Light in Photography -   LIGHTING -  FLASH LIGHTING -

Fill In Flash

Any form of flash can be used as a fill light to give more illumination to the shadows of a scene. By varying the power of the flash various combinations of daylight (or existing light) and the fill can be achieved. It might be that the flash can be used as the main light source and existing light used to. However it is important to make sure the shutter speed of the camera is synchronized with the camera. For instance with some cameras that have focal plane shutters this might be 1/60 second and while any shutter speed slower than this would be fine, speeds above this would not allow the flash to expose the film evenly.

The original scene shot with natural light, notice how the walls have a blue cast, and there are dark areas at the base of the bed.

Here the fill in flash has been too powerful, the warm light from bed lamps has been burnt out, and the colour of the walls lost.