Balancing Natural Light with flash in indoor photography

[cauger61]

I am finding difficult to get proper exposure of indoor shots with natural window lights. I am shooting in Aperture priority mode on my Nikon D5300 with 35mm f/1.8 Nikon prime. I have tried with aperture f/2.8 and exposure compensation +1 and no flash, Exp. com. +0.3 and fill-flash (EV -1) and exp. com. 0. My ISO was set at Auto and I shoot with tripod. But all my attempts were not at all satisfying. How can I get rid of this hurdle? I am posting the images here.

[pschlute]

Put your camera in manual mode and fixed ISO. Take a few shots without flash until you get the ambient light correct (keeping your shutter speed at or below sync speed) . Then turn on the flash and try it either in :

1. TTL mode (using flash compensation if needed) until you get the fill light you require, or

2. In manual flash mode changing the setting until you get the desired result.

[William W]

What Peter wrote, +1

Additionally:

1. With the Camera in Manual Mode, you will need to select the SHUTTER SPEED to AT or SLOWER than the camera's Flash Sync Speed. Many modern cameras will not allow choosing faster than Flash Sync Speed when the camera detects a flash, but as you do not mention what Flash you are using this point may be important.

2. In any case, IMO you should practice choosing the Shutter Speed and the Aperture and the ISO to best suit the AMBIENT EXPOSURE such that the Flash exposure will adequately fill the scene. What this means is you need to have chosen an Aperture and ISO so that the FALSH will have an affect on the image - if the APERTURE is too small (eg nearer F/22) or the ISO is too low (eg nearer ISO50) and the FALSH is located far away from the SUBJECT, it might be that the Flash is farther than the MAXIMUM FLASH WORKING DISTANCE, and the flash will have little or no effect.

3. When you get these basics under your belt, research DRAGGING THE SHUTTER.


IMO the key premise to understand is that you consider that there are TWO EXPOSURES - the first is the AMBIENT EXPOSURE and the second is the FLASH EXPOSURE.

The above will make more sense as you work through using MANUAL MODE and selecting the ISO APERTURE and SHUTTER SPEED manually, to accommodate the AMBIENT EXPOSURE and then adjust the FLASH to accommodate the FLASH EXPOSURE that you require.

WW

[rpcrowe]

Neil van Niekirk is one of the best references I know for answers to many flash related questions.

https://neilvn.com/tangents/

[russellsnr]

Have a look at this video from Mark Wallace he gives you 3 options albeit to balance outdoor window light with flash shooting indoors. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kjh_QboFquo Russ.

[cauger61]

Put your camera in manual mode and fixed ISO. Take a few shots without flash until you get the ambient light correct (keeping your shutter speed at or below sync speed) . Then turn on the flash and try it either in :

1. TTL mode (using flash compensation if needed) until you get the fill light you require, or

2. In manual flash mode changing the setting until you get the desired result.

Thnx a lot Peter for your excellent suggestions. I shall try and let you know the results further. But, a few more things to know before I go ahead:

1) once I get the ambient light "correct" [in terms of a nicely shaped histogram or meter reading at "0"], will it be necessary to use the flash further?

2) shall I lock the exposure on the subject by pressing AE-L/AF-L button and then recompose?

3) is it good to allow the natural light to come through the window as such or a curtain shall be to put to diffuse the flow?

4) what metering mode is advisable — matrix or centre-weighted?

[cauger61]

Thnx a lot Bill. I shall get back after I am done with your suggestions.

[cauger61]

Thnx Richard, for the very useful resource on flash photography.

[cauger61]

Thnx russellsnr. I have seen the video by Mark Wallace, as suggested by you. Get illuminated.

[Manfred M]

+1 to what both Peter and William have written.

Whenever I try to work in "tricky" lighting conditions, I tend to work in manual mode on the camera AND the flash. This includes setting the ISO, the aperture, shutter speed and white balance (daylight setting or flash setting). The reason for doing so is I hate trying to second guess what the camera has been programmed to do and by working in 100% manual mode, I'm not guessing

Step 1 - get the ambient light exposure correct without introducing the flash.

