
Flash vs. Ambient Light Exposure | Transcription
All right, so let’s dive a bit deeper into this flash versus ambient light or constant light exposure, because some things are going to change, some things will stay the same. Now, over here on the constant or ambient light exposure, it’s just the traditional exposure triangle, okay? Now, constant light, we define that as a light that’s going to stay the same throughout the duration of the shutter speed. Your exposure is going to be equal to just whatever the exposure triangle is: your shutter speed, your aperture, and your ISO.
But, over here on the flash side, well, let’s assume that this flash, what we’re going to talk about right now is the speed in which this flash fires. It’s actually known as the flash duration, and while it’s not quite instantaneous, we’re going to talk about this in more detail later on, so let’s assume for right now it’s basically instantaneous, okay? This happens, this flash fires, and it’s one ten-thousandth of a second, that’s how fast it is. Well, if this is firing at one ten-thousandth of a second, it doesn’t matter what your shutter speed is set to.
Your shutter speed could be on 1/200 of a second, it could be 1/100 of a second, it could be 1/50 of a second, it could be one second, it could be 30 seconds long. The flash output would still be identical because it fires within one ten-thousandth of a second. While the flash or while the shutter speed is open for one two-hundredth of a second, the flash fires and it’s that same amount of light, regardless of the shutter speed. That means that shutter speed does not apply to the flash exposure part of this equation.
What stays the same? Well, your aperture and your ISO, they stay the same regardless of whether you’re using, or say exposing for a constant or ambient light, or whether you’re exposing for flash. For example, aperture, if I close down my aperture, it’s going to cut down the amount of ambient light that’s able to come in, it shrinks it down. Well, it also cuts down the amount of flash that’s able to come in just the same as ambient light.
Same thing with ISO, we’re digitally manipulating the sensor to make it more sensitive to light, right? That sensitivity is going to have the same effect over ambient or constant light as it would over a strobe. Those two things are going to stay the same, but, on this side, we have flash power, which means that essentially, we’re simply controlling the exposure of the flash by adjusting up and down the actual power, the output of the flash. It’s going to be measured, we’ll talk about the measurement, we’ll talk about all that stuff more.
On this side, we have flash power, which only applies to flash. On this side, we have shutter speed, which only applies to constant or ambient light. Those two things in between, your aperture and your ISO, is what stays the same across the board. Now, what this whole thing does is it presents some challenges, and also a lot of creative potential for balancing between flash versus ambient light.
CHAPTER GETTING OVER THE FEAR, HYPE, & MYTHS
- 1.1 Lighting 101 Trailer
- 1.2 Chapter 1 Intro
- 1.3 Why Just One On-Camera Flash
- 1.4 5 Reasons to Use Flash
- 1.5 4 Common Flash Myths
- 1.6 What Makes Flash Challenging
- 1.7 Chapter 1 Quiz: Getting over the Fear, Hype & Myths
CHAPTER 2: THE BASICS OF FLASH
- 2.1 Chapter 2 Intro
- 2.2 Flash-Strobe vs. Ambient-Constant Light
