On-camera flash.
this post was submitted on 27 Nov 2023
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Adding to the other comments...
On camera flash, with an underexposed background (especially in the second two photos).
- Put your camera on manual.
- Set ISO closest to base ISO for your camera (ISO 100 for Sony for example), though if you are finding that you can't get the exposure you want at the base ISO(after adjusting the other settings mentioned below)...like maybe if your flash is underpowered...then feel free to start raising this ISO until you get what you are looking for.
- Set your aperture to the level of Depth of Field you would like (how much do you want in focus). Looking at these pics, I'd say something reasonably higher like f11, maayyybeee f8
- Set your Shutter Speed to a point where it blocks out most of the ambient light. This will totally depend on the environment and level of ambient light that exists for your scene. But start with the max sync speed for your camera with a flash (for Sony that is 1/250). If that cuts out too much ambient light, just decrease the shutter speed until you get the background exposure you are looking for.
- Finally, set your flash to the exposure you want. These look like they might be a stop or so overexposed so I would set it to the highest power and then move down until you hit the mark you are looking for.
https://www.flashpointlighting.com/blog/reverse-engineer-lighting/ https://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/04/reverse-engineering-other-shooters.html
Among many results for "reverse engineer photo"
https://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101-balancing-flash-and.html https://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101balancing-flash-with.html found by Google searching "balance ambient light"
For photo 1, note the relatively sharp shadow pretty close to the flowers. Sharp shadow means small light source. You can simulate this by using a flashlight near your eye.
Photos 2 and 3 notice how much brighter the objects closer to the camera are and how fast stuff further away goes to black. Here's a video about light falloff, found by searching "light falloff": https://youtu.be/x1kmUvxmTVw
I call this look "Flash Trash". It's that gritty, editorial, intimate look. Disgraced photographer Terry Richardson was known for this.
This look is very easy to do with most cameras.
This uses a flash, which can be built in (though only effective at a short range with wide lenses) or something like a Godox V1 (which is what I use).
Most flashes will do TTL (through the lens) which will auto set the flash strength.
I typically manually set the aperture (F8-F11 is a good starting place, you'll want a wide depth of field for this look), set the shutter for something like 1/250, and the ISO from 100 to 400, depending. The flash auto-set the strength in TTL mode.
Keep in mind that with these apertures, you'll need to keep your lens and sensors cleaner than if you normally shoot wide open. ASK ME HOW I KNOW.
If you set the shutter speed really slow, you can get really cool frame dragging effects since the flash fires for a brief part of the exposure period of the frame.
Buy a Kodak disposable camera
This was almost definitely shot with a disposable camera at night. That's literally it.