Sony HVL-LE1 - Manual (Page 10)

Split-second Breakdown
On-Camera Flash Basics
What is it?
Technique used to add light to
shadows to balance exposure
between the foreground and
background.
How to use it?
Fill flash works with any flash in
any camera mode. For a flash
built into a camera, make sure
you are at least 10ft or closer to
the item you want to illuminate.
Where to use it?
• To remove unwanted shadows
from your subject
• Balance lighting by adjusting
for an overexposed background
and use fill flash to illuminate an
underexposed foreground
• Landscapes where you want to
illuminate the foreground
Set it up in advance.
When photographing a person, do a test shot
before the model is in the scene to get the exposure
spot-on in advance.
1. Over-exposed background
2. Under-exposed subject
Properly exposed with fill flash on subject
fill flash
Fill flash is a technique used to brighten deep shadow areas, particularly
when photographing backlit subjects. Fill flash is typically used outdoors
on sunny days, though the technique is useful any time the background is
significantly brighter than the subject, or your subject has harsh shadows
caused by an overhead light (like the sun).
To use fill flash, the aperture and shutter speed are adjusted to correctly
expose the background, and the flash is fired to lighten the foreground.
In the first sample image (1) a tree shades our subject, but the rocks behind
her are directly in the sunlight. Changing our camera settings to properly
expose for our subject makes the rocks behind her overexposed.
The second image (2) is the same scene, but this time we have adjusted our
exposure for the rocks in the background. Now our subject standing in the
shade of the tree is grossly underexposed.
Since we now have the rocks properly exposed, all we have to do is add flash.
We used the same settings for the final image as used in shot (2), the only
difference is that the flash fired.
We were able to use the natural light to illuminate our background as well
as use artificial fill flash to illuminate our subject in the foreground.
F5.6, 1/125 SEC, ISO 100
Shutterblade position over time
Total exposure: 1/125 SEC
Flash
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