- 2.3 Flash vs. Ambient Light Exposure
- 2.4 Flash vs. Ambient Demo
- 2.5 Flash and Ambient Balancing For Natural Effect
- 2.6 Assignment: Balancing Flash & Ambient for Natural Effect
- 2.7 Flash and Ambient Balancing For Dramatic Effect
- 2.8 Chapter 2 Assignment 2: Balancing Flash & Ambient for Dramatic Effects
- 2.9 Flash and Ambient Balancing For Creative Effect
- 2.10 Assignment: Balancing Flash & Ambient Light for Creative Effects
- 2.11 Understanding Flash Duration
- 2.12 Chapter 2 Quix: The Basics of Flash
CHAPTER 3 UNDERSTANDING LIGHT
- 3.1 Chapter 3 Intro
- 3.2 5 Common Key Light Patterns
- 3.3 5 Common Key Light Patterns with Diffusion + Fill
- 3.4 5 Common Secondary Light Patterns
- 3.5 Balancing SEO with Workflow
- 3.6 Assignment: Flat Light Portrait
- 3.7 Assignment: Loop Lighting
- 3.8 Assignment: Butterfly Lighting
- 3.9 Assignment: Rembrandt Portrait
- 3.10 Assignment: Split Lighting
- 3.11 Light Qualities
- 3.12 The Inverse Square Law
- 3.13 Inverse Square Law in Practice
- 3.14 Corrective White Balance
- 3.15 Creative White Balance
- 3.16 Assignment: Creative White Balance
- 3.17 Chapter 3 Quiz: Understanding Light
CHAPTER 4: ON-CAMERA FLASH GEAR BASICS
- 4.1 Chapter 4 Intro
- 4.2 On Board vs. Hot Shoe Flash
- 4.3 Full Feature vs. Manual Flashes
- 4.4 TTL vs. Manual Control
- 4.5 TTL vs. Manual Recycle Times
- 4.6 Flash Power & Zoom
- 4.7 HSS vs. ND Filters
- 4.8 Assignment: HSS vs. ND
- 4.9 FCS vs. RCS
- 4.10 Chapter 4 Quiz: On-Camera Flash Gear Basics
Chapter 5: DIRECT FLASH DONE RIGHT
- 5.1 Chapter 5 Intro
- 4 Tips When You Must Use Direct Flash
- 5.3 Bare Bulbing Done Right
- 5.4. Assignment: Bare Bulb Flash Portraits
- 5.5. Grid Snooth + Direct Flash
- 5.6 Assignment: Grid/Snoot + Direct Flash Portrait
- 5.6 Assignment: Grid/Snoot + Direct Flash Portrait
- 5.7 Mini Beauty + Direct Flash
- 5.8 Ring + Direct Flash
- 5.9 Assignment: Direct Flash with Modifier
- 5.10 Understanding Modifiers
- 5.11 Understanding Modifiers
- 5.12 Direct Flash + Shutter Drags
- 5.13 Chapter 5 Assignment: Direct Flash + Shutter Drags
Chapter 6: STUDIO LIGHT? JUST BOUNCE IT!
- 6.1 Ambient vs. Direct Flash vs. Bounce Flash/a>
- 6.2 Chapter 6 Intro
- 6.3 Silver Bounce
- 6.4 Silver Bounce
- 6.5 SAssignment: Silver Bounce
- 6.6 Soft White Bounce
- 6.7 Assignment: Soft White Bounce
- 6.8 Overhead Bounce
- 6.9 Overhead Bounce + Fill
- 6.10 Assignment: Overhead Bounce
- 6.11 Event Bounce
- 6.12 Chapter 6 Quiz: Studio Light? Just Bounce it!
Chapter 7: MORE LIGHTS, REFINEMENT, & CREATIVITY
- 7.1 Chapter 7 Intro
- 7.2 Dramatic vs. Natural Light
- 7.3 Filling and Refining Existing Light
- 7.4 Multi-Point Light Setups
- 7.5 Assignment: Multi-Point Light Setups
- 7.6 Using Gels for Creative Effects vs. Corrective Effects
- 7.7 Using Gels for Creative Effects vs. Corrective Effects
- 7.8 Using Gels for Creative Effects vs. Corrective Effects
Chapter 8: CASE STUDIES
- 8.1 – Chapter 8 Intro
- 8.2 – Case Study 1 | Dramatic Sunset
- 8.3 – Case Study 2 | Desert Sunset
- 8.4 – Case Study 3 | Sinister Headshot
- 8.5 – Case Study 4 | Quick Lighting For Family Portraits
- 8.6 – Case Study 5 | Athlete Portraits
- 8.7 – Case Study 6 | Working Angles
- 8.8 – Case Study 7 | Drag + Composite
- 8.9 – Case Study 8 | Less is More
Chapter 9: BONUS CHAPTERS
- 9.1 Our Favorite Full-Feature Flashes
- 9.2 Our Favorite Manual Flashes
- 9.3 Our Favorite On-Camera Flash Modifiers
Total Course Run Time: 8H 17M 4S