How to Get Good Exposure Indoors With a Flash

Erica and Brian join Jeff at the round table to discuss how to get good exposure indoors with a camera and a single flash plus 4 portrait backgrounds easily found in ANY neighborhood.

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Episode Resources:

Petapixel: 4 Portrait Locations You Can Find in Every Neigborhood – https://petapixel.com/2018/10/01/4-portrait-locations-you-can-find-in-any-neighborhood/

How to Get Good Exposure Indoors

Here is what long time listener of the show asked in the Facebook group:

Marcelo Soffiantini: I have been asked to photograph an indoor event along with other photographers and I have never shot indoors, unless it was for myself. I use a Yongnuo 560iv as a speedlight and my Nikon D500. I will be taking a lot of candid shots. Does anyone have any suggestions? This is not a last minute post, as I have seen many many times, people do on Facebook. I have plenty of time to prepare. Thanks in advance for any input.

To get the best exposure indoors with a flash you start with a slow shutter speed, about 1/100, as open an aperture as possible like f/2.8, ISO 400, and flash power of 1/32.  Take a test shot and adjust your shutter speed to be slower from there to make things brighter and decrease to make things brighter.

Jeff: Erica, you face these kinds of environments regularly and have a lot of equipment to help you get good exposure.  Let’s start off talking about this limiting the equipment to what was mentioned in the question. How you would approach getting a good exposure given your equipment is a camera and a single flash.  What would your initial settings be and walk through how you would adjust.

Erica: Initial settings: low shutter speed to capture ambient light and allow the flash to blend with the environment (low shutter speed is different depending on the lens). Start with flash around mid-power (1/32ish) and adjust as needed to blend. Bounce flash using walls or ceiling or even a bounce card. Avoid pointing the flash directly at the subject if you can.

Brian: MagSphere. Point it straight up then tilt it forward a notch. I first walk around and look at the lighting. Where is there natural light coming in? What are the windows like and is the lighting shining through harsh or soft? Harsh light looks cool as a spotlight in a b/w photo. As much as possible, especially at a wedding reception, try to have your flash complement the decor lighting and not over power it.

Jeff: I clearly remember the first time I bounced flash off the ceiling for a very dimly lit reception, which is even more challenging than normal in the building because they want mood lighting and don’t turn on all the lights the building has to offer.  Anyway, my setup was nothing special. I had a single flash mounted in the hot shoe of my camera pointed straight up to the ceiling. I understood getting good exposure outdoors using aperture, shutter speed, and ISO, but I had almost no idea what I was doing with flash.  Frankly, I was super nervous to give it a try because I have seen really bad flash in photos my whole life. I have a ton of Christmas morning photos my parents have taken where the flash pretty much ruined the picture.