Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/05/13
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Francesco, If you want 1-2/3 stop fill ratio, you can decrease the power output from your flash unit. Or purchase some ND gels (ROSCO) that go over theatrical or movie lights. Gradations of 0.3 equal one stop, refered to as N3s or ND3s or any combination. You can also purchase ND with warming characteristics, see your local movie grip supplier for complete assortment (they have sample books). Most times the sample size gels are perfect for smaller flash units. Different effects such as overpowering the subject and darkening the background (Annie Liebowitz circa 1980) needs large flash units and or high sync speeds. For brighttening the background you need to extend the shutter speed. For fill flash, regulate the output of the flash. If the ambient exposure is 1/50 @f 11, fill flash output should be f 6.3. For equal brightness the flash output should be at f 11. To overpower the scene and darken the background, flash should be f 16 or greater and lense set accordingly. Hope this helps Al