trying to learn fill flash and slow sync flash! help needed

[EcoLeica]

hey all, I'm trying to expand my horizons and learn how to use fill flash and slow sync flash but im having a hard time finding some good sites that can explain it simply. Can anyone out there direct me to a good site? or better yet give me a crash course? my set up is a nikon FE with SB-20 flash

Cheers

 

[sniki]

Try this:

Fill flash for amnesiacs!
http://www.dantestella.com/technical/fill.html

 

[furcafe]

http://strobist.blogspot.com/

 

[breathstealer]

The idea of fill flash is that in a backlit situation, if you get a correctly exposed background, you will have an underexposed subject. Therefore you must use a flash to un-underexpose your subject.

 

[BobPS]

EcoLeica,

Here's a simple way I do it with my M6 Classic or my Nikon FM2N, with SB22 flash set at Automatic mode, indoor with low ambient light:

1. I always bounce the flash, so I set the lens aperture about 1 or 2 stop wider than the GN suggested. On the back of my SB22 body, there's a guide on how wide the aperture should be at a certain distance. This guide is for direct flash. Since I always bounce the flash I usually set it at 1 stop wider than what it suggest. So, if the guide on the flash suggest f/8 with ISO 400, I set the aperture at f/5.6 or f/4.

2. I drag the shutter, I use slow speed at any speed slower than the flash sync speed. I usually set the shutter speed about 1 stop faster than the correct exposure. So if the in-camera meter indicates 1/8 as the correct exposure with the aperture at f/4, I set the shutter speed to 1/15 or sometimes 1/30. Don't worry about camera shake. The flash duration is really short so usually camera shake is not noticeable.

For fill flash outdoor, in daylight, I haven't tried it with my M6 cause the flash sync speed on my M6 is only 1/50.

But when I use my canon DSLR with 430EX flash on E-TTL mode, I always set my flash to high-speed sync and set the shutter speed at at least 1 stop faster then correct exposure. This is IMO where AE (or Av mode on my canon) comes in handy. With Av mode, I simply set the exposure compensation to -1, and after chimping I set the flash exposure compensation to -2/3 to -1 . But often times I leave the FEC alone.
Hope this helps,

Bob