Fill flash for Travel Photography

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Flemming Morgan

Flemming Morgan

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I know this is mainly a wildlife group but I am sure many of you mix the wildlife with travel photography. I often find myself in busy markets with very challenging lighting, mixture of light and dark shadows and was wondering what experience any of you have with easy to carry fill flash to help with shadows and dark lighting situations
 
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I am shooting mirrorless. I find using a flash draws too much attention and spoils the "naturalness" of the folks around me.

In those situations, I shoot manual with Auto ISO. I set the aperture and the shutter speed and let the camera pick the ISO. If the scene is a bit under or over exposed, I adjust the exposure using Exposure Compensation.
 
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I always take speedlights on my trips. For markets I prefer to use a f/2.8 zoom lens like the 24-70mm as opposed to the f/4 lenses. The autofocus is faster with the faster lens providing more light to the AF sensors.

I use flash with a Better Beamer for birds in the trees to add a touch of fill light and minimize the green cast from light reflected off the foliage.

For general flash I use SB-800 speedlights and would only use ones with 4 AA batteries as the recycle time is much longer with the ones using only two AA batteries. A tilting head can provide bounced light off a wall or ceiling if they are present. A flash can also add catchlights to a subject's eyes which enlivens the image.
 
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Butlerkid said:
I am shooting mirrorless. I find using a flash draws too much attention and spoils the "naturalness" of the folks around me.

In those situations, I shoot manual with Auto ISO. I set the aperture and the shutter speed and let the camera pick the ISO. If the scene is a bit under or over exposed, I adjust the exposure using Exposure Compensation.
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Thanks. I often find that if I don’t want to blow out the highlights the rest is very underexposed. I tried bracketing with limited success!
 
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Calson said:
I always take speedlights on my trips. For markets I prefer to use a f/2.8 zoom lens like the 24-70mm as opposed to the f/4 lenses. The autofocus is faster with the faster lens providing more light to the AF sensors.

I use flash with a Better Beamer for birds in the trees to add a touch of fill light and minimize the green cast from light reflected off the foliage.

For general flash I use SB-800 speedlights and would only use ones with 4 AA batteries as the recycle time is much longer with the ones using only two AA batteries. A tilting head can provide bounced light off a wall or ceiling if they are present. A flash can also add catchlights to a subject's eyes which enlivens the image.
Click to expand...
Thanks. I shoot with Sony so will look for the Sony equivalent of the SB-800
 
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I often use an SB-5000 or SB-500 for fill, even for casual stuff and almost always for landscapes. I also use various light-shaping products so I can use the additional light to highlight a specific feature. Depending on the situation, I may reduce the power to "underfill," which makes the additional light less obvious. In a bright sun situation, I will do the opposite and "overfill" to overcome the deep shadows caused by the sun.
I should note that I've been shooting with fill flash for close to 60 years, dating back to my days as a news photographer, and I tend to view every photo as needing a bit of fill :) Just habit, but I get compliments from magazine editors because of the extra "snap." The SB-5000 is awkward to carry, and I prefer the SB-500 and would like something even smaller but the flash sync on the Z9 isn't compatible with many flash units :-(
[About a zillion years ago I took apart a Honeywell flash and rebuilt it into a much smaller footprint (and less light), which made it easy to keep on the camera all the time and was perfect fill when shooting Tri-X at higher ISOs. I miss that flash because it was innocuous and didn't interfere with the handling of the camera. Since then I've wished for a "flash cube." (One was briefly available a long time ago, but I can't remember who made it.)]
 
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Thank you v
rloeb said:
I often use an SB-5000 or SB-500 for fill, even for casual stuff and almost always for landscapes. I also use various light-shaping products so I can use the additional light to highlight a specific feature. Depending on the situation, I may reduce the power to "underfill," which makes the additional light less obvious. In a bright sun situation, I will do the opposite and "overfill" to overcome the deep shadows caused by the sun.
I should note that I've been shooting with fill flash for close to 60 years, dating back to my days as a news photographer, and I tend to view every photo as needing a bit of fill :) Just habit, but I get compliments from magazine editors because of the extra "snap." The SB-5000 is awkward to carry, and I prefer the SB-500 and would like something even smaller but the flash sync on the Z9 isn't compatible with many flash units :-(
[About a zillion years ago I took apart a Honeywell flash and rebuilt it into a much smaller footprint (and less light), which made it easy to keep on the camera all the time and was perfect fill when shooting Tri-X at higher ISOs. I miss that flash because it was innocuous and didn't interfere with the handling of the camera. Since then I've wished for a "flash cube." (One was briefly available a long time ago, but I can't remember who made it.)]
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Thank you very much. That’s very interesting as I didn’t imagine flash for landscapes. I am trying to get up the learning curve with flash photography and also light shaping tools. So much for me to learn! Thank you for posting your experience
 
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I care about recycle times as often when photographing people they will tense for the first shot and then relax and it is the second or third shot that is the keeper. Only professional models will completely ignore a photographer with a camera pointed in their direction.

