348 THE HASSELBLAD MANUAL
unchanged.With non-dedicated fl ash, exposure is reduced in the same fashion but by chang-
ing the ISO setting on the fl ash unit set for manual or automatic operation.
Fill Flash Used as a Main Light
Flash offers wonderful possibilities outdoors not only as a fi ll light on sunny days, but also as
an additional light on overcast days or in shaded areas, perhaps in nature photography. In such
cases the fl ash becomes the main light and can be most effective if removed from the camera
and placed as a sidelight or a backlight using a long sync cable. The fl ash adds life, gives the
impression of sunlight, produces better colors, allows you to work at smaller apertures, and
can reduce the likelihood of blurry pictures due to camera or subject movement.
Combining Flash and Existing Light Indoors
In many indoor fl ash pictures, you probably want to make the room a part of the picture
either because the room is beautiful, a ballroom, a church, a restaurant, a museum, or a beauti-
ful home, or just because it looks more natural than having people surrounded by darkness.
Use the same approach as discussed for outdoor people pictures by taking a meter reading
of the important part of the interior and set aperture and shutter speed accordingly. Since
people indoors are more likely the main subject, reduce the fl ash just slightly (at the most
the equivalent of ½ f stop) or not at all.
As the existing light in most indoor locations is limited, you may have to use a tripod. Do
not hesitate to use slower shutter speeds than you normally do, because the short fl ash dura-
tion reduces the danger of blur due to camera motion becoming objectionable or even vis-
ible at least in the fl ash-lit subjects. This approach is not necessary when the people are right
in front of a background, only when they are in the middle of a room which visually produces
a more beautiful picture.
Ghost Images
When fl ash is used with a moving subject in surroundings with suffi cient ambient light, we
can produce interesting images consisting of a sharp image of the moving subject surrounded
by blurred streaks, conveying the feeling of motion. A dancer photographed at
1
/
8
second, for
example, can have just enough blur in the moving arms or legs to indicate the motion while
at the same time showing sharp details in the dancer’s body. A basketball player photographed
at
1
/
30
second can produce the same results. The shutter speed must be long enough to pro-
duce a blur, and the aperture must be set to produce the desired exposure of the existing
light.
PRODUCING BETTER FLASH ILLUMINATION
The fl ash head on built-in and on most portable fl ash units is small, producing a directional
light with sharply outlined shadow lines. You can soften the light and produce people pictures
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