Monday 24 May 2010

Manual Flash

Using flash for fill or main lighting is one of the main questions that i get asked, Its probably one of the biggest fears for photographers and least understood of all the photography techniques, I find the Nikon flash very accurate and consistent and use the ETTL mode most of the time, However if you are a constant distance from your subject and want consistent exposures its best to set the camera and flash in Manual mode and then all your exposures will be the same saving some considerable time in processing, Here is how i set up to use flash in manual mode as a fill light, Firstly take an test shot without flash and once you have adjusted to get a good histogram turn your flash on, Make a note of your subject distance by looking at the distance guide on the lens barrel, Here i set up and my subject distance was 10m so i turned the flash down to that setting, You can see here on my SB900 it reads 9.8m which is close enough, This will give me full flash which is the equivalent of 0 in compensation, Now if i want to get -1 i turn the distance on the flash down until it reads 5m and if i want -2 i turn it down to 2.5m, As i say its best used for a subject at a constant distance, If your subject is moving then i prefer my flash set at ETTL and compensated as needed

Hope it helps

Dave

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