The Flash Photography Field Guide

Flash as the Main Light Source

Fill-in flash is generally flash that fills in shadows and reduces contrast from the main light, but you don’t always have to use your flash this way. In fact, one of the best uses of flash is to underexpose the ambient light so that your flash output becomes the main light source.

When you work this way, it’s as if the ambient light is acting as the fill light to reduce the contrast from the main light, which is the flash.

Unlike on the previous pages where the idea was to place your flash on-axis with the lens so it didn’t cast its own shadow, when using your flash as a main light source you want the flash to create shadows for an impression of depth and three-dimensionality. That means taking the flash off your ...