Flash Facts and Skills

Part 1:
Flash fact #1: Every flash photograph is two exposures in one

Flash fact #2*: Flash exposure is not affected by shutter speed

Flash fact #3: Flash illumination is dramatically affected by distance

Flash fact #4: Your camera measures ambient light and flash illumination separately

Flash fact #5: With automatic flash metering, the flash illumination is measured after the shutter button is pressed, and the flash output is adjusted accordingly

Flash fact #6*: Every SLR camera with a mechanical shutter has a maximum flash sync shutter speed

Flash fact #7*: If you’re using flash for fill in bright situations, it’s necessary to stop down the aperture or lower the ISO setting to get the shutter speed below flash sync.


Part 2:
Prompt 1: The further your subject, the more powerful flash you need.

Prompt 2: Because the flash is not effected by shutter speed, keeping the shutter open longer will not illuminate your subject any more; it will however cause more ambient light in and open up the possibilities to blurred photos.  Flash photography is affected by ISO settings, the higher ISO the more effective your flash becomes at any given distance.

Prompt 3: At a certain point, your flash simply doesn’t have enough power to effectively illuminate and reflect light back to your camera.

Prompt 4: The maximum shutter sync speed of 1/200th of a second.

Prompt 5:  The guide number for an electronic flash is a way of quantifying its maximum output in terms that a photographer can relate to – aperture and distance. The guide number is the product of the aperture and distance combination that will result in enough light for proper exposure.

Prompt 6: Light will reflect and refract off of objects and often times a straight on flash will not give the desired results, especially when shooting people.You can soften the light from the flash by bouncing it, most commonly off a ceiling.  Angle your flash head at 45 degrees or off a wall at 45 degrees for a side bounce.  When there is no ceiling or wall to bounce off of, a modifier like an Omni-Bounce by Stofen can help diffuse the light and simulate a ceiling.

Prompt 7: Moving the flash off the hot shoe by utilizing a flash bracket has two main advantages.  When shooting people, moving the flash further away from the lens will near totally eliminate all chances of red-eye.  Secondly, most all flash brackets have a pivot point in them, a hinge if you will.  This allows them to rotate 90 degrees so the flash stays above the lens when shooting vertically, giving you a more pleasing shadow and voiding the side flash.


Part 3:
Slow Sync is useful when shooting in low light, allowing a long exposure to be combined with a brief burst of flash. Rear Curtain Sync allows you to fire the flash at the end of an exposure, rather than at the start.