Artificial Light Part One
- Timothy Basham
- Sep 26, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 15
On Camera Flash Photography
On the face of it, mastering flash photography and artificial light is a bit tricky. Achieving anything other than harsh shadows and burnt out faces makes shooting in natural light so much more straightforward and appealing. And that’s even before taking into account the inverse square law or hard, soft, diffused or specular light.
But not learning how to control artificial light closes the door on some interesting genres of photography such as studio portraiture; creative still life or even low light outdoor photography. So, it is probably about time I bit this particular bullet by, at the very least, gaining an understanding of how my existing equipment, specifically a Nikon D610 and SB-600 Speedlight, can produce flash images that go beyond the convicted criminal aesthetic.
Setting Up
To ensure no ambient light interferes with the test images, the camera’s exposure was set so a completely black image would be produced without the flash firing. Any light introduced in subsequent shots would therefore be a direct result of the flash output. In the following shots this was achieved with the Nikon D610’s shutter sync speed of 1/200th second, ISO 100 and an aperture of f8.
On Camera Flash
Straight out the box, the Nikon D610 has a built in, pop up flash. It isn’t particularly powerful with a guide number (effectively a measure of how far the light can reach) of 12m at ISO 100 compared to SB-600’s 30m). It is a TTL flash (or i-TTL in Nikon’s world) which means the camera, according to the manual, can automatically monitor and control the output for a correct exposure.
Black Exposure
Nikon D610 Built-in-flash
SB-600 Fire (Head On)
Pop-up flashes are criticised for producing images with a certain ‘look’1 and, being fixed, have the potential to cast shadows when using long lenses (ibid.). The hate doesn’t stop there. Duckworth2 bemoans the fact that they are underpowered and whilst he supports the use of the an infinitely more adjustable Speedlight, empirically, using the TTL function still results in an image of quite harsh shadows.
However, it is literally the flexibility of a Speedlight that is key to producing a better on camera flash image. Using the SB-600’s swivel and bounce functions allows for more creativity by directing light on to the subject from the side, or from above, by bouncing the light off a wall or ceiling respectively. With the higher guide number of the Speedlight, light is able to travel the longer distances required to achieve a well exposed image when using this technique.
SB-600 Swivel (Wall)
SB-600 Bounce (Ceiling)
Depending on a myriad of factors, this light will likely be softer than that hitting the subject directly, helping to produce a more flattering or atmospheric image.
Red Eye
In portrait photography, the dreaded red-eye, or green eye for animals, is common with shots taken with flash and is a result of light reflecting back towards the camera from the eye’s retina. It is more noticeable in low light conditions when pupils are already naturally dilated to increase the amount of light entering the eye. Unfortunately the larger pupil allows for more light to escape and the sudden flash is not sufficient to allow the iris to constrict before the rendering image. It can be countered with a camera’s red-eye reduction feature which fires the flash additionally ahead of the exposure giving the eye time to react to that first burst of light.
Final Thoughts
None of the photos here are going to win prizes and only baby steps have been taken in mastering flash and artificial light. Indeed, there much more to think about when using on camera flash but these will be discussed in greater detail as this series develops. Sticking with Speedlights, the next in this series will look at the options available for controlling off camera flash.
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