Flash photography tip: Set your flash manually
Thursday 5 October 2023, 14:07 by Elja Trum | 2,855 views | 3 commentsThis article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.
Many flashes have useful TTL capabilities. TTL stands for Through-the-lens, or, in plain English, through the lens. Quite an ingenious system that means you no longer really have to think as a photographer. It is often better to set your flash manually.
When you take a photo, your flash first emits a short burst of light. Your camera then measures the light coming in through the lens, hence the name, and calculates the correct flash power needed to expose your subject properly.
The shutter on your camera then opens, followed by the actual flash that you see in your photo. This process happens so quickly that in practice you only see one flash. A very handy system that quite often produces well-exposed photos, although unfortunately it sometimes does not.
Personally, I like to know exactly what is happening. That is why I prefer to set my flash manually. TTL is useful when you have little time to take your photos or when conditions change frequently.
About the author
Elja Trum is the founder of Photofacts and online photography course website Photofacts Academy. He has been writing about photography since 2006. Elja is also the author of (Dutch) books on composition, black-and-white photography, flash photography and portrait photography.
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3 comments
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Marcel Govaerts wrote on Tuesday 10 October 2023 at 13:32 | replyI always had more faith in manually setting my flash, but my teacher convinced me to work with TTL. However, there is still something inside me that tells me to do it manually
Translated from Dutch. -
Nando
wrote on Tuesday 10 October 2023 at 15:51
| reply
TTL and setting the flash manually are for two completely different applications. If the distance from the flash to your subject is subject to change, then TTL is the best choice. If the distance is always the same, then setting the flash manually is better.
Translated from Dutch. -
Gerrit wrote on Tuesday 10 October 2023 at 20:57 | replyAgree with Nando. It's the circumstances that determine your choice. I use my flash both in TTL and M mode. It's just like with the settings on the camera. Sometimes it can actually be quite handy to set it to P (Canon) if the lighting conditions allow it. Don't get hung up on what you 'should' do or what 'people' think. Ultimately, it's about taking a good photo.
Translated from Dutch.
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Would you like to take better photos and keep up with what is happening in photography? Photofacts publishes articles that teach you something about photography — from a product announcement to a practical shooting tip or a look at a website. Photofacts covers photography every day and is a hobby project of Elja Trum's that got out of hand. The articles are written by a team of volunteer authors. If you would enjoy writing one or more articles for Photofacts, do get in touch.More about PhotofactsPhotofacts is made possible in part by
