Speedlights 101: The Difference Between Ambient & Flash Exposures | CreativeLive

[@weezyg.5724]

Out of all photographers on KZbin Mark Wallace is the one who I better understand,hands down the best teacher that i have,thanx.

[@440voltz]

I have seen videos and also attended seminars of top photographers but I will rate Mark wallace on top of the list when it comes to explaining concepts..No one goes in detail and if they do they are not able to explain it to the audience..Great job

[@oceandrew]

Awesome class.... 3 days of brilliance. The greatest thing Mark brings to the table is expertise in both Nikon and Canon systems so his demonstrations have no bias .... unlike so many other speedlight gurus (Arena, Hobby, McNally) who can only teach one system; the one they use. CreativeLIVE rocks!

[@akk2920]

Wonderful. The way youbstarted explaining the concept, i realized i am going to learn a lot with this video. Thanks for this. I couldn't stop myself commenting while in the mid of the video.

[@jjdphotography]

Wish the entire class was posted. Seems very informative.

[@melissahall7009]

Your tutorials are the best on KZbin & it is why I always buy from Adorama!

[@briangeoghegan9172]

Great Video on this creative live broadcast, creative live is brilliant for photographers that are learning there trade, and Mark Wallace is one of the Best teachers out there, he does great videos on AdoramaTV as well,

[@Brassnpics]

Please can we have this rebroadcast on Creative Live? soon! Its soo good!

[@timothythomas1345]

I wish I could intern with Mr WALLACE'S for at least a month.This man is a genius .As well as a top rate teacher .It would be the equivalent to winning the lottery.

[@solidstream13]

awsome teaser. now I need to buy the full version

[@xC4Rbonx]

This was so helpful! I understand this concept now.

[@sunilkotyan4443]

Very useful sir

[@PC6103]

This is really helpful thanks Mark, please keep it up

[@1mollymom]

This is a sample of a 3-day class Mark taught in 2012 at Creative Live (an online seminar service aimed at creatives; courses are free when you watch them live or you can buy/download them). The course above is called Speedlights 101 and is available for $149. They also recently did a 5-day series called Lighting Toolkit. Of those 5 sessions, I thought Tony Corbell had the most useful class on how to balance ambient with light modifiers. His class is called Natural Light Control and is $79.

[@coolpras26]

I have a question - If it's a relatively dark environment which would obviously need a flash to be properly exposed, and you set the camera exposure according to the ambient light(in turn having to boost up ISO quite a lot, getting lots of grain), in order to get an even light from the flash, if you use it in that setting, won't the final image albeit being lit properly, be quite grainy? Because the ISO is still high? Get what I mean?

[@HURPSYYEMRAY1]

TNX

[@Patsesson]

Awesome information!! Thank you!

[@CarlosRodriguez-vg2ob]

hi i have a Canon 5D older model. my questions is, when using AV or M and I can see my exposure meter is fine right in the middle however when i add the flash that meter becomes pointless because the pics are way over-exposed. is there a way to sync those two that i can use my camera meter to dictate or dictate the settings on my flash?

[@Randelljohnphotography]

