When should you use Flash Exposure Lock (FEL)?
Asked 12/13/2010
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I understand that Flash Exposure Lock (FEL) measures the flash output needed for a shot and stores that value. In real-world shooting, when and why would you use FEL instead of letting the camera calculate flash exposure at the moment you take the photo?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
15y ago
2 Answers
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Same reason you'd use normal exposure lock - if you were to reframe the camera would recalculate it wrongly. For example, think of a photo of a person's face in the extreme corner of the frame, when the rest of the frame is dominated by snow further away. When you initally frame the shot with the face in the centre, the camera will focus on, and meter based on, that face. It will also choose the flash output. If you didn't lock those settings, then reframed, it'd recalculate them and the face would be overexposed.
Originally by user2329. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user2329
15y ago
0
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Use FEL when you want the flash exposure based on a specific subject area, then keep that flash power fixed while you recompose.
A common example is a person against a very bright or very dark background. You can aim the center of the frame at the face, trigger FEL to meter the flash for that area, and then reframe. Without FEL, the camera may recalculate flash output for the new composition and over- or underexpose the subject.
FEL also acts a bit like spot/partial metering for flash. Instead of using the camera’s broader evaluative flash metering, it meters around the center area, which is useful when you want the flash exposure based mainly on a face or other key subject.
Another practical use is with people who blink at the metering pre-flash. If you lock flash exposure first, the main exposure can happen with just the actual flash burst, reducing the chance that the subject blinks at the wrong moment.
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