The Flash Photography Field Guide

Mimicking Existing Ambient Light

You don’t always have to put bursts of flash light in places that it naturally wouldn’t occur—like behind a bride’s veil. Sometimes a great image results from creating a natural-looking shot where the flash mimics the existing ambient light.

So why not just use the ambient light? Well, in many cases the ambient light is too variable, not bright enough, or has too much contrast. In these cases, carefully using off-camera flash can not only mimic the natural light, but help you improve on it by managing contrast and giving you a workably high shutter speed to avoid blur.

The key to a more natural-looking shot is to look at where the ambient light is coming from, and work out how hard or soft it will be. This could ...