+Carlos Rodriguez Hi Carlos, If your flash is in Manual Mode (i.e Not ETTL/TTL), then the camera's metering system has no way of knowing what output the flash is going to contribute to the overall exposure. This is because as soon as you trip the shutter, your mirror flicks up and this blocks the camera's metering system. The only way to independently change your flash exposure when the 'Flash' is in Manual Mode is to do one of the following. 1. Dial in less or more power from your flash. 2. Change the Aperture on your camera. 3. Move closer or further away from the subject your photographing. You could change your ISO, but this will alter the ambient light exposure as well as the exposure from your flash. Changing your shutter speed will have no effect on the flash exposure, because at your maximum sync speed and below (1/200th sec for Canon 5D), the shutter curtains can't keep up with a burst of light from the flash, which may be emitted at 1/800 of a second or even faster. (High Speed Sync changes things, but I wont' go into that subject here). To measure the output of a flash in Manual Mode, you'll need to use a flash meter. Or take the shot, and adjust the output of the flash using your preview and histogram to judge your exposure, make any adjustments to the flash output and re-shoot the scene. If your flash is in ETTL/TTL, then things change due to the metering method that the flash and camera use in unison. In ETTL/TTL mode, when you trip the shutter, your flash emits a 'Pre-Flash'. This initial burst of light, happens very quickly, and if your using a fairly high shutter speed, you may not even notice that it's fired, as it can appear to be just a single burst of light. (See the exercise at the end of this explaination). The Pre-Flash, fires before the camera's shutter has started moving and before the camera's mirror swings up, and so any flash light that is reflected from your scene, bounces back to your camera, enters 'Through The Lens', and is measured by your camera's internal meter. The camera's internal meter then works out how much flash is required to give you what it believes to be a correctly exposed image, and then signals the flash to fire to illuminate the scene. Problems arise with the metering system when you have a very strongly back lit scene, if there is a lot of dark or light tones in the scene your photographing, and even the reflectivity of items within that scene, the camera can incorrectly calculate the flash exposure and either tell the flash to output too little or as in your case too much flash power. So even using the ETTL system you may still (more often than not), have to make changes to your flash output to achieve a correctly exposed frame. The thing to remember when your using your flash in ETTL Mode is that any changes you make to your aperture, shutter, speed, ISO, focal length, changes of subject with the scene and distance from flash to subject - Then the ETTL system will try to compensate and output different amounts of flash to give you what it thinks is a correct exposure. The other thing to remember is the only way that you can directly adjust your flash exposure in ETTL/TTL mode is to use Flash Exposure Compensation (FEL). Making any changes to your camera's exposure settings will not directly adjust the output of the flash. Dont' get confuse here though, making changes to your ISO, Shutter Speed or Aperture will change the amount of light the flash emits, but you won't be controlling it. The camera's metering system will be. You need to control the flash output directly in ETTL mode by using Flash Exposure Compensation (FEL). P.S Try this Carlos, it may help you to understand how it all works. Fit your flash to your camera, and set it to Manual Mode, then select a random power setting, say 1/8th power, now set your flash to Second Curtain Sync - The symbol looks like this (>>) Then switch your camera to Manual mode and select a shutter speed of 5 seconds and an aperture of say f5.6 (it doesnt really matter what aperture you use). Switch your lens autofocus off - There's no need to focus on anything for this exercise. Now trip the shutter. You'll hear the mirror flip up and the shutter open - Near the end of the exposure the flash fires. You'll notice there was only one flash (i.e No Pre-Flash). Now do the same thing with the same setting with your flash set to ETTL/TTL Mode. Trip the shutter and you'll notice that. A Pre-flash fires just before the mirror and shutters start to move. Then the mirror flicks up and the shutter opens. Near the end of the 5sec exposure, another flash fires. This is the main flash output. Then the shutter closes. Obviously you probably won't get a correct exposure, but this exercise just demonstates the difference between using ETTL/TTL and Manual flash, and how both interact with your camera. Hope all this helps Carlos.

[@sandrabirchfield6614]

I had vert mixed feelings on this. I dis learn something as it's the first thing I've seen on off camera flash, however it was so very basic. I had hopes of learning how to actually expose things properly with my flash. I understand exposure without flash already, and I feel that's what I learned in this video.

[@leningchavez5730]

i love that men portrait in the back... i wish i could take a photo like that

[@tertulioustert478]

Lening Chavez you may,,

[@tubzvermeulen]

Thank you for the video..

[@smitty-iproduce]

THIS IS AWESOME

[@mohague]

That was the most enjoyable technical tutorial I've seen in a LONG time! Thank you SO much for bringing some fun and comedy into this :)

[@thothheartmaat2833]

I tried setting kelvin white balance in a gym but the light in there confused my eye so much that it looked right but later it was blue. Oh I'm in the wrong room. This isn't white balance. This is flash. What about white balancing with flash? You gotta use a gel to match the ambient light color.

[@4our2wenty8ight]

what is the next video that follows after this one? Im trying to figure out how to control the ambient light like mentioned at the end

[@abukalazam]

You have to register and buy the course. The video you just watched was a promotional video.

[@ZOly62]

Great tutorial.

[@rekez2]

thanks .muchas gracias.

[@movieman2009]

Is it possible to relate this presentation to mirrorless like the Fuji XT-1? Does it matter if the camera is mirrorless vs a DSLR in this video?

[@movieman2009]

+MrTanker10a I do, yet you found the strength to comment. don't be a jerk

[@canfixit22]

+Simon Bear... as long as you have shutter, aperture and iso it applies

[@movieman2009]

thanks

[@DiviPhotos]

Cool video

[@Noodle0792]

Maybe the clip isn't long enough, but at the beginning when he says when you add flash you now have two exposures, I kept waiting for him to say "ambient light is controlled by shutter speed and flash/strobe, etc is controlled by aperture." I felt like he danced around it and may have over explained it. But it's easy for me to say that because I had just learned what I said above, so I was expecting it. Maybe the over explanation was needed for others. Mark is still a great teacher though.

[@theallmikey]

Great video, although his digital photography 1 on 1 videos were a bit more appealing. Also, I think he got the position of the camera's light meter and autofocus system confused (in minute 13:20~). Still; a fine educator; I owe him a lot! Thank you for uploading the video.

[@timbird8551]

The right side is darker because the ambient light has been decreased via the shutter speed. It was the ambient light that was adding light to the side of her face. In other words, the flash was not the only source of light on her face.

[@Spiritfilled888]

At 2:22 you mentioned she has the same amount of light - the flash exposure the same. Why is she slightly darker on the right? - you didn't address that. Or can anyone else help?

[@davebassP5]

I dont quite get this. The first pair of photos of the model clearly shows more detail in her hair on the left shot. You said its the same flash exposure. Why is this not the case?

[@francoismoco2]

You could say the same amount of info in 1/4 of the time

[@davebassP5]

The hair is different in those first two images. How can you say the exposure is the same?

