Location Lighting
Key Concepts
Using ambient and flash lighting
 Using slow shutter & rear curtain sync flash
 Using fill flash - manually metering a scene for effective use.
 Vibration reduction/image stabilization lenses and bodies
achieve even slower shutter speeds, with and with out flash.
Use fast 50/f1.8 lens as alternative.
 White Balance – digital cameras allowing easy on the fly
changes to flash usage.

by Drew Loker (http://www.drewloker.com/about.htm)
Objective
Use
available light to your best advantage.
Learn how to use low light and flash
together with slow curtain sync and how to
make correct exposures for effective fill
flash.
Shooting with out flash is ideal
• Turn subjects toward the light. Open the blinds and
move the subject closer to the window.
• Try adding light before using a flash. Turn on house
lights, flood lamps, etc.
• Use reflectors to bounce light back into a scene with
a white poster board or car window shade reflector.
• New cameras with ultra High ISO. Nikon
D40…shoots great pictures at 1600 ISO. Nikon D3
shoots 6400 ISO better than most cameras shoot 400.
• New Lens Technology for Image Stabilization…
allows for stable images at much slower shutter
speeds.
Flash kills spontaneity
Nikon D100, ISO 400, 1/400 at f/4.5, 200mm Vibration Reduction ON. NO FLASH.
Flash kills spontaneity
Balance
Flash w/
Ambient
Light
• The goal of using
flash is generally
to balance the
flash with the
ambient light.
Balance Flash w/ Ambient Light
Balance Flash w/ Ambient Light
Using Flash and Slow Shutters
• Flash indoors normally
results in dark
backgrounds.
– Default sync speed
is 1/60
– Slow shutters
down to 1/15
– Increase ISO to
improve ambient
light of back
grounds
– Use even slower
shutters to show
more motion
Today’s Exercise, Pt 1
• Fill Flash - great for bright light fill flash outdoors.
– Modern day cameras will matrix meter and balance for fill
flash automatically
Manual Fill Flash
• Sometimes you need to take
control of the exposure
– Turn the flash off. Set the
exposure on manual (you
switch to program mode
to find out what your
camera would use
automatically…then set
that exposure manually.
– Turn your flash back
on…using the ‘A’
exposure mode of the
flash. This will allow the
flash to exposure for your
foreground…but your
camera will expose for
the back
Today’s Exercise, Pt 2
•
Slow Shutter
– There are two options.
• Many cameras today have
a Night Portrait Mode.
This is the mode where the
icon has a person with a
star over their head.
• Manual: Set SS to 1/15 or
slower. Turn on your
flash.
– Use a tripod for portions of
your pictures to be really
sharp…while blurring other
portions.
• If hand holding…keep
your camera steady. Brace
yourself on a table, etc.
– Try slower shutter speeds.
Also try zooming, rotating,
panning. Lots of fun.
Conclusion
• Don’t always turn on
the flash.
– See what you can do to
get by with no flash.
– Increase your ISO
– Change
• When you do turn on the
flash…make it look natural.
– Increase ISO to improve
ambient lighting
– Use bounce lighting
– Use slow shutters
http://staff.beaumont.k12.tx.us/gloker/lighting.htm