Many photographers try to break it down the concept of flash photography into what they think are the understandable elements – the numerical values of the settings used. They want numbers, believing that in knowing a certain image was taken at 1/125th @ f4.5 @ 400 ISO, they might get closer to understanding lighting. They want the f-stop. However, the scenarios we encounter as photographers vary so much, that it becomes meaningless for anyone to “give you the f-stop.” Professional photographer Neil van Niekerk will tell you what is far more important: the methods used in lighting, such as how to get to correct exposure, finding beautiful light, and how to enhance the existing light with controlled use of flash. It is this intersection between available light and flash that we get great results.

With that in mind, Neil will cover three main topics in the presentation:
- achieving (soft) directional light from your flash
- flash exposure (including the use of the histogram and the value of max sync speed)
- balancing flash with tungsten light