This isn't exactly a simple technique for photographers, but hey, film is cheap when you're using a digital camera, so give it a try. The important thing about shifting your camera into manual everything is it gives you control. Get out of program mode, get out of autofocus, and get your electronic flash on a cord, or even better, on wireless setting! Now you're cooking with gas. The lighting for your background is determined by the amount of light that's able to pass through your lens and the amount of time your shutter is open. Find a shutter speed and aperture that works to give your background sky the deep rich blue color you get in the 15 minutes after sunset! This will probably take a slow enough shutter speed to make quite a bit of motion blur in your shot. Now comes part B! Freeze your subject in the foreground with an instant of blinding light in their face. This technique uses manual exposure, manual shutter speed, and manual focus. The only thing on auto is your TTL flash, which should get the foreground lit right if you dial up the power using about +1 stop of flash compensation. Hard work to get it right, but worth the wait when you pull it off successfully. Oh, and this may sound weird to some of you, but if you trust in Jesus, and read his word, and pray over your camera gear that you can use it it a way that honors him, it makes a difference in your pictures, as well as in your life.
