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Balance flash and daylight

There is no denying the versatility of daylight, but it cannot always deliver the perfect light when and where you need it. You should never be afraid to improve the lighting by using flash along with daylight, to take complete control of the lighting quality and direction. By working to balance the amount of flash output so that it matches that of the daylight, it is possible to take pictures where the use of flash is undetectable to all but the most trained eye. This is simply a case of metering the flash and ambient readings from the subject and ensuring they match, and ensuring that the quality of light from the flash is similar to that from daylight. The control flash gives you also means you can utilize low and atmospheric lighting conditions.

A TOUCH OF FLASH

The arrival of dusk meant additional lighting in the form of a fill-in flash was required to illuminate the subject for this casual portrait. The ambient light level was very low, so the flash would provide the main source of illumination. An exposure was taken for the correct amount of flash to light the subject and the aperture was set accordingly. Normally, this would result in an underexposed background, but using a longer shutter speed ensures background detail is recorded.

Canon EOS-1DS, 28–70mm f/2.8 lens at 50mm, 1/30 sec at f/8, ISO 400.