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October 7, 2008 |
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Created and Maintained by: The Photoimaging Information Council |
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by Russ Burden |
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Flash - whether it’s a pop up one on your 35mm SLR, a built in one on your point and shoot, or a larger and more powerful accessory unit that attaches to your hot shoe, it’s an amazing piece of equipment. Think about it - it allows us to make pictures where light doesn’t exist. Life is very good! In a dark room, I can take shots of my son’s birthday party, the family gathered around the table during the holidays, my neighbor’s wedding reception, or in any other dark environment. It’s truly a modern marvel that a small photographic accessory can create light where none, or a small amount exists. Let me reiterate - “a flash creates light where none, or a small amount exists.” Think about this for a moment............ If a flash creates light were none or little exists, think about that photo you took outdoors of your son while he had on his baseball cap and the ugly brim shadow it created over his eyes and nose. In that brim shadowed area of the photo, there existed only a small amount of light relative to the rest of the image. Therefore, is it feasible and practical to use a flash to add light to that area of the photo to brighten it up? ABSOLUTELY! And so was born the use of flash in outdoor photography. Open Up The Shadows: The myth we need to get passed is when it’s sunny, there’s plenty of light, so who would ever think of using a flash. The matter of fact is because the sun is so bright, the contrast range between the highlights and shadows is so high, the shadows go black and little detail is revealed. Think about the boy in the baseball cap. By adding flash, the highlights aren’t impacted but the dark areas are opened up revealing detail. So whether you’re taking that shot of a person with a long brim hat, a clump of flowers that have deep shadows, your pet in the sun in the backyard, or any other situation wherein deep shadows hamper a good image, think about using flash to add light to the dark areas.  © Russ Burden
 © Russ Burden
Limitations: As amazing as the flash is, it does have limitations. Let’s revisit the baseball cap situation. If you’re standing along the first base line and your son is standing on second, don’t expect the flash to fill in the shadow on his face. The light from a flash can only go so far. If you’re using a built in flash, think no more than twelve feet away from your subject. If you’re using a powerful accessory flash, double it and maybe even a bit more depending on the f stop being used. Get away from being the person who at the opening ceremony of the Olympics in the nose bleed section of the stadium uses a flash to photograph the athletes on the field. The resulting image will be a great exposure of the people’s heads in the three rows in front of the photographer - again, the twelve foot range.  © Russ Burden
Read the Manual: Check to see if your camera has what’s called Balanced Fill Flash or a Forced Flash On mode. These offer a bit more control than standard automatic. If you leave the flash set to automatic, it will only fire when it’s dark which defeats the purpose of using it outdoors. Forced Flash On will tell the camera you want the flash to fire every time you press the shutter. So if you’re within 12 feet of the person with the hat, the additional light from the flash will help open up the shadows. Balanced Fill Flash allows you to adjust the amount of light that’s emitted from the flash. This is powerful as you take control over how much light is added. This can create a more natural look to the image. In the before and after images of the mountain goats that accompany this article, a more powerful flash was used in order to be able to cover the distance between myself and the animal and to add enough light to make the effect noticeable. In both shots of the people, I was close enough to use a built in unit that had Balanced Fill capability so I could control the amount of light. Notice how natural the balance is between the natural light and the light from the flash. So fear flash no more and take charge of the shadows - but stay in the range of its capabilities.  © Russ Burden
To learn more about this topic, join me on one of my Photographic Nature Tours. Visit www.russburdenphotography.com and click on the NATURE TOURS button for more information. Also, pick up a copy of my new book, Amphoto’s Complete Book of Photography. You can purchase a signed copy directly from me or visit your local book store or Amazon. Contact me at rburden@ecentral.com to order your signed copy.
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