Lighting Pt 2

Characteristics of hard light

Direct, bright light that produces distinct, harsh shadows and high contrast on a subject’s features.

Timing of the Golden Hour

Soft, warm, diffused light conditions present Shortly after sunrise or right before sunset, when the sun is low in the sky.

Function of Spot Metering

Calculates exposure based on a very small, precise center point of the frame (usually 1-5%).

Purpose of Exposure Compensation

Allows photographers to manually force an image to be brighter or darker when extreme backgrounds confuse the internal meter.

E-TTL II

An advanced automatic flash metering system that calculates and adjusts flash power automatically based on camera readings.

Visual effects of direct flash

Produces harsh, flat lighting and distracting, sharp, dark shadows behind the subject.

Result of exceeding flash sync speed without HSS

A dark band appears across the image because the physical shutter curtain blocks the sensor while the flash fires.

Flash Exposure Conpensation

The tool uses to adjust automatic flash output power up or down.

Standard automatic metering

Evaluative Metering.

Flash sync speed

The maximum shutter speed boundary at which the shutter curtain opens fully in tandem with a firing flash.

Directional light source for shadows directly behind the subject

Front lighting.

Hard light vs Soft overcast light

Hard: High contrast, sharp shadows, dramatic mood. Soft: Low contrast, graduated transitions, flattering/gentle mood.

Methods to soften indoor external flash

Bounce the flash off walls/ceilings, use modifiers (soft boxes/diffusers), or move the flash off-camera.

When a camera meter is commonly fooled

Extremely bright scenes (snow/beach) which lead to underexposure, or extremely dark scenes which lead to overexposure.

Flash sync and shutter curtains

Sync speed is the limit where the front curtain is fully open before the rear starts closing; exceeding it results in the rear curtain blocking the light.

Utility of flash in bright sunlight

Acts as ‘fill flash’ to remove harsh shadows (under eyes/nose) and balances the subject against a bright background.