sunday school: fill-in-the-flash

I know that many of us here are natural light shooters who adore super fast prime lenses like the magical 50mm f/1.8 (or f/1.4 if you're lucky).  Let's see the hands of those of us who have raised our noses ever so slightly whenever witnessing someone using their camera's built in flash.  Now let's see the hands of those of us who would much rather embrace the blur than use a flash.  Yeah, I thought so, and my hand is in the air along with many of you. 

Considering that our chosen symbol for the sisterhood is a beautiful big old flash bulb, I've decided to make friends with my flash and to apologize for all those years of neglect and contempt.  And you know what?  I've actually found that our flash (even the built-in camera one) IS our friend, and that if you take the time to figure out its capabilities, you can take better photos.

One situation in which a flash as simple as the one that came with your camera will come in quite handy is when you are shooting in bright glaring sunlight.  Unless you're shooting exclusively in the shade, you will find that many of your shots have harsh shadows.  You can minimize this by using just enough flash to fill in the shadows especially if you are shooting into the sun.  This is a technique called fill flash.

I played around with my aperture, shutter speed and flash compensation to get the photo above with fill flash.  Without the flash, the photo would have looked something like this.  Pretty dull, huh?  For those of you who love shooting into the sun for that pretty sun flare, try using flash next time, especially if you have a person in the foreground with their back to the sun.  Most digital cameras these days have either a fill flash feature or flash compensation feature that allows you to control the brightness of your flash .  You'll probably have to play around with your settings a bit before you get the result you want, but you'll probably find it well worth the effort.  I know I did.

Finding photos taken with flash in the Shutter Sisters Flickr group pool is like pulling teeth, but I did find this one by Angela (angs*photos), this lovely portrait (with the flash stopped down -1.3) by Kathy (work2snap) and this adorable baby shot by Lawyer Mama [Steph].  How about the rest of you?  Have any flash pointers, or images you want to share in which the flash proved to be your friend?

Comments

[Tracey Clark]

OK Sarah, we are on the same wave-length. I have been working on a post for popping in a little light (via flashes) as well. I'll have to work on it and post it soon!
Until then, I was digging around my old archives form Picture This (anyone remember those days?) and I found a few simple posts about fill flash.
http://picturethis.typepad.com/picture_this/2006/06/the_happiest_pl.html
http://picturethis.typepad.com/picture_this/2006/06/the_happiest_pl.html
http://picturethis.typepad.com/picture_this/2006/06/the_happiest_pl.html
Keep in mind the old blog is practically in shambles since it's no longer being taken care of -sniff- but the info is still there!

[Angella]

I did a whole post about using fill-flash...and shooting in the summer sun:

http://www.dutchblitz.net/summer-photo-tips/

[Marcie]

This is the end product of using a flashlight to alter the lighting. Not the same as an on-camera flash..but I was pleased with the result:

http://www.marciescudderphotography.com/index.php?showimage=475

[Leah]

I just found the flash power adjustment stuff on my camera a couple months ago. I've been playing around with it and while I'm rarely THRILLED, I certainly have found that it's awfully useful.

I really want to make a popup flash diffuser out of an old plastic film canister like they showed on photojojo a while ago, but I have inertia issues and haven't gotten around to it yet. :)

[shelli]

I've been wanting to try this. Thank you. Thank you.

[e.darcy]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/edarcy/932596613/
This was a flash moment. My first time actually to use a flash-borrowed from the friend who I was taking the pictures of. She sold me on flash--and now I am trying to un-teach the flash and really learn what this camera can do without it.
I thought that I could get away with it at a shoot last week-much to my disappointment, I found that so many pictures of mine were ruined with grain-Oops-forgot about ISO...

[lora]

Amen sister! I am a flasher all the way. ;) I need to see my baby's gorgeous face without pointing his only set of eyes into the blazing sunshine. and for that reason, i have learned to embrace my built in flash. i LOVE it. =)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28987938@N00/2242317211/in/set-72157603851001638/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28987938@N00/2242323945/in/set-72157603851001638/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28987938@N00/2243116342/in/set-72157603851001638/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28987938@N00/2243087064/in/set-72157603851001638/

[Stephanie]

I just posted this one last night abut breaking the rules and taking pictures in (gasp!) full sunlight!
http://slsmithphotgraphy.typepad.com/

[Jenna]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22555250@N05/2687579475/

I got this one using fill flash against a backlit sunset and was pretty thrilled with how it came out.

[Angie]

Here's one where the flash saved the day.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thethiers/2667914687/in/set-72157606170079525/

[Karen from Chookooloonks (and Shutter Sisters)]

Oh honey, I've got nothin' but love for the fill flash. My suntanned daughter would've been nothing but a silhouette without it here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chookooloonks/2524928786/in/set-72157605253634481/

Great post!

