We all know the phenomenon in our photos when the sun is shining: hard shadows. We also see it in our holiday photos. Especially the area around the eyes becomes very dark and if the sun is slightly behind our subject, the face becomes really too dark.
And if the shadows are not too bad then our model (our subject) will disappear into the background. The balance in the photo is gone and we have to come up with something extra to make sure our model stands out.
In the summer I usually go out with my flash. Many people don't understand why, but here's the magic word: balance. With the flash I look for balance between the foreground and the background. You can play with this yourself. I personally like it when my model stands out, so I usually turn up the flash a bit. But of course you don't have to.
In the Perfect Picture in Argentina you also saw that the flash was used, but that the search for the perfect balance (no blown out air) still takes some practice.
Two principles are important:
1. Exposure Compensation
If you shoot in A/Av or S/Tv mode, you can make your photo lighter and darker with exposure compensation. A blown-out sky or a light background can make you a lot darker. A sky makes you a lot more spectacular.
But of course this also darkens your model or your subject, which is why step 2 is important:
2. Flash Compensation
You will illuminate your model with your flash. And here you can also provide more or less flash, but with flash compensation. For more flash you go to the + and for less flash to the -.
Do you now see the balance emerging, because they work great together: background slightly darker and model slightly lighter? No problem by having both compensations work together.
This way you get the most out of your camera and your flash and you come home with studio quality photos.
And do you want to master this completely? Then I would like to be your coach during the great practical workshop Outdoor Flashes:
https://shop.marcellogeerts.com/products/workshop-outdoor-flitsen-overdag