Step 2 - Add the appropriate amount of flash to get the effect that you want. I suggest trial and error where you go from adding a bit of fill light up to the point where the light from both sources is balanced.

Use your histogram to validate your exposure choices.

[pschlute]

1) once I get the ambient light "correct" [in terms of a nicely shaped histogram or meter reading at "0"], will it be necessary to use the flash further?

2) shall I lock the exposure on the subject by pressing AE-L/AF-L button and then recompose?

3) is it good to allow the natural light to come through the window as such or a curtain shall be to put to diffuse the flow?

4) what metering mode is advisable — matrix or centre-weighted?

1) "correct" is an ambiguous term in this regard. For artistic purposes you may want very little ambient light in the scene with the subject illuminated by the flash. Or you may want the ambient light (from a window say) and the flash to combine and both light the subject. These are your choices as a photographer. Perhaps post an image so we can get an idea of what you are trying to achieve.

2) EA-L is not available in Manual exposure mode.

3) Again this is personal choice but often diffused light is better.

4) I would suggest in this situation it will make little difference as you will be controlling the ambient exposure manually and the flash exposure either manually or in TTL with compensation.

[cauger61]

1) "correct" is an ambiguous term in this regard. For artistic purposes you may want very little ambient light in the scene with the subject illuminated by the flash. Or you may want the ambient light (from a window say) and the flash to combine and both light the subject. These are your choices as a photographer. Perhaps post an image so we can get an idea of what you are trying to achieve.

2) EA-L is not available in Manual exposure mode.

3) Again this is personal choice but often diffused light is better.

4) I would suggest in this situation it will make little difference as you will be controlling the ambient exposure manually and the flash exposure either manually or in TTL with compensation.

O.K. let me try further; but here are some images I tried earlier and was not satisfied. Thnx a lot for your help.

EXIF data for the images are:

Image 1: 1/60; Exp. com: 0; Direct Sunlight; f/2.8; iso 220; with fill-flash

Image 2: 1/60; Exp.com: 0; iso 360; f/2.8; without flash

Image 3: 1/60; Exp. com: +1; iso 500; f/2.8; with flash

[pnodrog]

Why are you not happy with the exposure?

All the exposures look good enough that if you have a RAW (NEF) file they could be adjusted satisfactorily. Modeling and strength of shadows is a different topic.

[Rufus]

Why are you not happy with the exposure?

All the exposures look good enough that if you have a RAW (NEF) file they could be adjusted satisfactorily. Modeling and strength of shadows is a different topic.

I have been following this thread to see how it develops; and I was thinking along similar lines to Paul.

The exposures of the main subject seem fairly similar and generally satisfactory. As the main subject (even without flash) is brighter than the background there could have been no intention to have the background more brightly lit. And from what I can see the background paraphenalia and limited depth of field perhaps does not warrant brightening the background anyway.

So I am left wondering what it is that Sajib is not at present achieving in the images posted so far.

[cauger61]

Many thnx to David and Paul for your comments. I am really grateful that you have given so much of your time for evaluating and expressing your impression about my photographs. As the exposures appear alright in the eyes of experienced persons like you, I accept them to be O.K. But, the histograms are not showing that. They are not atall smooth and uniformly shaped.

1) There are two peaks on either side -- one on the shadow side and the other on the highlight side, with a valley on the midtones.

2) The sharpness of the photos -- is it acceptable; what do you feel? I used monopod in all cases!!

Thnx and regards.

[Stagecoach]

1) There are two peaks on either side -- one on the shadow side and the other on the highlight side, with a valley on the midtones.

That is as would be expected for the images posted.

They consist of a large area of lighter tones with roughly an equal area of darker tones, with little in the middle.

If you are expecting a more 'regular' (term used very loosely) histogram this would occur if the background was brightened and the buckets darkened by further 'balancing' of your ambient/flash.

[Manfred M]

But, the histograms are not showing that. They are not atall smooth and uniformly shaped.

