Tip #4350 - Mastering Flash Photography
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Mastering
Flash Photography
Flash photography
isn’t easy to master. And on top of that, if you have a hopeless
flash, it makes matters even worse. But don’t worry! If you
follow the easy tips I have for you today, you can overcome low light
conditions and ensure that your pictures will be worthy enough to
be included in your photo album. Okay, so let’s go over some
strategies and techniques you can use to master flash photography!
Keep Your Distance
One of the simplest
ways to decrease the impact of the light coming from your flash is
to put a little more distance between you and your subject. Many of
the blowout flash shots are simply because the photographers are too
close to their subjects. Now, stepping away from your subject doesn’t
mean you can’t fill the frame. You can use your camera’s
zoom lens or you can simply crop the shot later on your computer!
Scatter the Light
If your DSLR camera
doesn’t allow you to have any control over how much light it
puts out, you may want to consider manually making some changes that
limit or diffuse the light coming out of your camera. However, point
and shoot camera owners can stick a little piece of white tissue paper
or cello tape over their flash. Just remember though, the color of
the material you use will affect the color of the light that comes
out of your flash (and therefore, the color that will be cast on the
scene of your picture). White tape or tissue paper will give a more
natural light than red or blue.
Use Reflected
Light
Another strategy
dedicated flash users will often use is to redirect or bounce the
light coming out of their flash off of another surface. They are able
to do this, because some flash units can be swiveled and shot into
different directions. Point and shoot camera users can’t do
that. Instead, they can take a small piece of a white card and place
it at an angle in front of the flash so that the flash is redirected
onto the ceiling of the room (or even sideways onto a wall). Again,
the color of both the card you use and the ceiling or wall you’re
bouncing the light off of will affect the color cast in your shot.
Use Slower Shutter Speed
Most point and
shoot cameras have a cool option on their dial called "night
mode." This mode tells the camera to use a technique called "slow
sync flash." It basically means taking a shot with a slower shutter
speed, while still shooting with the flash. This means you get a little
more ambient light from the scene, while still freezing the action
with the flash. The shots taken in this mode won’t give you
pin-point sharp images, but they can be fun and very effective, especially
if there are some nice colored lights in the room.
Decrease
Flash Output
Some point and
shoot cameras have the ability to tell the camera just how much flash
you want it to use. This won’t be something you all have at
your finger tips, but check your camera’s manual to see if you
have it. If you do, dial back your flash output by a stop or two to
see what impact it has. It might take a little experimentation to
get the setting just right, but it can help you end up with much more
natural shots!
Light
Up the Scene
When you are faced
with extreme low light, it’s advisable to turn on all the lights
in the room you're in or you could move your subjects to a better
lit position near a lamp or other light. Another way to increase the
impact of ambient light on a subject is to think about reflective
light. For example, photographing someone standing next to a white
wall, as opposed to a black wall, will mean that any ambient light
in the room will be bounced onto them (this is similar to having your
own reflector).
Tweak Your Camera Settings
One last way to
decrease the impact light has on a scene is to tweak some of your
camera’s exposure settings, particularly those that affect how
the camera treats light, such as ISO and Aperture. If your camera
allows you to change any of those settings, that could be very helpful.
If you increase the ISO setting, you will increase the camera’s
sensitivity to light. That means the ambient light in the room will
have more effect and you’ll have less need for flash. As you
increase the aperture of your camera, you increase the size of the
hole in your lens and more light is able to get in quickly. So, increasing
the aperture (this means decreasing the f/number) can be something
you can try for different effects.
Good luck in getting
your flash just right!
~ Zahid H. Javali
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