Fill it Up|How to create stunning images using OCF

Shoot at the Golden hour and you can be sure that you get the most awesome natural light around. True! But why limit yourself when you can shoot anytime of the day and get dope photos using fill lights with your speedlites and strobes. The results look awesome and give a high-end feel to any outdoor portrait, and the best thing is that it’s really not too difficult. You just need to understand how to use a fill flash.

Check the image below and why we use fill flash in photography and how we think about it.

The Basics of Using a Fill Flash

1. Set your camera up to expose the background perfectly. Ignore the subject and don’t use a flash at this point.

2. Take a photo with the subject and you should see that the background looks great but the subject is in silhouette.

3. Add a flash on the subject ‘filling’ them with light. You may need to play around with the flash power a little to get it correct. There is no rule to this as it depends on how bright the ambient light is, what you ISO and Stop is and how close the flash is. But it’s pretty easy to figure out. Just leave the settings exactly as they were for the background and increase or decrease the flash.

Fill Flash Tips

1. Remember what your flash sync speed is. Most studio mono flashed sun at either 200th or 250th of a sec. Speed flashed sun a lot faster. Just make sure you have the correct shutter speed for your flash when exposing for the background.

2. If your flash isn’t powerful enough just move it closer to the subject

3. Play around and have fun. It sometimes takes a while to get the hang of this technique, but the results are awesome.