There is probably no type of photography that is more disappointing to the beginner than flash photography. Unlike natural-light photography, where what you see can often be what you get, it is difficult to visualize what the effects of using flash will be. Flash is shut off until the moment of exposure, and then its illumination is too brief to visually evaluate what it does to your picture.
The real learning process occurs over time, with trial and error. You should not expect to become an instant expert at flash photography, but persistence and observation (constantly comparing your pictures with earlier ones, and identifying not only the problems to overcome, but the successes you have achieved) will give you the experience you need to control flash and produce consistently-good flash pictures.
Generally, poor lighting conditions results in poor pictures. Usually you don’t need flash for normal daytime outdoor shots unless it's very gloomy. Keep in mind that flash has a very limited range so it should only be used when the subject is fairly close. Use fill flash to help lighten up a subject which in deep shadow.
It is best to avoid using flash indoors unless absolutely necessary: it tends to “burn out” subjects and can create harsh shadows. A better choice is to bounce the flash off the ceiling if your camera and flash support this option.
Another option is to let as much daylight in as possible and, turn on all of the lights. You have the option of using fill flash when there's enough light in the scene but your subject isn't well lit.
Under certain circumstances you might want to turn the flash off and let the camera deal with the low light condition by increasing exposure. This won't work in very dim conditions, but can give better results than flash. Be sure to guard against camera shake.
Digital cameras are less sensitive to light than traditional film cameras. If you are shooting indoors or in a low-light situation, even with the flash, you should move close enough to the subject for the flash to be effective (no more than 10 feet away). If this is a concern, some digital cameras allow you to use accessory flashes or studio-type lighting.
If you set your digital camera on Auto, the camera will attempt to determine the need for flash based on the lighting conditions, but you still should use the manual setting when appropriate such as using the flash in bright sunlight to reduce intense shadows. In typical indoor situations there will probably not be enough light to take a normal hand-held well-exposed photo. There are many indoor flash photo opportunities you may be faced with. You may want to cast light on a group of people for a portrait photo. You may want to throw light into a room for an architectural photo. Or you may just want to cast light on certain objects in a lighted room that appears too dark for an exposure. If your camera’s auto-exposure settings say that the photo would require a shutter speed slower than 1/60 of a second then you probably shouldn’t hand-hold the camera or the photo would come out blurry. The reason it would come out blurry is because the shutter would be open long enough for any minor hand shake to distort the composition. The use of a tripod or faster film will probably be needed but many of us do not regularly carry a tripod. Most photographers simply use their flash bulb when they are inside.
In order to take effective indoor flash photos there are some techniques you should keep in mind. When using the flash do not point it directly at a mirror or glass that will create a lens flare or just ruin the photo. Stand close enough to your subjects so the flash is actually effective (four to ten feet). Try to make sure your main subjects are about the same distance away from the flash as each other or some that are closer to the flash will appear brighter than ones that are farther away.
Fill flash fills in the areas of a photo that would normally appear too dark. Fill flash can be used for sunny day portraits for shadows on a subject’s face or to fill any shaded area that is out of the sunlight. Fill flash can also be used to cast light into a room where there are no windows. Fill in flash is ideal for back-lit and side-lit situations. In a backlit situation there will be a lot of light in the background but no or little light cast on the front of the subject. This would normally create somewhat of a silhouette effect, but with a fill flash it would balance the photo nicely. But in order for this technique to work, you must be careful to stay in flash range which is usually around four to ten feet. With common cameras in order to add fill flash to a photo just toggle the flash to go off when it normally would not be needed.
Many photographers also choose to bounce the flash off a wall or ceiling to get a softer diffused kind of light commonly sought after for portraits. This kind of flash technique requires a flash that can be aimed in a direction that the camera is not pointed. It takes practice to refine this technique and only a small percentage of photographers actually use it.
Practice using flash in your photos even when it is not necessarily needed and pay attention to your results. The best way to become better at flash photography is to analyze your photos and try to figure out what you could have done differently in order to create a better flash-filled exposure. While flash photography is difficult sometimes, more often, pictures are ruined by shaking.
Learning to use Camera Flash
I hope you will like and benefit from these flash tips for the perfect digital
photography!
You have to take full control of your digital camera's flash. Why? Because digital
cameras and their build-in software are pre-programmed and make a few assumptions..
For example:
There are sensors inside your camera that measure the percentage of illumination in
the scene at which your camera points. If the sensors measure low illumination then
your flash will fire. That is because your camera is pre-programmed with the assumption
that flash will improve the photograph in a low-illumination environment.
On the other hand in a high-illumination environment the flash will not fire because
the camera will assume it's not necessary. After all it's dark out there!
The issue with these assumptions is that there are certain situations when you want
an opposite result..
For example there are times when you want to shoot the perfect digital photography in
a low-illumination environemt without using the flash.. e.g. when you are in a dark
room with a candle burning and no other light sources.. If that's the case you need
to be really steady for the photograph to be sharp. You may want to use a tripod to
achieve better results. If you do it right you will have a perfect digital photography
with beautiful warm orange/red colours.
Remember that the straight light coming from the flash gives a cold commercial look to
your photographs. That could be ok in some cases but not in all cases.. You should
decide whether to use flash, not your camera.
But what happens when working in Bright Light, high-illumination environments?
Then, the flash will not fire! Of course that saves battery-power but what are the
results of your perfect digital photography? You definitely don't want to lose in quality
right?
Imagine when you want to take the perfect digital photography of a person wearing a hat
and the sun is overhead in the sky shining.. Then you will notice that the person's face
will be in dark shadow because of the hat! But even if there's no hat, you will usually
see shadows under the chin or under the person's eyes.. So what you should do is fill
those small shadows with light using your camera's flash!
Again, YOU should decide whether to use flash or not, and not your camera.. YOU should
take control of your camera's flash..
Today's digital cameras have five basic flash settings:
- Setting #1:
Automatic Flash: This is where your camera is pre-programmed to make assumptions
depending on the level of the environment illumination and use the flash accordingly.
- Setting#2:
Automatic Flash with Eye Reduction: Again, the camera uses its software to determine
when the flash will fire but there's also some type of red eye filters to reduce the red
eye effect.
You camera will probably automatically select, by default, one of the above two settings.
I recommend to never use the above settings if you're aiming for the perfect digital
photography.. And why is that you may ask..
As I said before YOU should be the one who decides whether to use flash or not.. And
furthermore the eye reduction filters will not always do a good work and will confuse
your subjects in most cases..
I recommend to make use of the following settings depending on the scene and the subject
you're trying to shoot..
- Setting #3:
Flash Always: With this setting enabled your flash will fire in all cases. You may want to
choose this setting when you want to fill small shadowed areas with light.
- Setting #4:
Flash Disabled: Your flash will not fire no matter how illuminated the environment or the
scene is.. Make use of this setting when you want to shoot in a low-illuminated environment
e.g. a dark room with a candle burning..
Just remember that in a low-illumination environment you have to be really steady in order
to shoot the perfect digital photography..
- Setting #5:
Slow Shutter Flash: This is a very underestimated setting and the least used.. If you choose
this setting your flash will fire ocassionally but the shutter will remain open for a longer
time than usual. This will allow you to capture the subject illuminated by the flash, but it
will also allow other lighting sources (like a candle's light) to record themselves.
This setting is perfect if there is high illumination on the background while infront of the
subject there's certain darkness. For example when you want to shoot a person in front of a
casino at night.
those five flash settings found in almost all digital cameras these days. Have a look at the
camera's manual for more information on these settings. They are really importand.
No comments:
Post a Comment