Fill-Flash.

(08-08-2012)

Today's class was very hands-on, which i reckon pleased everyone, because it broke up the usual routine of sitting in a classroom taking in a stack of information without actually putting any of it into practice.

Anyway, we were given a small amount of tasks to go and complete. They were based around balancing fill-flash on a subject with the surrounding ambient light in the background.

This basically meant we had to expose for the background setting and then add on-camera flash to fill in the predominant shadows on the subject so as to create a balanced illumination of the subject's face and body in relation to the background. 

In order to do this properly, we needed to first experiment with how much power (fill-flash) we needed to disperse from our speedlite. In other words testing from full power or 1/1 right through to the lowest dispersion available on our speedlite - 1/64.

Here are some of my results, they aren't perfect, but give an example of what i'm on about :]


Outdoors

This is an example of not enough fill-flash.
Result= an exposure balance that is too dull/dark
on the subject in relation to the background.

This is an example of correct fill-flash.
Result= a balanced exposure of subject in relation
to the background. Pity Will's eyes were shut :[

This is an example of too much fill-flash.
Result= an exposure balance that is too dominant
on the subject in relation to the background.

A bit of behind the scenes action from today.
Taken on iPhone4s

A bit of behind the scenes action from today.
Taken on iPhone4s

This is an example of way too much fill-flash.
Result= an exposure balance that is totally
wrong. Huge amounts of detail have been
lost and the subject is a beacon of light
 in relation to the background.

Indoors

This is an example of no fill-flash.
Result= a severely unbalanced exposure of subject
in relation to the background.

This is an example of adding fill-flash.
Result= a balanced exposure of subject in
relation to the background.

A bit of behind the scenes action from today.

Something extra

A creative portrait using three speedlites that were
triggered by remote off-camera radio frequency
devices that gus and i had with us.
Good fun.

I added this picture to give an example of intensity
when using direct flash on camera.
In this portrait, i used direct flash.
Result= It produces some mildly flared highlights.

I added this picture to give an example of intensity
when using direct flash on camera.
In this portrait, i used direct flash with one of those
semi-clear plastic end caps attached.
Result= It clearly softens the intensity :]

I added this picture to give an example of intensity
when using direct flash on camera.
In this portrait, i used direct flash with the built-in
reflective spreader flipped-down and one of those
semi-clear plastic end caps attached and.
Result= It clearly softens the intensity but i feel
it also manages to retain a hint of the punchiness
of direct flash. INTERESTING.

Additional Task

Belinda setting us our additional test.

Before we were let go for the day, Belinda set us an additional (fun) task for us to complete and blog about before next week's class. Considering how busy my weekend will be - GOING TO SYDNEY TO SEE SIR DAVID ATTENBOROUGH :] :] :] - sorry back to the story.. yeah so because i will be away with other things on my mind i decided to go have a crack at completing this task that afternoon, The weather was bitterly cold and windy, but i was determined not to let that put me off.

Our task - to take a photograph that demonstrates a balanced exposure of the setting (sunrise or sunset) and an illuminated subject in the foreground.

So i sent a text to Gus to see if himself, Jess and Subas would like to join me. Subas was at work, but the other two tagged along which was great :]

Anyway, after braving the elements, here are a few shots i managed to capture before we lost all available light - and the feeling in our extremities.