To Flash or Not To Flash? March 1, 2010
Posted by Emily in : Photography , trackbackFlash.
Whenever I heard that word associated with cameras I automatically thought, “UGH! GAG!”
I hated the harsh light flash would produce, and the strong shadows behind your subject.
I vowed NEVER to use one.
Natural light for me all the way baby.
That was how I felt before I learned how to use a flash properly.
Now, natural light will always look good because it’s natural, but there are times when you absolutely need some fill light to expose your shot properly.
This shot was taken with no flash:
It was an overcast day, so even at high noon the lighting was quite soft as the clouds functioned as a lighting softbox
This next shot was taken in the shade without a flash.
It is nicely exposed, but I wanted to lighten up the shadow on the side of her face a bit so I took another shot with a flash.
This was taken with a flash:
Now, there’s not a huge difference, but the light is a bit more even overall. (I would post a better example, but my computer is still recovering from a nasty case of Swine Flu.)
Flash also comes in super handy when you’re photographing in bright sunlight and your subject is back-lit by the sun. Fire that flash up and you will have a great image of your subject lit up with the sun behind them.
Please keep in mind, if you want great results with flash, you must buy an external flash. AKA, speedlight. Your in-camera flash has so many limitations, and everything you fear (more like, everything I fear) about flash will come true with your in-camera flash:
- 1. It’s not strong enough for a lot of lighting situations.
- 2. You can’t bounce it off anything since it is permanetly in the same spot
- 3. I have no idea how you diffuse an in-camera flash, and a flash diffuser is the magical ingredient that makes flash so beautiful.
I use an SB-400
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