Simple (perhaps embarrassing) fill flash question.

[Marc B-C]

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I have been a photographer for 50 years but have never enjoyed using flash, preferring natural light for those times when I must photograph people (which I also do not enjoy). 

I now have an SF40 mostly for fill flash to photograph friends and family when natural light does not work without a tripod.

Am I heading in the right direction by using the camera to measure for ambient light (I mostly use aperture priority and auto ISO) then experimenting with the flash in manual and adjusting output power until I like the result. My gut tells me I should underexpose in the camera setting too.

Any tips?

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[Stephen.s1]

I'm doing about the same thing using my SF60.  Results have been very satisfactory. 

[LocalHero1953]

I think you're going in the right direction, if you are using manual exposure. My difficulty is judging how much flash is enough. I have found that what looks reasonable in Play mode on the camera looks carelessly bad once I see it on a monitor. Under-exposing the main scene where you want to use fill-in flash would be a mistake and would exacerbate the unnatural appearance. Nor would I use an auto exposure mode.

I don't claim to be an expert, and would be glad to hear from those who have better experience.

Edited March 3, 2023 by LocalHero1953

[earleygallery]

When I used to shoot weddings I would use a very small low power flash unit I had as a fill flash - it was with a Bronica so no issues with flash sync speeds and I would meter as normal, the flash would just lift and shadows on the faces and would also add some 'pop' on dull days.

There are rules for exposure with flash if you google and do some reading but I would say it's better to experiment with what you have to see what works best for you.

[luetz]

Like you, I let the camera take a light reading.  If a highlight is. noticeable I will lock on that highlight, recompose and shoot.  Setting the flash head for bounce(off white ceilings) and various durations will help at times.  I usually have my exposure meter always set at -1/8(just a habit).  I also like to dabble with off camera flash via trigger if that set-up suits the occasion.