Fill Flash in daytime

I use Nikon D700.

I was photographing my family under the shade of a tree in a park
The background was a waterfall in very bright sunlight.

So, Flash seems a good idea.
I think I set fasting shutter speed to be 1/320 FP.

The background was too bright, and overexposed.
I think the reason is that the shutter speed was too slow for the background.

How to set the FP to be higher than 1/320?

I don't think I understand well about flash photography. In particular fill-flash.
Are there any good links on internet that teach this?

I read a thread by an respected photographer that the thing about flash is
ALWAYS "aperture" control. It's "foolish" to try to control things with shutter
speed.
I don't understand this, and wish to hear from those who do understand.
Thanks.

Could be he is trumpeting aperture control because he is using a system that allows flash sync to super high shutter speeds... in which case you don’t need to care about shutter speed. However if your system has limited shutter speed sync then shutter speed is mission critical because you have to take what you can get. If thats the case then in certain situations there will simply be just too much light to properly expose + fill flash. Could use a neutral density filter... could set the ISO as low as possible.... even wait for a change in the light.... all poor solutions though.

In your case, aperture would have been the control to use. Shutter speed is limited by the maximum flash sync of the camera. So, pick the flash sync speed and find the right aperture to expose the background and let the flash light fill the people. Your CLS will do most of the work for you.

If you're using flash to light the subject and not just fill flash, shutter speed is not important. The speed of the flash takes the image, not the shutter. Aperture is your only changeable control, well ISO too. Flash speed is your shutter speed, so to speak. The shutter just needs to stay wide open while the flash takes the shot.

The above is rather simplistic, but the best way I know how to say it. Hope that helps.
--
Cheers, Craig

My limited knowledge about this matter:

You can not change exposure with shutter speed changes when using flash, because the light pulse duration is too short (maybe thousandths of a second). What you need is to make sure that the shutter is open when you get that light pulse, so cameras have a given speed when the flash is "in sync".
So, the exposure is controlled by the aperture.

But, in mixed-light environments, like using fill-flash in daylight, you have to set the shutter speed to achieve the desired effect with the existing light. It´s easy to overexpose the background in broad daylight, because the sync speed of flash is usually low.

If you use a shutter speed faster than the sync speed, you get parts of the picture with wrong exposure. I sometimes forgot to set the right speed on my old film SLR (all manual), and what i got is a frame partly-exposed, partly-black.

Hope this make sense.

--
Fabio Leoni, from Brazil
My galleries:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Fabio.jose.leoni
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9741796@N05/

Thanks for all the nice replies.

In this case, your flash is NOT providing all of the exposure, just helping to light the people in the shade.

So my starting point would be to measure the light for the water fall. Set a smallish Ap (F11+) and SS combo for correct exposure - ensuring that the SS is at or below flash sync speed for your camera.

Then turn the flash on, compose with your shot and hopefully the flash was powerful enough to expose the people as well as the water fall.

Hope that helps
--
Cheers, Rob.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/robsouthoz/

I don't have experience with fill-in flash on digital cameras; I have used it at occasion with my old SLR.

I would also take your starting point making sure that the selected shutterspeed is longer than the sync speed.

One however doesn't have to hope that the flash reaches the waterfall, it only has to reach the main subject. The waterfall will be correctly exposed with the available natural light
--
WimS

Do a search with Google and look for "syncro sunlight" and download the pdf file from
http://www.webster.edu/acadaffairs/asp/mediacenter/.../Syncro_Sunlight.pdf

1.) Set shutter speed to highest sync speed available. (very important)

2.) With that shutter-speed "locked": Set calculated/metered aperture for correct exposure for the ambient (existing) light for the BACKGROUND.

Note: This has now set the shutter-speed/aperture combination for correct "background" exposure. (note what the "aperture" is)

3.) Mount flash and set control on flash to the same "aperture" setting that was previously set on camera.

