{"id":73204,"date":"2020-08-12T23:33:59","date_gmt":"2020-08-12T14:33:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fujifilmnxtc.wpenginepowered.com\/stories\/working-with-lighting-ratios\/"},"modified":"2024-05-02T03:10:31","modified_gmt":"2024-05-01T18:10:31","slug":"advanced-month-8-using-flash-31-lighting-ratios","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.fujifilm-x.com\/en-us\/stories\/advanced-month-8-using-flash-31-lighting-ratios\/","title":{"rendered":"Working With Lighting Ratios"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><p>The ratio of flash to available light is a crucial factor in determining the look and feel of a photograph, and an important creative tool in a photographer\u2019s arsenal.<\/p>\n<p>Using flash outdoors in combination with ambient light is a good way to take control of lighting while keeping things looking natural. There are two ways to think about this technique:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>The flash is your main light source, with ambient light providing extra \u2018fill\u2019 illumination.<\/li>\n<li>The ambient light is your main light source, with flash providing the extra \u2018fill\u2019 illumination.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Which of these scenarios you choose depends on the look and feel you are going for\u00a0\u2013\u00a0they are very different approaches.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp_flexbox col2\">\n<li><img data-preload-after-window-load=\"preload\" data-preload-delay=\"300\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/fujifilm-x.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/1-flash-main-DSCF5796.jpg?width=581\" alt=\"Learn photography with Fujifilm, Working With Lighting Ratios\" width=\"581\" height=\" 871\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\">Flash as main light source with ambient fill light<\/li>\n<li><img data-preload-after-window-load=\"preload\" data-preload-delay=\"300\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/fujifilm-x.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/2-ambient-main-DSCF5791.jpg?width=581\" alt=\"Learn photography with Fujifilm, Working With Lighting Ratios\" width=\"581\" height=\" 871\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\">Ambient light as main light source with flash as fill light<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><p>It can help to think about these two approaches in terms of the lighting ratio between flash and daylight.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A 1:1 ratio means the flash and daylight are given the same priority. This is achieved by simply turning on the flash and photographing as normal\u00a0\u2013\u00a0use whichever shooting mode you like to get a correct ambient light exposure. The result is a balanced image where flash is evident, but doesn\u2019t overpower the ambient light.<\/li>\n<li>A 2:1 ratio means the flash is one stop brighter than the ambient light. This is achieved by turning the flash on and photographing as normal, with -1 stop of exposure compensation set on the camera. In this case, the ambient light will be underexposed and the use of flash is more evident. This works well when you want to place a greater emphasis on the main subject, while retaining some detail in the background.<\/li>\n<li>A 1:2 ratio means the flash is one stop less bright than the ambient light. This is achieved by turning on the flash and photographing as normal, with -1 stop of flash exposure compensation set on the flash unit. Here, the flash output is less discernible, but you often get the benefits of using flash, such as a catchlight in the subject\u2019s eyes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Obviously, you can go more extreme with your ratios, like 3:1 or 1:3, by dialing in -2 on the camera or -2 on the flash respectively.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp_flexbox col5\">\n<li><img data-preload-after-window-load=\"preload\" data-preload-delay=\"300\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/fujifilm-x.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/ratio-11-DSCF5847-1.jpg?width=581&#038;height=871\" alt=\"Learn photography with Fujifilm, Working With Lighting Ratios\" width=\"581\" height=\"871\"  data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\">Ratio 1:1<\/li>\n<li><img data-preload-after-window-load=\"preload\" data-preload-delay=\"300\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/fujifilm-x.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/ratio-12-DSCF5850.jpg?width=581&#038;height=871\" width=\"581\" height=\"871\"  data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\">Ratio 1:2<\/li>\n<li><img data-preload-after-window-load=\"preload\" data-preload-delay=\"300\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/fujifilm-x.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/ratio-13-DSCF5851.jpg?width=581&#038;height=871\" alt=\"Learn photography with Fujifilm, Working With Lighting Ratios\" width=\"581\" height=\"871\"  data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\">Ratio 1:3<\/li>\n<li><img data-preload-after-window-load=\"preload\" data-preload-delay=\"300\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/fujifilm-x.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/ratio-21-DSCF5854.jpg?width=581&#038;height=871\" alt=\"Learn photography with Fujifilm, Working With Lighting Ratios\" width=\"581\" height=\"871\"  data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\">Ratio 2:1<\/li>\n<li><img data-preload-after-window-load=\"preload\" data-preload-delay=\"300\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/fujifilm-x.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/ratio-31-DSCF5855.jpg?width=581&#038;height=871\" alt=\"Learn photography with Fujifilm, Working With Lighting Ratios\" width=\"581\" height=\"871\"  data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\">Ratio 3:1<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp_flexbox col2\">\n<li><img data-preload-after-window-load=\"preload\" data-preload-delay=\"300\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/fujifilm-x.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/ratio-all-available-DSCF5848.jpg?width=581\" alt=\"Learn photography with Fujifilm, Working With Lighting Ratios\" width=\"581\" height=\" 871\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\">Ambient light only<\/li>\n<li><img data-preload-after-window-load=\"preload\" data-preload-delay=\"300\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/fujifilm-x.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/ratio-all-flash-DSCF5857.jpg?width=581\" alt=\"Learn photography with Fujifilm, Working With Lighting Ratios\" width=\"581\" height=\" 871\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\">Flash only<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><p>Using flash as a fill-in source is good for photographing in bright, high-contrast sunlight, where strong shadows across your subject\u2019s face can look ugly, and silhouetting can occur when photographing into the light. Whereas using flash as your main light source is a good way of overcoming boring, flat lighting when you want to inject some drama into your photography.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><h3>Your Next Steps<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>CHALLENGE <\/strong>Photograph the same subject with different lighting ratios to see how many different looks you can create. Post the results to social media with the hashtag #MyFujifilmLegacy and #flash. You can also submit your work <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fujifilm-x.com\/en-us\/myfujifilmlegacy\/\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a> for a chance to be featured on our social media channels.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The ratio of flash to available light is a crucial factor in determining the look and feel of a photograph, and an important creative tool in a photographer\u2019s arsenal. Using flash outdoors in combination with ambient light is a good way to take control of lighting while keeping things looking natural. There are two ways [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":62318,"template":"","category":[2427,1202,2329,1251,565],"post_tag":[],"b2b-solutions":[],"class_list":["post-73204","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-type-stories","category-category","category-tips-category-stories","category-type-stories","category-stories"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"fujifilm_category_label":"Tips","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-10-05 05:13:23","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fujifilm-x.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/73204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fujifilm-x.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fujifilm-x.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fujifilm-x.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fujifilm-x.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fujifilm-x.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fujifilm-x.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category?post=73204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fujifilm-x.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_tag?post=73204"},{"taxonomy":"b2b-solutions","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fujifilm-x.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/b2b-solutions?post=73204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}