Using Fill Flash In Bright Daylight For Portrait Shooting

On this video photographer Matt Granger (aka ThatNikonGuy) looks at what you can do to improve your portraits with an external flash on camera with harsh mid day sun.

As photographers, the sun can be our friend but in some situations it can also act against us – making nasty shadows.There are all sorts of ways to avoid those shadows and on this video Granger looks at one of the most basic ones – using an external flash on the camera itself (for when you do not have a light stand or a human light stand to hold it for you).

Another option is to find shade. However sometimes a shade is not uniform and you get darker and brighter parts on your subject – not the best look for your model. Granger try and demonstrate some techniques for avoiding that by using different angles and moving the model around.

We have looked at flash and natural light photography several times in the past including: “Outdoor Portraits – Using Natural Light and Fill Flash” with photographer Craig Beckta, On Reflection – Working with Natural Light” by Christian Hough and “Shooting Using Reflectors and Natural Sun Light” by J.P. Morgan.

You can watch many more photography tips on the LensVid technique section. as well as more videos on using lighting in photography on our photography lighting section here on LensVid.

Iddo Genuth

Iddo Genuth is the founder and chief editor of LensVid.com. He has been a technology reporter working for international publications since the late 1990's and covering photography since 2009. Iddo is also a co-founder of a production company specializing in commercial food and product visual content.