Mixing flash and available light

In the last two posts I’ve talked about shooting is only available light, and shooting with total control of all the lighting (i.e. in studio).  In this post I’ll talk a little about mixing flash and available light.  When working on location, as I do 90% of the time, there’s a good chance that you’ll have to mix some flash with available light to create the right feel and make your photo pop.  This can be done with small flashes, they’re even easier now that wireless TTL works so well.  They can also be done with big studio lights, assuming you either have power or a battery pack.

Let’s look at some examples.

Nikon D2x, 50mm, f1.8, Nikon SB-800

This portrait was made with the sun streaming in through the golden fall leaves.  Instead of doing this in the full sun, or the full shade, I found a little spot where a bit of the sun was sneaking through while lighting up the leaves.  I placed the subject so her head would be highlighted by the sun, then held an SB-800 at arms length to camera left.  The flash was zoomed in to it’s max, 105mm, to keep the flash tight and only on her face.  I was shooting wide open at f1.8 to get that great short depth of field of prime lenses.  While you can still tell there’s a flash being used, I tried to keep it subtle so it would blend well with the available light.

Nikon D2x, 50mm, f5.6, Excalibur Flash, reflector

Here were were during an all day photo shoot out in the sun around midday, trying for things not to look to blown out.  Without any additional light, her hat was creating a huge shadow that engulfed her head.  I added in a flash, camera left with an umbrella to soften the shadows and give a little pop.  I was mixing that with a gold reflector that was lower down on the ground angled back towards her face and chest.  Without the flash, the gold reflector was a little too gold.  In bright sun they are incredibly reflective, be careful not to blind your subject.  By keeping both the flash and reflector of center it added a little depth and definition to her face and gave a little twinkle to her eyes.

Nikon D2x, 70-200mm, f5, Excalibur Flash

Another shoot for Vermont Vows, we were set up in a dark river with trees all around.  The sky was a bright but cloudy day.  I added a light, a battery powered flash off to camera left with an umbrella.  It succeeded in bringing some pop to the photo and giving a little more contrast to their faces, which were fairly flat otherwise.  The problem with using umbrellas outside however is that they are prone to catching wind and the slightest breeze caught mine and sent it tumbling into the river a few frames later.  After a thorough drying, the flash showed no signs of problems and I’m still using it 4 years later!

The trick with mixing flash and available light is to not let one overpower the other.  If I had sped up the shutter a little more the background would have become a black hole.  The idea is use flash, but to basically hide it from the viewer.

Nikon D2x, 17-35mm, f3.2, 2 SB-800’s

As the sun set quickly there was no way to hide using the flash, but with a sky like that, I think it’s ok.  I had two SB-800’s, one on camera and one camera left with an umbrella (this time with someone holding it).  The main flash was powered down somewhat so that it’s wireless TTL triggered the off camera flash, but didn’t add too much light to the photo.  With the fading ambient light, it was a constant balancing act to keep the flash just a tad over the background, ensuring a little pop, and to deepen the sky just a bit.  With animals, there’s always a need to keep the shutter speed pretty high to freeze them, and this little guy was no different.

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