FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY

Flash photography can be quite a difficult thing to get right, but thanks to the ever- evolving technology in equipment, it’s getting more user-friendly all the time. I am personally very fussy when it comes to the use of flash because of the unnatural appearance it can give. But fear not there are some nice little techniques that can be applied to use flash creatively and practically.

Even on a bright sunny day, harsh shadows can detract from an otherwise good image. If there seems to be that problem, put your subject in the shade, expose correctly for the background then use your flash to even things up a bit. You will find the result is a pleasing, evenly lit image. If you have an automatic point and shoot camera, set it to flash on. This is called fill flash. Using a diffuser of some sort over your flash will soften it a bit also. Tracing paper is a great one to try!

The other type of flash photography is used when there is a low light situation like indoor, dawn, dusk or night time. If shooting indoors, one good trick is to bounce the flash off a wall, ceiling or reflector. (This can only be done with speedlights) which spreads the light more evenly creating a more natural and softer looking shot. Bear in mind that it is preferable for the wall or ceiling to be white as a colour cast of say, yellow will be produced if that is the colour wall. A silver and gold reflector adds some nice tones.

Another good use of flash at night is to slow your shutter speed down so that any existing ambient light can fill into the image. Let’s say you are in a restaurant and there is some nice candlelight giving off that ambient reddish glow. Slow your shutter down to anywhere from ½ to 1/20th of a second (depending on how much candlelight you want) and you will get a nice sharp flashed image with a bit of mood.

Remember, light freezes any movement in the dark so if you are close enough to your image with flash, you can actually handhold your camera for slow shutter speeds. The results can be very interesting and effective.