Flash photography tip: Use your flash sync speed on sunny days
Saturday 17 August 2024, 13:31 by Elja Trum | 2,853 views | 5 commentsThis article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.
A good starting point on a sunny day is to set your shutter speed to your camera's flash sync speed. This allows you to open your aperture a little further, so your flash does not have to work as hard.
Another advantage is that your depth of field can become smaller (larger aperture opening). The background in these photos will then be slightly more blurred. For portraits, that is usually a plus point.
On most cameras, the flash sync speed is often 1/200s or 1/250s. You can always look this up in the manual or with a Google search. It is useful to know where the limit is for your camera.
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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5 comments
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Kees Verwaard wrote on Tuesday 20 August 2024 at 11:10 | replyHello Elja, I don't quite understand this. On a sunny day, at 1/250 second I already end up with a fairly small aperture. Even at ISO 100. So a fairly large depth of field, which is often not the intention with a portrait. Of course I do understand that you use the flash for fill-in.
Translated from Dutch. -
Elja Trum
wrote on Tuesday 20 August 2024 at 13:01
| reply
It of course really depends on the situation. If I point my camera outside now, I get f/11 at 1/250s and ISO 100. I usually look for a spot in the shade, though, so then you quickly end up at, for example, f/4.
Translated from Dutch.
I also mean here that you would use your flash to light your subject. So not fill flash. -
W.j.j. Wilmers wrote on Tuesday 20 August 2024 at 18:46 | replyA bit of a strange title... on a sunny day... but you go into the shade yourself or in this case under a tunnel or something to keep your aperture low, if you do this outside in the sun your story can never be right except when you would use a grey filter.
Translated from Dutch. -
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W.j.j. Wilmers wrote on Wednesday 21 August 2024 at 09:18 | reply
great, thanks for your correction
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
