# Outdoor Portraits with Flash - Help! :)



## dreaming13 (Sep 14, 2013)

I've been shooting outdoor portraits without a flash and am ready to incorporate a flash. I'm thinking it will make a huge difference.... even the simple idea of controling/having more light in shade during a sunny day is exciting to me. 

Does anyone have any beginners tips? I'm going to shoot tomorrow morning and wont have time to  take a class for a while. I've been looking online, but all I find is "use a flash" not much on "how"... tnx!

Liz


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## Designer (Sep 14, 2013)

I'm sure no expert, so take this for what it's worth.  If you have the sun, use that for your key light, and use flash for fill.  You can even use a reflector for additional fill if the geometry makes it work well.  

If you are in open shade, then you don't need much flash.  Watch the background however, because if it is a very bright background it could overpower your subject and become distracting.


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## bryan_h (Sep 14, 2013)

Meter for the ambient light to determine shutter speed. Your background will be exposed, but your subject will probably be under-exposed. Add your flash and use your aperture to control how much light the flash needs to output to get the correct exposure on your subject.

Basically - Shutter speed controls ambient, aperture controls flash.

Have a look here -


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## Karburn (Sep 30, 2013)

Great video. Explains it very well.  THANKS!!


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## hirejn (Oct 2, 2013)

You're right in that it can make a big difference. It can fill shadows, balance bright backgrounds, create direction and create the effect of overpowering the sun. Lighting is not a simple topic, however. Good lighting makes probably the biggest difference between amateurs and pros at least in terms of how their images look. How you use flash depends on whether it's the main light, fill or accent. It's also important to understand how to blend ambient and flash exposures and how they work together. If you want to tackle this, find some good professional resources -- KelbyTraining, CreativeLive, books by noted pros. You can't learn it all by yourself, or here.


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## Braineack (Oct 2, 2013)

Designer said:


> If you have the sun, use that for your key light, and use flash for fill.





bryan_h said:


> Have a look here -



Notice in this video he shot INTO the sun...


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## Designer (Oct 2, 2013)

Braineack said:


> Designer said:
> 
> 
> > If you have the sun, use that for your key light, and use flash for fill.
> ...



I think in most cases of informal portraits, I would still try to use the sun as key.  My personal preference.


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## Braineack (Oct 2, 2013)

I prefer putting subject between me and sun and using flash as key, again, personal preference.


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## curtyoungblood (Oct 2, 2013)

While the concept that the shutter speed controls the ambient and the aperture controls the flash exposure, I think that this video is a REALLY bad/misleading explanation of that. First of all, the flash is set to an automatic mode, so changing the aperture isn't going to have an effect on the exposure at all. The flash will recognize the exposure change and change its output accordingly. You need to set the flash to a manual mode to really understand the way this works. 

Also, I always feel like this simple phrase is a little misleading. The aperture setting still has an effect on the ambient light. You can't just dial down like 5 stops and expect the background to look right because you set the shutter speed to the right spot.


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## Braineack (Oct 2, 2013)

I'm also trying to figure out the 1/1000 speed using a flash.  can I even do that?


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## clarnibass (Oct 2, 2013)

curtyoungblood said:


> Also, I always feel like this simple phrase is a little misleading.


Yes, I never understand where it came from. Aperture and ISO _always_ affect both flash and ambient. Also, like you said, with the flash on an automatic mode it can compensate for any ISO or aperture change anyway.

However, in the video it seems that he is using Auto FP mode. In that mode, not only the flash will be at most far weaker than 1/1, it can also be affected by shutter speed, at some point. So when he changed shutter speed the flash probably compensated for it. At some point it would get to the maximum and shutter speed would start affecting the flash too.


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## cynicaster (Oct 3, 2013)

clarnibass said:


> curtyoungblood said:
> 
> 
> > Also, I always feel like this simple phrase is a little misleading.
> ...



Just a theory, but this questionable tenet probably came from a very specific situation where it kinda-sorta applies, and then propagated (incorrectly) into more general use on the internet.  

An example of a "specific situation where it kinda-sorta applies" would be a situation where you're using max sync speed (or perhaps even high speed sync) to suck the ambient light out of the shot completely.  For example, if you're setting up an indoor portrait that will get all of its light from strobes, setting the shutter at max sync will likely result in a pitch black exposure if the flashes don't fire.  In that sense, the shutter has "controlled" the ambient (by eliminating it entirely) and then the photographer is free to adjust the flash exposure with the aperture without changing the (non-existent) ambient exposure.  

But yeah, I agree the "shutter for ambient, aperture for flash" guideline is a tad reductive.


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## table1349 (Oct 3, 2013)

You might want to keep in mind that adding light to outdoor portraits doesn't necessarily mean using a flash.  The use of reflectors can often add the necessary light outdoors or be used to diffuse or dampen light.  
This is a good site to learn about using flash in many different situation and in many different ways.  Strobist


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