Flash photography tip: Consider a flash meter

Thursday 24 August 2023, 20:20 by Elja Trum | 2,759 views | 3 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

If you really want to get your exposure right, a flash meter is a useful accessory. I hardly ever use one in practice myself, but I still wanted to give it some attention.

Yverdon - f/9, 1/160s, 100 ISO @ 70mm
Point your flash meter towards the light you want to measure, from the subject you want to illuminate, such as your model or background. Then fire your flash.

The flash meter will tell you which aperture to set on your camera to get a correct exposure with the current amount of light.

Not the amount you want? Adjust the power of your flash, which you can also do by moving it, until it provides the amount of light you want for your photo.

You will mainly discover the great advantage of your flash meter when you start working with multiple flashes. You can then see clearly for each light source whether enough light is falling on your subject.

You measure the incident light, so you do not have to take a light or dark skin tone into account, for example. The reflected light from your subject corresponds to reality.

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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

Robert wrote on Tuesday 29 August 2023 at 11:27 | reply
I use it in a studio setup ,certainly always with multiple monoblocs. Gives certainty. At least for me Elja.
Photo-shooting regards Robert
Translated from Dutch.

Marcel wrote on Tuesday 29 August 2023 at 13:44 | reply
But what if you now want a different aperture than what the flash meter says?
Translated from Dutch.

Elja Trum wrote on Tuesday 29 August 2023 at 13:57 | reply
Then the amount of light your flashes emit is too powerful (or not powerful enough). You then adjust the flash power of your flash until you arrive at the aperture you want to use.

If you still can't manage it, you can start working with filters or light modifiers to reduce the light. Or increase your ISO or add an extra flash if you want even more light.
Translated from Dutch.

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