Hello,
I remember someone explaining the right thing in such a wrong way that no
body understood… I'll do my best not to loose you!
Sunset photography is like playing two ballgames at the same time!
No, not yet! Stay with me a little longer, …please? Thank you!
Oh yes, the two ballgames… How can anyone play two ballgames at the same
time and come out a winner? Dead right! Cheating… And the secret cheat in
this is that your gonna play the two games simultaneously but with only one
ball! Cool cheat! …isn't it?
Here is the strategy:
The simple part is is the first game: without flash. So simple that I'm finished
with it already.
The second game is played with the flash: flash on TTL, camera on mode S and
set at say 1/250s. If you see a dark band on your frame, just slow down the
speed, say 1/125s. So far, so good.
Now the cheat: the ball is, in fact, the lens aperture! Say that with any given
flash, the correct distance to the subject is 4 to 15 feet with that given TTL gun
set at a given fixed shutter speed. The only remaining ways you have to adjust
the incoming light are the ISO and the aperture. If the flash is not strong enough
crank up the ISO to 400 or 800. Now the last ace, the aperture:
Close down the lens, the sunset will be darker and the flash will have to work harder
to achieve a proper exposure.
Open up the lens, the sunset will be lighter and the flash will have to work far less
to achieve a proper exposure.
These two lines are the ball, the cheat, the ace up your sleeve! Read them again
until they do not sound strange anymore. Simply put, it is with the aperture that you
will balance the two light sources. In any case, the flash should always give you a
decent exposure, you decide how much sunset light will come in and play in the game!
For that purpose you have a great tool: The view screen behind your camera! You
should be able to evaluate how much is good or too much or too less.
Like always, do some fun tests before the event: you don't want to look too clumsy
with a Nikon in you hands!
Have a good time!