Mi xing flash and natural light
QI used my flashgun at a street parade. The flashlight has killed a lot of the mood. Should I have switched off the flash and shot at a higher ISO? Helen Dunne
Andrew says Although I always start by seeing whether I can use a high ISO instead of a flashgun when there’s low light, it’s not always possible – so the flashgun has to come out. If your flashgun is pumping out the maximum power, then while it may be illuminating your subject as you want, the downside is that the clean light can kill the scene from an artistic point of view.
One trick that I regularly try in these situations is to use the flashgun with a slower shutter speed, so that some of the ambient light is also picked up by the exposure. If you are shooting a street parade, then that ambient light is likely to be street lights or shop windows.
I also like to take it a step further and move the camera during the exposure, so that the ambient light streaks. This isn’t something you’d always want to do, but in the right setting and with the right subject, it makes the photo more fun.
If you look at my shot above, taken at a street parade in France, you can see this light streaking. With an exposure of 1/6 sec at f/5.6, I’ve focused on the lad sitting in the shopping trolley, and taken the shot with the flash on half-power. The flash has frozen him and the other people – but because I then continued to move the camera during the slow exposure, the ambient street lights have also been recorded. Doing this does mess with your white balance, so I’d suggest that you shoot in raw, then tweak this later.
By the way, look at the lad who is checking his water pistol. Five seconds later, he soaked me with it – so if you do intend to get in close for this kind of action, be prepared to get caught in the crossfire!