Fill Flash like David Alan Harvey

Wil O., we overlapped. On some of his shots he is using a slightly faster shutter to further darken the background and emphasize the subject. I would practice with a digital camera DSLR, set on manual and vary the F stop. You lose two ways with that 45 angle: you increase the distance for the bounce portion and you are not getting full flash on the subject. This shouldn't make any different as the auto would still try to put out more flash, but as we know that is theory. In reality you have to test and come up with your own numbers.

This is outdoor semi-fill, I had the luxury of have a leaf shutter RF on this one, but I did set the flash down one stop:

4046609881_b8e9aa6c40.jpg
 
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charjohncarter said:
Wil O., if he did use Velvia 50 that would be a good choice. With FP shutters you have slow synch speeds. 50 ISO film would allow you to still use your fill in low light outdoors or at dusk. One of our members has written a good general fill flash essay, this is it:

http://www.dantestella.com/technical/fill.html
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Yea this is info I needed as well--reaffirms some things.
Thanks
 
Wil O., this is how I do fill flash with an auto mode setting. This works for indoors and outdoors. But I'll use indoor as an example. 400 ISO, 1/60 at F4 is typical American indoor lighting (that's where we like it), so I check the settings (on my flash) for auto and choose one, then I set my camera to 1.5 stops closed from the chosen f stop (auto setting f 4 camera setting f 5.6 to 8.), AND then I set the shutter for the ambient light (in the above example it would be between a 1/30 or 1/15)(I would probably take 1/30 as a little ambient darkening will be fine as Harvey did). Now all you have to do is shoot like Mr. Harvey. You can work out the settings for your indoor ambient. I would practice though on some of my flashes that 1.5 is 2.0 or 1.0 on others. With cocking and diffusing the flash it could even be zero stops or -1.0.
 
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charjohncarter said:
Wil O., this is how I do fill flash with an auto mode setting. This works for indoors and outdoors. But I'll use indoor as an example. 400 ISO, 1/60 at F4 is typical American indoor lighting (that's where we like it), so I check the settings (on my flash) for auto and choose one, then I set my camera to 1.5 stops closed from the chosen f stop (auto setting f 4 camera setting f 5.6 to 8.), AND then I set the shutter for the ambient light (in the above example it would be between a 1/30 or 1/15)(I would probably take 1/30 as a little ambient darkening will be fine as Harvey did). Now all you have to do is shoot like Mr. Harvey. You can work out the settings for your indoor ambient. I would practice though on some of my flashes that 1.5 is 2.0 or 1.0 on others. With cocking and diffusing the flash it could even be zero stops or -1.0.
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Yea that sounds good to me. I'll have to do a bit of trial and error to get the exposure correct. Like I said before, my goal with this technique is use the flash without the appearance of having used it in the final product. In essence, the fill flash will simply flesh out the photo, somewhat equalize harsh contrast, but allow ambient light sources to retain their lighting character. The info you have supplied should get me started.

To extend the inquiry, I am also interested in color temperature.

It is well known that Harvey uses warming gels on his flash (or beer bottles, bandaids, yadayadayada--got it)

What gels do you prefer for indoor and/or mixed lighting?

I have read that the standard for outdoor fill is 1/4 CTO and indoor is approx. 1/2 CTO (although much of the info I have thus far been able to glean from the interwebs pertains to digital--and mostly revolves around Tungsten mode on DSLRS---I happen to like the yellow/orange color of incandescent lighting so this is not a concern--however I don't want to overdo the orange/yellow either.)

Like I said before, I have one of those Rosco sample packs (free from the company with emailed request !!!)

I have used CTO with limited success.

Have you ever tried CTS (Color Temperature Straw)--which is more yellow than CTO?

Any thoughts on this leg of the Harvey Flash Examination?
 
1/8 CTO, 1/4 CTO, 1/2 CTO, Full CTO, Rosco #02 Filter - ******* Amber . The gel doesn't necessarily have to cover the entire flash tube, you can also experiment with small gel strips.
 
I don't know if we can really mix indoor and outdoor for the ambient-flash mix discussion, or for that matter call "fill in" what DAH does.
Fill in is pretty straightforward. as far as I can see it:
you have plenty of light, or at least part of the picture has enough light, and you want to fill the shadows. In that case 1/4 to 1/2 the fill amount of flash seems about right.
Fpr the other examples, of overall very low light. the flash has a different effect, and I'm no expert, but it seems a bit more complex to achieve the right effect. In any case, if the general exposure us under, and you add only 1/4 the flash dose, I don't really see how you can get a properly exposed slide...
 
wilonstott, you are definitely on the right track.
even if you are going to shoot film, you might want to experiment with dslr to get the technique down bcs you get instant feedback from the dslr. Just be careful with trigger voltage bcs some older flash units can fry dslr circuitry.
I don't think you are after images like the examples posted above where the flash is very obvious - you can even see the shadow of the flash on the background in #6
 
Pablito said:
wilonstott, you are definitely on the right track.
even if you are going to shoot film, you might want to experiment with dslr to get the technique down bcs you get instant feedback from the dslr. Just be careful with trigger voltage bcs some older flash units can fry dslr circuitry.
I don't think you are after images like the examples posted above where the flash is very obvious - you can even see the shadow of the flash on the background in #6
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Point taken.

Not sure about the trigger on the Vivitar 2800

Anybody know--will it fry a DSLR like a strip of bacon?
 
the KEY to using flash to fill and balance with your images is to ensure you take a correct ambient reading first, as well as ensuring that the light output from your flash matches the color temperature of the ambient light.

all the rest are technicalities of ensuring the flash is well balanced to the ambient light, which all has to do with the flash power output. putting the flash into manual for predictable and consistent results is definitely a must.
 
Notice in some of his indoor shots, he's standing at the ambient light source, such as an open door. This allows his flash to add to the ambient light, not replace it. The problem with flash photography is that you don't know what the lighting will look like until you've developed the film. If you use the flash to accentuate the ambient instead, you'll get a more natural look.
 
Regarding the fill flash and Leica I would like to add that the sync speed goes upto 1/1000th of a sec. with the Leica M7 and the SF58 in case anybody is interested to use fill flash in bright light.

Regards
Steve
 
wilonstott said:
Point taken.

Not sure about the trigger on the Vivitar 2800

Anybody know--will it fry a DSLR like a strip of bacon?
Click to expand...

There is a webiste somewhere that has trigger voltages for various strobe units, you could try googling for it. I don't know the 2800 but I would not dare put a 283 on a dslr, and I have heard that later production 285s are ok but i'd be wary.
 
antiquark said:
Notice in some of his indoor shots, he's standing at the ambient light source, such as an open door. This allows his flash to add to the ambient light, not replace it. The problem with flash photography is that you don't know what the lighting will look like until you've developed the film. If you use the flash to accentuate the ambient instead, you'll get a more natural look.
Click to expand...

This is a very good observational point. Certainly factors in to methodology of the effect--aside from the obvious technical aspects that we have been discussing thus far.
 
People ... this is RFF where we do street photography, with a rangefinder (Leica preferably), Tri-X film ... and we only use available light! :rolleyes:

If a mod happens to stumble across this thread ... could you please move it to the 'Off Topic' forum!

:angel:
 
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