shooting at sunset with fill flash?

Hey guys,

Since I'm shooting analog medium format and no TTL. I was wondering if there is something I should watch for as far exposure? Meaning when I meter.. Should concider ambient light around me as well , so I under expose the backgroung.. Is this correct? Also.. I should probably make adjustments to flash output as the ambient light falls. Sorry.. I have a tendancy to over process things.

Todd

depends

It depends on what you want. Do you want the flash to overpower the light from the sunset? Do you just want a fill light, dimmer than the ambient light but filling in the faces? Are you doing kinda Film Noir? I assume you want just enough light to illuminate the faces or whatever in the foreground. Your flash unit manual should tell you what the subject-to-distance should be for a simple flash-only shot and you may want to cut that in half. B&W or color?

I'm thinking if early Misrach, is this the effect you want (see below):
I do some photography in that style and have done various things, 1) trial and error, 2) use a flash meter, 3) just set the flash on auto

Sorry for the terse answer above but more specifically if you underexpose the background it will be dark in the print, is that what you want? I don't do that I expose and print it to be light. The fill flash exposure is independent of any ambient light because the flash is so much brighter than the shadow light. If the shadow gets twice as bright from the ambient light, 2000 + 1 is essentially the same as 2000 + 2 in terms of exposure.

It's according to what you want for scene brightness. Assume you want some semblance of dusk, you might expose -1 stops, and set the flash for -2 stops. (Calculate flash as if using 400 speed film when you are using 100 for example) The flash would only contribute half the brightness of the exposure. The subtleties are best done with trial and error. (A dslr speeds up the trial)

Does the flash you are using allow for manual output? You could expose for the background you want, then bracket the flash output.

But I used this guide on the METZ page to start from when I was toying with fill. Manual part at the bottom.

https://www.metz.de/en/flash-units/hints-guides/fill-in-flash.html

This may be somewhat off your subject and I may be wrong but I vaguely remember that Misrach used his car headlights for illumination. Another technique I have heard about but never tried is depending on your subject is to take a partial exposure when more light is available and then a second exposure as it has become darker. You would have to either double expose or place a lens cap after the initial exposure with the shutter set to "B". Some years ago I manually set several flash units to fill flash for a family reunion group picture. I had three units set in different locations utilizing slaves for two and metered with the flash meter function on my Gossen Ultra Pro meter from the edges and center of where the group would be and adjusted the distances and flash settings so the lighting would be even. I didn't worry about the background (our back yard) and fortunately the exposures were right on.

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/