Using Fill-In Lighting Outdoors

Using Fill-In Lighting Outdoors

by William Lulow

About five months ago, I wrote an article about what “Fill-In” lighting is. Since you now know what it is, when, where and how should you use it? The answer is that unless you are trying to create an image with shadows and areas where no information is visible, you should use extra light in most of your photographs. There are two kinds of portable flash units you can use to add fill-in light outdoors:

1. Your camera’s built-in flash
2. An “on camera” or “off camera” flash unit

Sometimes, for larger shoots, studio flash units can be used outdoors but often need portable generators to supply the needed power. Portable units use batteries to get the job done.

Most cameras have a “built-in” flash mechanism that is very small and although they are not ideal in a normal, studio setting, they can often help fill-in shadows when used properly outdoors. I sometimes use the camera’s built-in flash when I just need some extra light outdoors. Here are a couple of images I have made with the help of my camera’s built-in flash:

Each of these images were made with just the pop-up flash built in to the camera. I use it in instances where I don’t want to carry or start setting up any external flash units, but still need to add some light to the overall image made outdoors. The trick to doing this successfully is not to let the camera’s flash overpower the ambient light supplied by daylight. The shot above of the couple in the carriage was made on a 16-degree day in New York in December. I did not want to start setting up any external lights that day so I just added the light from the camera’s built-in flash.

The other thing I like to do whenever possible, is to use my on-camera flash attachment to lighten shadows outdoors. The rig looks like this:

It is a white, bendable reflector attached to my small, portable speedlight. I mount the whole thing on my camera’s hotshoe. With the aid of a radio transmitter that the unit also can be mounted on, I can add some extra speedlights to the setup as well, if warranted. The advantage here is that the reflector not only makes the light bigger and therefore, softer, but it is also more powerful than the one that’s built in to the camera. These units are extra speedlights that can me mounted to the camera or to a light stand:

There are also times when it can help to direct light for a specific image. This can be accomplished by using your radio transmitter and a receiver mounted with an off-camera flash. Here is one such example:

Here, I wanted to create a bit of directional light to make the subject’s face stand out against a sunset sky. The flash unit was placed on a light stand and aimed directly at the subject from just off camera position to the right. I wanted to do this shot for a local ironworker’s union so that the bridge was almost a silhouette against the sky. I often carry just one light stand and a portable flash unit equipped with a radio trigger in order to get the flash off the camera.

So the take-away here is that you can use your built-in flash in a pinch, to supply some additional fill-in light as in the top image here, but it’s always better to use an extra flash unit that can be mounted on the camera or on a light stand off camera. The built-in flash can provide some extra light, but it is so small that the type of light it provides is really not useful in making images of people other than to add some light. The on-camera reflector is a viable alternative to using an umbrella. However, it too, is small compared to a studio umbrella. The idea of using a large light source is to keep the overall lighting effect soft, which is much more flattering when doing portraits.

Another thing I like to do when shooting outdoors is to set up an umbrella to add fill-in light. Here is what that looks like:

In this “behind the scenes” shot, I’m using my off camera speedlights. One is bounced into an umbrella and the other is placed off to the side.

Even when you are shooting outdoors, you may still need to fill in shadows or create a more interesting light than what the sun will provide. You also need to place your subjects with their backs to the sun, add a fill in light and let the sun be a secondary light source to provide highlights to your subject. When you do this, you will automatically be creating shadows that need fill-in light:

Here, the sun is providing light on the subject’s hair and shoulders, while the on-camera flash with a larger reflector is providing the fill in light.

Be aware of the times while shooting outdoors, when you need to add light to your images. If you don’t carry a portable flash in your gear bag, use the camera’s built-in flash.