Flash photography - not the easiest subject
October 27th 2007 06:07
No flash needed for this scene.
Not the easiest of subjects as I really do think you need to be quite experienced to be able to judge just when the use of a flash is necessary and how to use the flash for its best effects.
The built in flash that most cameras have has a limited range in which it can be considered useful, and a better and more expensive flash bought to complement or substitute for that in built flash can be well worth the money, that is if your camera is suitable for use with an extra piece of equipment of this nature.
Once again I've selected a range of photographs from the web and there are some there which are intended to show the differences in effects of a photo with and without the use of flash.
I think the best approach is to treat the subject fairly superficially at this stage and doing some extra posts later when many have had the opportunity to implement some of the advice offered here.
The simplest use of the flash is, of course, in poor lighting conditions, the next is to use it when photographing from poor light to brighter light such as a girl sitting in a window sill.
Another use is when you need to fix a photo sharply when the speed of operation of your shutter appears not to be optimal and of course, we then move on to more specialized features of flash photography.
Flash photography
Fill in flash is intended to overcome the problems of background light infusing into the realm of a good photo. I don't think this is a very good comparison but flash is used for each so that the faces and foreground features are not lost.
Fill in flash can literally save a picture that is in danger of having very hard shadows on the subjects face, or being overly back lit meaning the face is underexposed
I think the left one is an illustration of poor skills in composition and not being sufficiently close to the subjects. However, most photography is done with time at a premium (unless in studio conditions) so sometimes it is better to get a poor shot than no shot at all.
Girl in window
This photograph is a good comparator when it is easy to see what use of the flash has managed to achieve. Of course a photo artist can always choose an inappropriate feature and make that itself of feature of his art, in which case a silhouette would be chosen, but a better one than this one.
The frog image needs very special treatment from an experienced photographer.
I include it here for the purpose of letting you know that.
Frog - soft tissue
A flash can also be use to counteract the problem of red eye and many cameras are specially designed to counteract this
Red eye effect, despite the use of red-eye reduction flash and the subject looking away from the camera is shown in the photo below.
Red eye in photographs
I think what most readers can get out of to-day's post is using the flash in poor lighting, red eye, backlighting and awareness of possible special effects and the limitations of some cameras.
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Comment by James Rickard
unlucky_ fishermen.com
Angling Fish
That being said, I think Katyzzz is doing a slam bang job with these tips!!!!!!!!!!!!
Comment by Miswanderlust
Killer Beats
Ramble On
Hipnotherapy
Great tips!