[@xnuyokr]

Here's everything you need to know! iso and aperture affect ambient + flash exposure, while shutter speed affects only ambient exposure...…..you're welcome!

[@Maniak5100]

I love seeing 'the entitled' in the comments section. You want the rest? Go to the link and BUY the seminars.

[@samueljames5167]

Haters going to hate, hate, hate. I think the people complaining about this presentation just have trouble wrapping their minds around the fact that they are dealing with two exposures that they need to balance together.

[@JerryMac1125]

It is NOT 2 exposures, it IS 2 light sources !!!!! When you press the shutter release there is ONLY 1 exposure !!!!! All you have do is expose for the background (1 exposure) and adjust your flash output power (not exposure) so your subject looks correct !!!! Regardless of how Mr. Walace makes it appear, it is not complicated !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@TheMcdred]

Am I missing a second part of this...where is the tutorial?

[@MrOrionhan]

what ever happens to the manual flash photography?

[@creativelive]

It hasn't gone anywhere. We think once you're comfortable in TTL then manual is definitely worth learning!

[@martburn]

That was ahsum. I didn't learn anything though. Bit of a tease methinks.

[@kcanded]

So he keeps setting up possible beginnings of information then veering off to something else. So tell us how to set our flash to light a model's face with the sun shining behind her. Tell us what you did in your photos at the park to differentiate the light on the model and the light on the tree. Don't keep throwing away teaching situations.

[@grahamhgraham]

Is it possible to make an apple pie and bake it in the oven til golden brown in less time than this guy spends talking? Asking for a friend.

[@mbloof1]

This appears to be the introduction of a much much longer session.

[@rmallon1216]

What did he say? Don't even remember the subject.

[@varunkamal91]

how about just shooting in freaking MANUAL MODE! exposure compensation? is that the garbage you teach in workshops? to shoot in priority modes?

[@wahabdilawar]

Sorry. I have seen so many great tutorials from you. I rarely click on the Dislike button. For this one... I had to.

[@tertulioustert478]

Wahab Dilawar awww

[@mstreasureseeker]

I LOVE this guys videos however, Stop with the board, and displays and go outside and set this up PHYSICALLY! HANDS ON ACTION IS WHAT YOU NEED! Than have your crew video tape for online purposes!

[@bunhead8]

you have to wonder why anyone wastes their time making these videos - he talks for several minutes without saying anything...total waste of time..."

[@kuruji]

bunhead8 Yes he never gets to the point, just gets further away from it. Can't watch this

[@edwaggonersr.7446]

This is the third time I have watched this video, I get something out of it every time. Each to his own I guess.

[@kwizmon]

I find Mark Wallace very easy to listen to and I think part of that is due to the rapport he has. Therefore, I get more out of it because I enjoy it more.

[@MichaelEsarey]

Black tux and white dress each equal 18% grey. But if the groom has a black tux and wearing a white shirt, will the photo be 18% grey or black and white?

[@Kevinjandro]

I like him better when he's teaching adorama tutorials! This one was really boring to say the least!

[@buidoi72]

I just wasted 20 mins of my life.

[@AnaRodriguez-dr2ok]

haaa he did not gave any real information sounds like a promotional video

[@AnaRodriguez-dr2ok]

I have been able to undestand that part. and I also know why I can't shoot with flash wiht a shutter speed over 250th of a second. My bigest problem now is the white balance. since the temperature of my flash is not the same as the ambient What would u recommend me?

[@canfixit22]

+Ana Rodriguez set WB for the Flash.

[@Arlo360-Official]

Shoot RAW and adjust later when processing

[@mrblackbond]

What a terrible video. I watched this trying to get a better understanding on HOW and WHAT to set your exposures to when using flash.....and he was a terrible instructor.

[@Maniak5100]

You can probably buy the rest of the seminar in the link. This seems to be a professional photographer/teacher, not a KZbinr.

[@RimantasLiubertas]

You know how you get a better understanding? By understanding HOW things work and WHY the result is that it is. Sure you can get a prescirption-and as soon as some variable is different (which it will always be) the recipe stops working. While if you understand HOW some thing being different affects the picture you already have an ability to fix it. Here it is perfectly shown why do you need exposure compensation when shooting very bright or very dark scenes. That gives you UNDERSTANDING. Alas, judging by comments most don't want understanding.

[@marcosarg1]

That is because this is a class from creative live, which you PAY for it, if you buy the class i guarantee you, you'll get it, this is just a sample and that is why everyone here is bitching about this guy not getting to the point. The course consist on several classes, not just 15 minutes of a youtube video.

[@eyso]

A little too much fafoffle, Please be succinct.

[@TheHDReleaser]

well this was waste of time..

[@Arlo360-Official]

I bailed at 4:52. Waste if time. He talks too much about nothing.

[@nelxonmiranda]

You should see a doctor.

[@paulahalpin9660]

terrible waste of time

[@bobbysreign]

Theproducer is hot