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Canon Speedlites the always available light - part 2 of 1 2 3 4 5

by Mike McNamee Published 01/08/2012

Flash exposure compensation

Flash Exposure Compensation can be set on the Speedlite or the camera, it is used to adjust the flash output to achieve the desired exposure.

Of vital importance when using flash and automatic flash metering, is that you need to remember the camera is intelligent, but not clever. In the same way that it makes an assumption with ambient light metering that the scene will average out to a mid-tone grey, so the same thing happens with the flash metering. This is why if flash is the dominant light source in the scene and you are photographing something black or something white, you will end up with flash over- or flash under-exposure respectively.

The solution to this, as with ambient light metering, is to use exposure compensation. In this case FEC or Flash Exposure Compensation - simply add positive FEC if your flash lit subject is white, or negative FEC if your flash subject is black.

Flash and shooting modes

Shooting mode will affect the balance between ambient and flash light in your pictures.

A question, and since you're reading this in the comfort of your own home, you don't need to admit the answer to anyone else! Which shooting mode do you use most frequently? It's important, because your choice will affect the way your camera balances available light with flash. The simple guideline to remember is that your shutter speed controls how much ambient light is recorded and the aperture governs how much light the flash has to put out...and ISO does a bit of both!

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1st Published 01/08/2012
last update 09/12/2022 14:52:09

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