Have you ever had that feeling when you know that things are not really under control? You got the gist of how things work, but you are also aware that you don’t know the details. Well, deep down we know that are the details to make the difference. This was my case until now when it was time to talk about flash photography!

No, I am not talking about lightening, that’s a completely different chapter, I am talking about how technically a flash works! How does the flash work out the correct exposure? What’s the difference between A Mode and TTL Mode (P-TTL on Pentax systems)? Why is the flash shutter speed limited to the 1/180 sec sync? And how the High Speed Sync work? Well, you will find out these and many other answers in this fantastic guide I found out recently:

http://www.pentaxforums.com/articles/photo-articles/pentax-p-ttl-flash-guide-updated.html

What I read that I didn’t know about:

• Difference between the A-Mode and the P-TTL mode. So far I usually switched between the two randomly, now I understand how they work and when it’s better to use one instead of the other.
• How the shutter slid works and how the delay of the slids affect the equation that eventually force the flash to not work with an exposure faster than the sync speed (usually 1/180s)
• How the HSS works and how it can be applied to off camera portrait photography! HSS is almost essential for outdoor portraits!
• I knew this already, but I found out only recently, what the zoom in the flash actually means and how it must be wisely used (look at the picture below to figure out yourself)

If you knew this stuff already, maybe you don’t need to read it, but if you don’t, do yourself a favour and go reading it now!