Flash Fall-Off

Photo Journalism 4(1+3)
Lesson 10 : Photographic Lighting and Flash

Flash Fall-Off

The reason the shadows are reduced in the previous example is that your flash produces a perfect exposure on a flat plane that is similar to a lens's shallow depth of field. Flash exposure is completely based on distance. Objects closer than the flash's sweet spot will be overexposed and objects beyond the sweet spot will be underexposed. So as we move the wall further into the background in the previous example, it fades toward black. The distance of your subject is important to consider as it takes more power to illuminate subjects that are further away. And a cluttered foreground can throw off even the most sophisticated flash system. Most flash systems read the light reflecting back from the scene, and close objects will reflect light back first. In such cases, the camera will end the flash cycle before the light reaches your subject. For even exposure with flash, keep your subjects on a flat plane (that is, the same distance from the camera). The best direct flash photographs use this principle to great effect.

Index
Previous
Home
Last modified: Friday, 17 February 2012, 6:09 AM