Simple fill-in flash techniques

Flash. You either hate it or love it. Some people steadfastly refuse to use it, thinking that it will bleach everything in the picture out. Today's modern cameras can be set to record an images in seemingly very dark situations and still give good quality that would have been unthinkable a few years back. 

However, used correctly, fill in flash can greatly enhance a photo. I have prepared some notes on how to use fill in flash correctly using a wide variety of camera and flash types.

Image A                                             Image B

The two pictures above show how I used fill in flash on a Vivitar 283 flash to lighten the shadows whilst photographing Marianne. The 283 is a semi automatic flash meaning that the user has to first set the correct aperture on the camera and the flash manually. I knew that the correct exposure for the overall outdoor scene was 1/200 sec at f11. I simply set these manually on the camera and used the 283 flash at f8. This meant that the flash gave out light which was one f-stop less than the ambient light. I did it this way because I didn't want the subject to be over lit. In the second example, Marianne's face is well exposed and not too bright. The flash has also added a pleasing catch-light to her eyes.

Fill in flash with a dedicated unit.

Image 1

  Image 2

Image 3

Image 1

Take a look at these three examples. In the first one, I exposed for my wife Oksana's face. This was taken at 1/125 sec @ f8. The background (gardens at Gruyère castle) is horribly overexposed. This is an occasion when I wanted the background to be illuminated to the same amount as the foreground.


Image 2
I took another image with the camera set to 1/200sec @ f18. This corresponded to the outside conditions. However, this time we have the opposite effect with Oksana's face nearly hidden.


Image 3
The solution, using a Canon 420 EZII Speedlite is wonderfully simple. Keeping the camera set for the last image i.e. 1/200sec @ f18 (for the outside ambient light), switch the flash on and fire away.

Feel free to leave some comments and thanks for reading. 

Workhorse. The Vivitar 283

A couple of weeks ago I needed to take some pictures in a hurry and what's more, they had to be illuminated by flash.

No problem. I have two Speedlite 430 EX II's at my disposal. Except I didn't! I had got in late the night before and left my camera case in my car. My camera case is full of the extras that I don't need to carry around all the time in my rucksack. To compound matters, my car was being serviced.

Oh well. There are always solutions that can be found if you think hard enough.

I remembered that I had a Vivitar 283 in my loft. The 283 has been in my possession for over twenty years now. I used it when freelancing back in the UK in the nineties.

A quick trip up a ladder to retrieve the flash and I was soon installing four penlight batteries into it.

I switched it on and was pleased to hear the high pitched whistling noise that denoted the capacitor was filling up. After ten seconds I was rewarded with an orange light which meant that the flash was ready for action.

I set the flash to manual and activated it four or five times to let the flash "*get used to" being on active service again.

Next I had to test it with my EOS 5DII. A quick search on the 'net informed me that the shortest flash synch speed was 1/200sec for shoe mounted flashes. Studio strobes apparently need a slower speed.

I mounted the gun on my camera and took a series of test pictures of Viktoria and Nikita who were on the couch next to me. I began at 1/60 sec which was fine. The flash covered the whole of the sensor without any curtain cut off. 1/125 sec was the same, as was 1/250 sec. The curtain only showed itself when I shot the two children at 1/320sec as you can see from the illustration.

1/125 sec @f5.6

1/250 sec @ f5.6

1/320 sec @f5.6

So anyway. I could use the flash on camera outside at a speed of 1/250 sec without any fear of curtain cut off.

I shot all the test images with the camera set at ISO 400 and an aperture of f5.6. The Vivitar is simplicity itself to use. First you "tell" the unit what film speed you are going to be using. The ISO speed ranges from 25 to 400. Then choose which of four apertures best suits what you're going to be photographing.

Apertures with ISO 400 are 5.6, 8, 16 or 22

 With yellow selected, the aperture to use is 5.6

As you can see, the apertures to use are coloured either yellow, orange, blue or purple.  After choosing a suitable aperture, you select it on the sensor ring which is on the front of the body under the flash head, and take the picture.

The unit can also be used off camera when coupled with the off camera cable.

As I mentioned earlier, I've had my 283 for many years. I'm sure that it's stuill be going strong ten years from now

A quote from Wikipedia which mentions the 283: " The Vivitar 283 quickly became the number one professional and enthusiast flash unit, outselling all its competitors combined and selling 3,000,000 by 1973. In production for over 30 years, it was twice returned to production after being discontinued in response to customer demand."
 


There's a very nice review of the 283 to be found here and here

* I know that flashes don't really need to "get used" to anything but I was always told in my younger days to fire the flash a few times if it had been stored for any length of time. Old habits die hard.

Thanks for reading

Always check and double check...

T'was way back in the eighties. I was stringing in London and providing images for some twelve different newspapers and magazines.

One particular day found me at a function for the Restricted Growth Asociation (RGA) . It was a standard job. Just get some pics of The Duchess of Gloucester with the children. I was also told that the children were not to be identified.

Bang on time, the Duchess arrived with the normal entourage including the Mayor of London and associated members of the RGA board.

I shot away with my Canon A1 and a Vivitar 283 flash (which incidentally I still have).

The duchess was being shown around by a gentleman who was also affected with restricted growth.

I took my pictures and made sure the include the aforementioned gentleman.

Afterwards, I went to take my notebook out of my bag but discovered that I had left it in my motorbike locker. Still. I knew the Lord mayor's details as I'd photographed him several times previously. Same for the Duchess of Gloucester. All I had to do was memorise the short gentleman's name and I could leave.

I approached one of the Duchess' ladies in waiting and enquired as to the name of the gentleman. She told me.

"Really?" I asked.
"Yes" she replied. "Easy to remember eh?"
"Yes" I answered and left to do another couple of jobs.

I finally got around to developing the film later that night but blame it on the fumes of the D76 developing fluid because I had a mental blank as to the correct name of the man in the photos when suddenly it came back! It certainly was an easy enough to remember name.

I left the pictures on the desk of my picture editor with the names and captioning details of everyone involved and went home to bed. right and early the next morning, I went into the newspaper offices and got talking to
the picture editor.

"Tom. Are you sure about the names on this picture?"
"Yes. Why do you ask? Is there a problem?"
"Well I think that you may have made a mistake on this gentleman's name"
"Which one?" I asked
"The chap standing by the Duchess. The short gentleman"
"Oh." I replied. "I asked his name and of of the entourage told me he is called "Winston
Churchill" that's easy enough to remember"
"You absolutely sure?" he again asked
"Like I said, it's easy enough to remember. Check it out if you want"

 Not Winston Churchill

It's a good thing that he did because when it finally appeared in print, he was given the correct name of " William Shakespeare! "