[Rebecca]

I learned to use flash last spring and it changed my life. Or at least the way I shoot. I think the biggest thing is to not use TTL because it gives a flat balanced light. And get the flash off the camera when possible to give the subject a little depth. The best thing that I learned was to add more flash, not just a little fill. When shooting a person with the sky in the background, underexposing the background a little and setting the camera so only the flash, on ambient light, is hitting their face brings out that dreamy blue in the sky.

I could go on and on all day about lighting now. :) But I won't.

[Rebecca]

I learned to use flash last spring and it changed my life. Or at least the way I shoot. I think the biggest thing is to not use TTL because it gives a flat balanced light. And get the flash off the camera when possible to give the subject a little depth. The best thing that I learned was to add more flash, not just a little fill. When shooting a person with the sky in the background, underexposing the background a little and setting the camera so only the flash, on ambient light, is hitting their face brings out that dreamy blue in the sky.

I could go on and on all day about lighting now. :) But I won't.

[Terri]

I took this picture of the inside of a church in Salzburg Austria without using my flash ( didn't bring it that day)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mondaysmemories/2650247519/

This is the same spot the next days after using my flash.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mondaysmemories/2651210590/

Not the greatest pictures but I knew as soon as I took the first one that I wanted to go back the next day to retake them all using my flash.

[Lawyer Mama]

Ooh, I'm glad you found my flash pic buried in the pool! I just got an external flash about a month ago & it's sooooo helpful! For the baby picture you linked up there, I had it bouncing off of the ceiling.

For this shot, I had the light bouncing behind me.

http://flickr.com/photos/lawyermama/2728091209/

[Kirsten]

Thanks for the tips! I often use flash just so I can capture my boy's fast moves in our dimly lit house without as much blur. Thanks to you lovely ladies now I know I have to expose for the backround! Here's my pic!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/somethingcheeky/2687792438/sizes/l/in/set-72157605421409729/

[cloudscome]

This is really helpful. I know nothing about how to use flash effectively. I always turn it off. Now I have a challenge to work on! I'm going to all these links right away.

[cloudscome]

I did take this one of my son on the beach with the flash on, just because I forgot to take it off.

http://flickr.com/photos/cloudscome/2723322073/

Compared to the other shots of him that day I think his skin tone is a little off from the glare of the flash. But it's not a bad shot, mainly because I like the perspective. Advice and comments welcome! I'd love to learn more about how flash effects skin tones. My sons are a warm brown and flash always flattens the glow. How to compensate for that? I only have a built-in flash on a point and shoot.

[Michelle S]

I talked my girl, Sarah, into trying this with me. Here's what we got, while sitting out on our patio.

Sarah's- favorite
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26029966@N02/2730135780/in/photostream/

[Lu]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ldb/2236087581/in/set-72157603334220902/

I am in love with Flash...especially after taking a studio lighting class. I learned that using the flash is just another way to add a little more light. Being a light junkie...how can I not love the flash? The more you experiment with everyday situations, you can find ways to make the flash work for you.

Now, I intentionally look for ways to use an extra burst of light to make my pictures sing.

[renee @ FIMBY]

Thanks for sharing. I'm hoping to use this technique and maybe be a little friendlier to my neglected flash.

[tangobaby]

I still have not learned to make flash my friend (although I adore my little Shutter Sisters necklace and wear it all the time).

However, I did take a great photo of someone else using flash, my two-year old neice, who now has a love of photography just like her aunt does.

This photo cracks me up. I just took it yesterday so your timing is perfect. I hope you like it to:

http://bp1.blogger.com/_RnZheVYBZWo/SJaQWZ1MT3I/AAAAAAAACCo/0S3WgXE_DIU/s1600-h/IMG_9120.JPG

[Shannon Taylor]

Just discovered your website & hope to get involved. I found it ironic that I just decided a couple of days ago to suck it up & use the fill flash. LOVED the results & hope to do it again in the near future.

Here's my results:

http://flickr.com/photos/9681780@N03/2730583270/

[Dawn (elfini)]

Ooh, I just got a flash unit for my birthday last week! Have just started to play with it but have gotten a few test shots of my little one.

http://elfini-thescenicroute.blogspot.com/2008/08/talk-about-peer-pressure.html

[Tanya]

LOVE the tip on the fill in flash. Must try it. Flash is my friend. Flash is my friend.... ;p

[Cecily]

Can anyone point to any good - simple, easy to understand - flash tutorials on the web? And don't say strobist - their BUY MOAR GEAR! approach is a bore. Thanks!