildebrandt — Sun, 10 Sep 2017 18:31:00 +0000

In reply to Mar. Hi @disqus_g5MfjEURqo:disqus I answered this on your comment on the other article about how to use off-camera flash. What brand of flash is it? Have you tested it for color temperature? Normally daylight and flash balance as they are. Unless you're in really warm ambient light it shouldn't be an issue. Can you post an example photo of what you mean?

By: Mar

Mar — Sun, 10 Sep 2017 16:17:00 +0000

Very, very, helpful. Love the change from the ambient only to the final. Now, how about when you want to shoot outdoors and have the flash balance/match the ambient background but look natural, not dramatic like in the “Bob” shots? The flash lighting just does not look natural, especially in the golden hrs where the ambient is very warm.

By: Suz

Suz — Mon, 15 Aug 2016 03:20:00 +0000

this is such a GREAT post. thank you so much for sharing the diagrams and sample shots.

By: Darlene Hildebrandt

Darlene Hildebrandt — Fri, 12 Jun 2015 18:30:00 +0000

In reply to jamesellis1960. Glad to hear it.

By: jamesellis1960

jamesellis1960 — Fri, 12 Jun 2015 15:43:00 +0000

Thanks, Darlene. For some reason, I have a hard time understanding correct use of flash. This really helped with the different shots thruout the shoot, showing what you adjusted and how it looked. Thank you!

By: Lou Razzano

Lou Razzano — Sun, 17 May 2015 14:49:00 +0000

Thanks again Darlene–I’ll give that a try and let you know how it works for me.

By: Darlene Hildebrandt

Darlene Hildebrandt — Fri, 15 May 2015 19:14:00 +0000

In reply to Lou Razzano.

Hi Lou – well that will depend on what camera shooting mode you’re using. If you use Manual, yes that will work. But if you’re in any of the auto modes the camera will compensate and give you correct exposure on the background still. Then the flash will fire to equal the aperture which may still be too much. So it could be a combination of changing your shutter speed which will cut the ambient light – and setting the flash to -1 to have a bit less intensity.

By: Lou Razzano

Lou Razzano — Fri, 15 May 2015 18:56:00 +0000

Thanks Darlene! Your article really taught me something about the use of flash. I rarely use flash and almost always figure out the best way to use ambient light (which I prefer the look of on a subject), but, I do a lot of outdoor shooting and often find myself with subjects that are brightly back lit, and usually just use my on-camera flash (a Nikon D 7100 -with a Tamron 18–270mm lens, which I love and see NO need to upgrade to a full-frame) and now I know that rather than fiddling with the flash intensity if the subjects seem overly lit, I will focus more on going to a faster shutter speed when I need to fill flash but want the background to be darker.

By: Peeter Suns

Peeter Suns — Mon, 20 Apr 2015 07:37:00 +0000

Flash or Natural Light ? Chances are, you prefer one over the other; you like the crisp, clean images you get in-studio and you’ve always https://dailycome.com/flash-or-natural-light-skills-as-photographer/

By: Tina

Tina — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 17:30:17 +0000

Love this article! Thank you!

By: Darlene

Darlene — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 06:03:55 +0000

In reply to Christine.

Hi Christine – you’re most welcome.

As to your request about shooting and balancing in bright sunlight – that is LOT more difficult and something I actually don’t do very often. I choose my time and place for shooting outdoors and if I have to do photos at midday when the sun is high and contrasty – I get my subjects out of the sun and choose a location with a shady background also so eliminate contrast issues.

Overpowering sunlight you need a powerful flash, TTL remotes (so you can use high speed flash sync) and possibly multiple flashes into one umbrella. There are better, easier ways to work with the light outdoors.

By: Christine

Christine — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 05:35:20 +0000

Thank you so much for this article. Up until now I dealt only with ambient light in photography because I found the whole process of setting up and using flashes confusing and intimidating. But your easy to understand explanations in how to use flash without over exposing the subject and ultimately enhancing the composition was so easy to understand I am definitely going to invest in some flash accessories when I have the money to! 🙂 Thank you again. If you haven’t already, I’d appreciate a tutorial like this sometime on how to balance flash with sunlight in outdoor shots, in particular when trying to compensate for unwanted high contrasts. Thanks 🙂

By: Darlene

Darlene — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 01:47:34 +0000

In reply to Steve. No probably not. The one bounced into the umbrella needs more power to produce the same light.

By: Steve

Steve — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 20:56:56 +0000

Darlene,

Nice article! Did you use the same power levels on both flashes?

By: Darlene

Darlene — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 18:16:38 +0000

In reply to Richard. Thanks Richard! I'd love to see your images of Bob!

By: Richard

Richard — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 04:10:30 +0000

I was there when this was done, Darlene is a great teacher and this is very easily explained. And is very nice to have reminders like this article handy. Keep up the good work.

By: Bill

Bill — Fri, 31 May 2013 14:42:11 +0000

Very well explained and a great review.