Fill flash is a technique that many photojournalists try to avoid, but it can be very useful in certain situations. The technique involves using just enough flash to bring detail into shadow areas that without the flash would be difficult to reproduce.

They maintain that the flash has the potential to disrupt the situation, interfere with the moment, and may actually cause them to miss the best picture while the flash recycles to full strength.

This is all true, and perhaps it is best utilized while your subject is stationary. This would mostly occur in portrait situations, but can also really help the “readability” of event coverage.

Recently I attended a session at Western Kentucky University for photojournalism students in which area newspaper picture editors participated in a roundtable discussion on how to obtain internships and jobs, and also reviewed the students’ work.

It was refreshing to see students trying to learn the tools of photography, and not being afraid to try the best way to visually communicate their story. Sometimes the fill flash worked, other times it didn’t, but they were not afraid of at least giving the technique a shot.

I thought the three photos here worked very well, regardless of the level of experience of the photographer. Here’s a nice photo by student Alex Slitz, where evidence of the flash is barely discernable—-which is when the technique is most successful.

Although these next examples are portraits, and the photographer had more control over movement of the subjects, I thought these two photos by Daniel Houghton were very cool.