This video shows a quite stunning demonstration of available light vs. soft flash. In this demonstration, I set the lens to f1.8. By shooting with an aperture wide open like this, I’m able to achieve a look that is identical to shooting in low lighting with the lens wide open.
Not a lot of people venture this wide open in flash photography, and that’s a huge missed opportunity for creativity. Watch this video, and you’ll see a comparison between available light and a very soft flash puff.
One thing great about using flash for your indoor images is that the main color temperature never changes. this dramatically increases your workflow in post.
At about 2’11″ you show both images next to each other. I couldn’t help noticing that the “available light”, although with all the eye socket shadows etc, had a better white balance. The fill-flash image seemed to make the background (and to some extent the flesh tones) go very yellow. Does this have something to do with the fluorescent light, tungsten light and flash light interacting (in auto WB)? How does one correct for this (preferably up front)?
I’m not sure what photographic community you come from, but I’m used to other photographers not being such condescending, arrogant pricks, such as you are “Not Guilty”. How about getting off your magnanimous “professor” high chair and sharing photo 101 then…
Gary, what settings were you using for this shot? Also, I second Alistair’s observation about the yellow tint of the w/b. What manual w/b setting might be best to correct this on camera?
Hi there Mike and Alistair. I posted the answer a while ago, and it didn’t show up. If you look at the model’s chest in the available light folder, you can see a green cast on her skin. Also, if you look at her hair, it has a green cast also. The one with flash is color temperature balanced much more accurately. The fluorescent light is never and ideal light for auto white balance as even fluorescent fixtures vary wildly from one to the other. Here, the camera did the best it could in canceling the green (by flooding it with magenta). To reduce any cast at all, setting your camera to a neutral (not standard, which is default) will reduce any cast
I’m stoked people have a heart to teach! but unfortunately neither images looked very good since one had bad lighting and so did the other. Sorry bro! That thing simply cannot produce good lighting. It should not be tought that it can. It’s great helping photogs, but it’s pretty rare that direct flash straight from the camera ever looks good. Since that modifier increases the flash surface area by next to nothing, it doesn’t soften the light at all since quality of light is determined by size and how even the light source is. That is photography 101 and people have been using that thing way too long. I bought 2 of em when I first started, then later learned lighting and never used them again since that are the opposite of how to do great lighting.
-Zach
That is the opposite.