I'm sorry, but there is no reason for the histogram to have the shape that you describe. The histogram shows what is there. In shots like these where we have very dark shades and very light ones, a good exposure will have data near the very left hand side (showing the shadow detail) and more data on the right hand side (where the highlights are). The stuff in the middle really doesn't matter all that much because the histogram shows what is there.

What you don't want is a histogram with a lot of data with a value of "0" as this would indicate the shadow detail is crushed. Likewise a lot of data with a value of 255 would show the highlights have been clipped, again, usually something we try to avoid.

As for the sharpness, that is difficult to say because the images you have posted are so small. I tend to shot with a tripod rather than a monopod in situations where I am using a low shutter speed. Shooting at f/2.8 is likely to give you a very shallow depth of field (depending on the lens you are using, to some extent) and that will give you softening outside of the focus plane which may or may not be acceptable to you.

[Rufus]

Sadly, Sanjib, I am not one of the experienced members of the forum. Others here will be able to give a better explanation, but my impression is that the shape of the histogram is not surprising: you have many dark tones in the backround and many light and very light tones in subject.

It took me while to realise that the normal distribution bell curve used in statistics is not what I should aim for in any image. I use the histogram to help avoid or identify images that have blown out pure white pixels or where there is no detail in the blacks.

As for sharpness, that is somewhat in the eye of the beholder as some people like images that others find oversharpened. If you are disatisfied with the sharpness, you could sharpen a little more while post processing.

When shooting you could:
(a) use a smaller aperture. Perhaps f/5.6 would still blur the background sufficiently and would avoid the lens being wide open where its performance will not be at its best, and/or
(b) increase the shutter speed to mitigate camera movement, even using a monopod. Depending on the focal length, 1/60th is still fairly slow.

All this will lead to a higher ISO being autoselected by the camera which may result in an unsatisfactory image so I would take the camera off auto ISO and rely on the flash. However the direction of the flash and hard light might provide less desirable modelling of the subject.

Finally, what we did not consider previously was whether the colour in the subject is a reasonable representation of how it would appear in real life if that is what you were seeking to achieve.

It will be interesting to see what others suggest.

[cauger61]

Thnx Manfred. Here my settings differ with those suggested by you in the following ways:

1) Your suggested shooting mode is manual; mine was Aperture priority

2) Your suggestion is self determined ISO; mine was Auto ISO as decided by the camera

3) with regard to White Balance, there was no difference -- I set daylight instead of AWB

O.K. with regard to histogram shape, I understand all of yours points.

But my couple of questions are:

1) do one still requires to use flash even after getting correct (meter indicator at "0") exposure in the manual mode?

2) suppose that if one stick to aperture priority, does self determined ISO give better output than Auto- ISO?

3) with regard to colour representation of the objects as they are in reality, (pointed out by David in the last para of his comments), do you feel that flash helps in it or it kills the colour; so that natural light better captures the real colour?

[Stagecoach]

Sanjib, it would help if you can explain exactly what it is that you are not happy about the exposure. By "exposure" I am referring specifically to the brightness or darkness of the foreground subject (buckets) and the background.

But in the meantime ..................

But my couple of questions are:

1) do one still requires to use flash even after getting correct (meter indicator at "0") exposure in the manual mode?

No, not if you are happy with the result.

But when shooting indoor shots with low light you may be forced to use a low shutter speed that is going to cause camera shake problems or the result will be affected by subject movement. These can possibly be overcome by increasing ISO but that is going to increase the noise.

There's a big difference between shooting a static subject from a tripod than shooting a fidgety child hand held in low light

2) suppose that if one stick to aperture priority, does self determined ISO give better output than Auto- ISO?

Assuming you are shooting without flash, if you use Aperture priority, you need to know exactly what your Speed is doing. You could use Auto ISO and set a 'Minimum' Speed.

3) with regard to colour representation of the objects as they are in reality, (pointed out by David in the last para of his comments), do you feel that flash helps in it or it kills the colour; so that natural light better captures the real colour?

Personally, I would ignore colour at present until you become more practised and confident with your exposure procedure.