Creative: Fill Flash

I’m continually amazed by how many younger creatives thumb their nose at education, training, and the idea that photography is something learned through practice. I’ve noticed a trend to be famous before doing even the most rudimentary moves toward learning the craft. It’s doubly odd because many of the younger creatives, mostly in photography, are enamored by the gear side of things, but still don’t have a basic understanding of how photography works.

Case in point: fill flash.

I was recently out of the country on vacation. I was under strict orders. No photography, no teaching, just vacation. So, I was out shooting with my friend, and we encountered a young “photographer” who asked if we had captured any images of him. We were at a location where people were diving off cliffs, so this wasn’t a bizarre request. When the young “photographer” approached me, he asked, “What are you shooting with?” Just that lead question is a red flag, but I played along and showed him the camera hanging around my neck. “Fuji X100VI,” I said. And then with the smuggest of looks, he countered with “I shoot Leica.”

My first thought was, “No, your dad bought you a Leica.” This guy was maybe twenty and had the smugness of a wealthy kid. The kid then said, “I gotta make money with this photography thing.” Yes, he said that, “photography thing,” another huge red flag. He then asked why I liked the Fuji. Still playing along and trying my best to be nice, I said, “Three reasons.” “First, built-in lens, no way to get lost in lens choice.” “Two, it’s tiny, and I can carry it all day long.” “Three, it’s got a built-in strobe.” And this is where things went sideways.

“What’s a strobe?” he asked. Now, when he asked this, my mind immediately went to, “Maybe ‘strobe’ is an old-world term that younger photographers wouldn’t know,” but I know this isn’t the case because I know plenty of young, working photographers who use strobes all the time. HMIs or hot lights, too. So, still being nice, I said, “Oh, a strobe is a flash.” And he said…wait for it…“What’s a flash?”

This is where I had to draw the line. You are attempting to make money at this “photography thing,” but you don’t know what a flash is. This is insulting to him, me, but more importantly, to photography itself. This is like saying, “My dad bought me a Gulfstream, I gotta make money at this ‘pilot thing.” “What’s an approach angle?” “What’s landing gear?”

I blame YouTube photography. It’s not entirely to blame, but YouTube photography channels have ruined so many younger photographers by filling their heads with nonsense. The vast majority of people on YT have no training and have never done an assignment. They have little to no knowledge of history and don’t understand context. It’s the lazy person’s way out. And what do these dolts on YT tell young photographers?” “Don’t go to photo school, don’t go to art school, don’t take workshops, just buy the latest kit because that’s what makes you a photographer.”

Let’s talk about two images I made in the hours before my encounter with the “Leica lad.” The man you see here is the groundskeeper at the location where I was staying. I’d met him two years before, but didn’t remember his name. He remembered me as well, but also forgot my name, so we were even in a sense. I would get up at sunrise, make coffee, then walk to the sea to go for a swim. Swimming with the sun coming up is one of life’s great pleasures.

This guy would come from an hour away, get to the location before sunrise, go for his own swim, then shower and get to work. So, over the course of a few days, we had a chance to talk. I asked about his life, his house, his routine, and his ideology. I didn’t ask to photograph him right away, out of respect for him and for the process of photography. Take your time. I wanted to know more about him before I made any attempt to make pictures.

I then scouted locations at the time of day when I would ask him to pose. The shoot should take no more than sixty seconds and should explain more about him. The classic environmental portrait. Backlit, wide, broom, landscape, with his face being the main attraction. By the time I asked, we had been talking on the beach at sunrise for several days. “Can I make a quick portrait of you?” I asked. “Of course,” he said. And this is where the strobe comes into play.

I knew after scouting, with the morning light, I would need to pop a little fill. This isn’t the +3 Martin Parr strobe, or the 1980s Michael O’Brien technique using strobes to overpower ambient daylight while using tungsten film with warming gel on the strobe. Nope, this was your basic, “fill the shadows,” moment that you learn to do IN THE FIRST WEEK OF PHOTOGRAPHY SCHOOL. (Most young photographers MIGHT know Parr but would never take the time to learn about someone like Michael O’Brien.)

This is BASIC photography. When I first picked up a camera with real intention, I was handed a strobe and taught how to use it, and this was back when you had to have a PhD in quantum mechanics to figure out the strobe. There were distances, and colored wheels, and the need to do quick math on the fly to determine the correct output. All while shooting transparency film, historically unforgiving. In other words, it wasn’t easy to learn strobe, but we did because we had no other choice. This was before the crutch of “I’m an available light photographer,” that those terrified of learning strobe began to lean on.

We had editors standing over us, and if you didn’t use fill light, you were gonna hear about it, and not in the sugar-coated, protect your inner child methods of today. Back then, the message might come as a stapler being thrown at your head. Yes, we’ve come a long way, thankfully, but the idea that photographers don’t need basic training is ridiculous and embarrassing, and besides, these days, strobes are super simple, and in the case of the Fuji X100VI, built in.

All I needed was a little pop. Just enough to enhance the catchlights and to lighten the shadows. I also used the built-in ND filter, which is another reason I love that little Fuji. Just a little pop. I shot two frames, knew I had what I needed, then turned off the strobe to make another picture to show YOU ALL what it looks like without the strobe. Yes, I thought about this site and how this moment might be a good learning moment.

It’s not the end of the world to NOT have the fill light. He still has catchlights, and digital has such incredible dynamic range, but the fill light adds so much to the portrait. It adds life. The fill I used is balanced to the ambient light. There are times when I go +1 or +2 on the fill to add more harsh shadow and a bit of glam to the moment, but times like this, I’m adding just a touch. Do this enough, and you don’t have to think about it. You see the final image in your mind, and your body automatically moves to match the settings you need. You might not like fill light, but that doesn’t mean you don’t learn how to use it, because if you are trying to “make money in this photography thing,” clients are going to expect you to know basic photography principles.