Note: This will now provide "equal" exposure on both background and nearby subject in foreground --- PROVIDED IT IS IN "RANGE" OF THE POWER OF THE FLASH.

In other words, depending on the power of your flash, this MAY or MAY NOT provide sufficient light for your situation. If it does not your only option is to get a more powerful flash.

DISCUSSION OF SHUTTER SPEEDS.

The Sync speeds on cameras vary a great deal. SLR's used to sync at only 1/30 or 1/60 sec .... new ones sync at 1/125 or 1/250 or even 1/320. (check manual)

HOWEVER .... some new "electronic" shutter cameras, (like Nikon D70), can sync at up to 1/1000 or even 1/2000. (but: it is counter productive to shoot full-power flash higher than 1/1000)

CONFUSION ... do NOT be confused with the so-called FP (or hi-speed-sync) mode .... THEY DO NOT ALLOW LONGER FLASH DISTANCE. They do allow very high shutter speeds for very unique and specific applications ... but it is important to realize they SHORTEN the usable flash distance available.

This is one of the most confusing aspects of photography, and most photographers do think the FP (hi-speed-sync) provides longer flash distance. But for "technical" reasons, the former guide number of (maybe) 80 drops to about "10" when in FP/hi-speed-sync mode because the flash is converted from one-single POWERFUL burst of light .... to a long-long-long-long-long (pulsing) light that actually lasts about 1/125 sec --- that reduces its useful power.

OK ... I realize I will get some "attacks" now .... I always do when I try to explain that FP/hi-speed-sync provides less useful range. But it will only mean you do not truly understand what-all is happening.

I hope I have helped (someone).

-- Thanks for reading .... JoePhoto

( Do You Ever STOP to THINK --- and FORGET to START Again ??? )

All resonses are right.

you can play with Aperture and Shutterime, yes. Manual exposure is often reccomended, but I won't advice that (yet).

While flash photography may be more complicated than non-flash, modern cameras are quite capable to make good decisions in general.

So instead of switching to M for the fill-in flash, try the P (Program) mode first, you'll see that it will do good for both the foreground (flash-lit) as the background.
--
All in my humble opionion of course!

If I seem to talk nonsense or you can't understand me, it's probably my English

High Speed Sync mode can help, but only if the flash relatively close to your subject. If you're far away, forget it.

If you are too far, you can only shoot to your max sync speed, in this case seems to be 1/320 (i don't know Nikons very well), so your only choice for exposure control is your aperture, which will of course, affect your DOF.

If you can, get that flash off the camera, get it close to your subjects, and shoot in High Speed Sync....that way you can choose whatever Aperture/Shutter combo you want for the desired effect.

--
My Flickr - Still lots to learn....
http://www.flickr.com/photos/simon_j/

You qualified the camera as Nikon D700.

You specified shutter-speed as 1/320.

WHAT FLASH are you using ??? ( SB-800 / SB-900 ??? )

And (exactly) what DISTANCE were your "flashed" subjects ??? (very important)

And do you remember what ISO and aperture you used when the background overexposed ???

--
Thanks for reading .... JoePhoto

( Do You Ever STOP to THINK --- and FORGET to START Again ??? )

Great questions.

Sorry.

Next time, I should try to note all those.

Thanks.

JoePhoto said:

You qualified the camera as Nikon D700.

You specified shutter-speed as 1/320.

WHAT FLASH are you using ??? ( SB-800 / SB-900 ??? )

And (exactly) what DISTANCE were your "flashed" subjects ??? (very important)

And do you remember what ISO and aperture you used when the background overexposed ???

--
Thanks for reading .... JoePhoto

( Do You Ever STOP to THINK --- and FORGET to START Again ??? )

Click to expand...

so far so good infos fro you.

If you want to learn more about flash (with Nikons) one of the best infos you can find here:

http://nikonclspracticalguide.blogspot.com/2008/01/nikon-flash-two-separate-metering.html

several chapeters of really good infos that might be readed twice or more ;o)

Chris