Assignment 3: External

DUE: Thursday, November 10 Turn in: 6 printed images, one for each part below. Post to blog as directed below..

Flash allows photographers the power to add artificial light to any situation- inside or outside of the studio. This assignment focuses on using external flash outside of the studio, allowing more creative locations and concepts. Flash can be used on or off . Getting a handle on how you can use external flashes will give you creative control over the look and feel of your images.

Part A: FILL FLASH Use flash to “fill-in” shadow areas on your subject. Remember, this should be an outdoor situation where your subject is either 1) backlit or 2) partially in the shade with contrasting light. The fill light should not overpower the main light.

Turn in: 1) one image using on-camera fill flash, 2) one image using off-camera fill flash. **Post the before fill and after fill versions for each to the blog (4 images), noting the exposures.

Part B: BALANCING FLASH For this part, you will create images in which the flash is balanced to the ambient light, making it appear like no flash has been used. Balancing flash requires

Turn in: 1) one image balanced to one light source 2) one image balanced with more than one light source. **Post both to blog.

Part C: OPEN FLASH Open flash allows for a lot of creativity in making . You can use flash to paint in areas of the photographs, make multiple exposures, or paint with light. Experiment.

Turn in: 1) one image using multiple flashes within the photo. 2) one image combining flash exposure with light painting. ** Post both to the blog. FILL FLASH:

Fill flash is a secondary light source. In most cases- the sun is the KEY LIGHT. In Flash Photography, you need to think about exposure differently than you normally would. Fill flash is used to lighten up deep shadow areas (fill in dark areas)— most often outdoors on sunny days, but it can be useful anytime the background is significantly brighter than the subject of the .

When should you use fill flash? Three things to consider: 1. Is the subject in the shadow? 2. Is there more light behind the subject than in front of it? 3. Are you close enough to use flash?

If your subject (or part of your subject) is in shadow, fill flash can help you even out the exposure across your subject. For example, if someone is wearing a hat that is shading their eyes, you can use flash to fill in that area without overexposing the rest of the image.

If your subject is backlight, the camera will almost always underexpose— even if you meter off the subject itself. You can use fill flash to fix this. Meter for the background exposure, then add light to your subject. But keep the “fill” less powerful than the “main” light- the sun- for natural looks.

Distance is also important. The built-in flash on your camera is really only powerful enough to light a subject between 5 and 10 feet away. Off-camera flash units are more powerful, but still only work at a certain distance.

• Tips: Flash is an intense white light- you don’t want to use it in images where your subject might be a weaker light source, such as a fire. You will lose detail and flash can alter light tone in an image. It can change the or wash out subjects. • Fill flash is NOT the main light source. The goal of fill flash is to help you illuminate the scene, not overpower the subject or other light sources. • Have an idea of what you want the image to look like. Do you want shadows, and where do you want them? Do you want shadows behind the subject, adding dimension to the face, or creating an even light across the image? This will help you decide whether you will use on- camera flash, off-camera flash, the angle of the flash, and how close the flash is to your subject. • The idea is to maintain the balance between shadow and light in high contrast scenes. IF the flash is too bright, you’ll get a flat photo. If it’s not bright enough, you won’t see detail in the deep shadow areas. Think of flash as a ratio to the ambient light (with fill flash, ambient light will be your main light source). • To use fill flash, the and speed are adjusted to correctly expose the background, and the flash is fired to lighten the foreground. • Fill flash shouldn’t change the camera’s exposure. If the flash is too bright, don’t adjust your camera exposure, adjust your flash exposure. Balancing Flash:

Flash is two exposures in one. When flash is used there are two factors contributing to the exposure which can be controlled independently. Because the duration of a flash is so short the of the camera has no effect on the flash lit foreground of a photo taken outdoors with flash. Changes in shutter speed will however affect the ambient exposure of the background. That fact allows the background to be made lighter or darker with shutter speed while the foreground is keep the same. The slower the shutter speed— the brighter the background. Important things to remember: • Light from flash is controlled by 1) your f/stop and 2) the power mode on the unit (1/2, 1/8 etc.) • Ambient Light is controlled by your shutter speed • You can control the amount of light in your image and the “mood” of your background through different combinations of camera/flash settings. KEEP NOTES! • Light placed closer = more powerful and more control of the depth of correct exposure • Light placed further = less powerful and a broader zone of even lighting exposure. • The difference between light position and camera position reveal the three-dimensional shape of the subject. • Light-to-subject distance vs. light-to-background distance can be used as a lighting control. Varying these ratios can alter a light’s depth of field. • Depth of field with light can allow a photographer complete control over a background’s relative brightness. This is especially important when you are trying to light on two separate planes. • With enough light, you can turn a white wall black. • Remember the inverse square law: The closer you are to the light source- the more powerful the light.