For my third shooting assignment in Photo III I was given the task of experimenting with various techniques using an external flash. The external flash provided manual control over the power of the emitted light as well as the focal length of the light beam.
It was my first time working with flash, and I quickly realized that capturing images in an intentional way is largely an act of trial and error. Finding a balance between the flash exposure and ambient exposure (natural light) proved to be most challenging, as the subjects in early photographs were either too bright or the background too dark.
Techniques I explored included
Key Hard: flash is the key light, and is pointed directly at the subject
Key Soft: flash is the key light, and is bounced off of another surface or diffused
Outside Fill: flash is used as a fill light in daylight
Outside Key: flash is the key light in daylight
Shutter Drag: stop motion with flash using a long shutter
While I was initially skeptical, the ability to freeze subjects and create dramatic lighting using an external flash has made this tool grow on me. Keep an eye out for flash in my future projects.