Page 139 - (DK) Advanced Photography Guide

FL A SH 137

FRONTAL LIGHTING

The direction of light in relation to the camera is
important. Frontal lighting comes from behind the
camera—or from the camera itself if you are using a
built-in flash. Frontal lighting has the advantage
of lighting a scene evenly so that contrast is low,
making exposure metering more reliable, but it
is not always aesthetically pleasing. Shadows are
cast behind objects in the scene, and this tends
to flatten any texture, making your photo look
two-dimensional. Side-lighting, when the source
of light is set at 90 degrees to the camera,
or backlighting, when the light source points
toward the camera, are both better. Neither
of these are possible with a built-in flash.

SLOW SYNC FLASH OFF-CAMERA TRIGGER

The shutter speed you select controls the exposure for the areas The built-in flash in some camera models can be set to trigger
of a scene that are not lit by flash. Setting the correct shutter a compatible external (slave) flash—the light from the built-in
speed for the ambient exposure, so that the areas of the scene (master) flash is detected by a sensor on the external flash. This
not lit by flash are correctly exposed, is known as slow sync technique is known as optically triggered wireless flash. As the
flash. If, on the other hand, you want to keep these areas as dark system is light-based, the external flash has to be able to “see”
as possible, so that your flash-lit subject is brighter, set the the light from the built-in flash and maintain a “line-of-sight.”
shutter speed as fast as possible (without exceeding the sync Both TTL and Manual flash exposure are usually possible with
speed). Use a tripod in low light to avoid camera shake. optically triggered wireless flash.

BEST FOR BEST FOR
◾ ◾ Creating a pleasing exposure across the entire scene ◾ ◾ Using an external flash for advanced lighting schemes
◾ ◾ Shooting at dusk when ambient light is low ◾ ◾ Backlighting with an external flash behind the subject
◾ ◾ Adding blur to flash-lit moving subjects (see above) ◾ ◾ Adding multiple external flashes

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