I made the mistake of taking the 70-200mm f/2.8 lens to Italy and on the streets whenever the lens was pointed in someone's direction they would visibly tense up, as though I was pointed a cannon at them. A 105mm prime lens is much less obtrusive and still provides a comfortable working distance for ones subjects.

Few appreciate how a bit of fill flash will help separate a subject from a background which is often busy and distracting. And with high ISO cameras very little in the way of output is required from the flash to provide adequate fill.
 
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Calson said:
I care about recycle times as often when photographing people they will tense for the first shot and then relax and it is the second or third shot that is the keeper. Only professional models will completely ignore a photographer with a camera pointed in their direction.

I made the mistake of taking the 70-200mm f/2.8 lens to Italy and on the streets whenever the lens was pointed in someone's direction they would visibly tense up, as though I was pointed a cannon at them. A 105mm prime lens is much less obtrusive and still provides a comfortable working distance for ones subjects.

Few appreciate how a bit of fill flash will help separate a subject from a background which is often busy and distracting. And with high ISO cameras very little in the way of output is required from the flash to provide adequate fill.
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Yes, I agree. It’s incredible how a bit of fill flash can transform a photo. I love taking my 85mm f1.8 out for portraits and it is very small so less intrusive. I will try with my 135mm also. A bit bigger but not too much. Thanks
 
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This is a landscape pic where I used a little fill flash to help with some shadows on the boat.

Lake McDonald - Glacier NP.jpg
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i think it depends a lot on what exactly you are intending to do with it.

the new godox v1 pro has the ability to have a little clip on sub-flash which may make it a pretty handy combo for on-camera flash.

that said, i think the ability to shoot off-camera would give you a lot more flexibility.

here, i have an assistant hand-hold a godox ad200 for fill

https://flic.kr/p/2pe4ZdC
 
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John Navitsky said:
i think it depends a lot on what exactly you are intending to do with it.

the new godox v1 pro has the ability to have a little clip on sub-flash which may make it a pretty handy combo for on-camera flash.

that said, i think the ability to shoot off-camera would give you a lot more flexibility.

here, i have an assistant hand-hold a godox ad200 for fill

https://flic.kr/p/2pe4ZdC
Click to expand...
Thanks. I have been looking at off camera options as well. Great photo!
 
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Flemming Morgan said:
Thanks. I have been looking at off camera options as well. Great photo!
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you could do something like the v1 pro + a nano trigger. you could then use it on or off camera.

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www.bhphotovideo.com

that said, my understanding is the nano "feels" a bit bigger than it looks in the photos. although tbh, i don't find the size of the xpro ii problematic.

the v1 pro looks interesting for the sub-flash feature, but the more traditional profile like the godox v860iii is probably more portable
 
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John Navitsky said:
you could do something like the v1 pro + a nano trigger. you could then use it on or off camera.

Loading…

www.bhphotovideo.com

that said, my understanding is the nano "feels" a bit bigger than it looks in the photos.

the v1 pro looks interesting for the sub-flash feature, but the more traditional profile like the godox v860iii is probably more portable
Click to expand...
Thanks. I will have a look
 
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Flemming Morgan said:
I know this is mainly a wildlife group but I am sure many of you mix the wildlife with travel photography. I often find myself in busy markets with very challenging lighting, mixture of light and dark shadows and was wondering what experience any of you have with easy to carry fill flash to help with shadows and dark lighting situations
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Beware of different colour temperatures when using flash in daylight. Grey days are OK but in sunlight I carry CTO gels. Sounds to me that you are not wanting fill flsh, but to actually light shaded areas and a flash will spoil the ambience of the scene no matter how much you diffuse it.
 
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Flemming Morgan said:
I know this is mainly a wildlife group but I am sure many of you mix the wildlife with travel photography. I often find myself in busy markets with very challenging lighting, mixture of light and dark shadows and was wondering what experience any of you have with easy to carry fill flash to help with shadows and dark lighting situations
Click to expand...
Love my Profoto A10
 
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