Does fill-in flash have anything to do with exposure and turning that to -1?

Question

:) just trying to understand this...what if you need to use fill-in flash like in a church because there is lots of light but you can't use flash?

Answer 1

Fill in flash is used to splash just a little extra light on your subject. It could be used to fill in shadows on someones face, or simply to lighten up a subject just a bit brighter then the ambient light.

The EV setting of -1 is simply an override for your cameras built in meter. You are telling the camera that whatever it decides is the proper exposure, make it one stop less which is underexposed or making your image darker. A +1 setting does the opposite, it makes it brighter or overexposed.

If you use Adobe Lightroom, there is a tool in their to simulate adding fill-in light. It's pretty good. Adobe PS and PS Elements has a similar feature, as well as some other editors.

Use a higher ISO instead of flash, or take a slightly underexposed shot with a lower ISO and fix it in post-processing. There are trade offs regardless of how you go.

Answer 2

Well, fill flash is flash, so it would be forbidden as well. That is why pro wedding photographers have "fast" lenses, to squeeze the most from available light.

Fill can be used inside, of course, but fill is usually thought of to be flash added outside to fill in shadows caused by direct sun, or to lighten up the eyes and create a catchlight, or to even the exposure in high contrast situations.