November assignment: flash portraiture – in pictures

A fast shutter-speed of 1/160 sec and a stong flash has captured the movement here. I loved the autumn colours of the vines in the background – happily the flash has lit them too Photograph: Alicia Canter for the Guardian

Overexposure when using flash is easy; the trick is to keep testing it out. I wanted to the flash to fill the highlights, not to overpower the subject's face Photograph: Alicia Canter for the Guardian

Using flash in the daytime against the sun allows the subjects to be correctly exposed, with the back light adding highlights Photograph: Alicia Canter for the Guardian

Getting a clean, natural look with flash can be difficult, but using a low power level on the flash (or covering your flash with a few layers of with tissue paper) can work magic. Here the flash subtlety lifts the highlights, and pops some colour into the background Photograph: Alicia Canter for the Guardian

Slowing the shutter speed down to half a second and using a tripod has captured the movement of the bus here. The flash has frozen the subject's face and also removed a lot of the yellow ambient light emitted by the streetlights Photograph: Alicia Canter for the Guardian

Low-light environments can be tricky to shoot in. This portrait had a shutter speed of 1/10 sec at f2.8, to capture the ambient light Photograph: Alicia Canter for the Guardian