Improve Your Outdoor Portraits with Fill-in Flash

When you're photographing outdoors, the last thing you may think you need is a flash. However, have you ever wished your family or friends weren't squinting or half-covered in shadows? When shooting portraits you can significantly improve the lighting in your images by putting your flash in the Fill-in Flash mode. This flash setting appears as a single lightning bolt symbol in your flash mode settings menu. Normally your flash is set to Auto, which will only fire the flash when it detects low light, so in the scenarios above or something similar, setting to Fill-in Flash mode ensures it will always fire.

Without flash, outdoors. With flash, outdoors.

More Tips for Perfect Portraits

  • Use Fill-in Flash when shooting indoors with bright windows behind your subject. In this situation your subject is usually underexposed, or dark, since the camera's Auto flash exposure system is tricked by the bright light from behind your subject. The flash won't usually fire when your subject is brightly backlit. Setting the flash to Fill-in ensures the flash will fire every time regardless of the light level.

  • E-System and SP owners: If you are using the FL-50R external flash, bounce flash can be accomplshed outdoors with the Flash reflector Adapter FLRA1.

  • If you prefer not to use flash, you can also try a reflector. Reflectors can be positioned to reflect light into the shadowy areas of your subject. Reflectors are available at most major photography stores. Typically they are white on one side and a different color on the other side for other effects.
Sunlight only. Sunlight and reflector fill.

Images courtesy of the Olympus Digital School. The Olympus Digital School is not managed by Olympus America. It is part of the Web Photo School family of Web sites.


When Should I Use Fill-in Flash?
  • Is your subject squinting? Because you're trying to make sure the picture will have enough light, your subject is usually squinting into the sun or shielding his/her eyes resulting in an unnatural portrait. Using the flash will let your subject face away from the sun. The flash will illuminate them properly so your subject can have a natural smile or natural appearance.

  • Are harsh shadows crossing your subject's face? The camera's flash exposure system will properly balance the available light and the flash to gently fill in the shadows and produce a more pleasing portrait.