Effective use of Flash Photography

Did you ever put your flash unit in manual mode? Did you ever manually turn on the flash when taking a daytime outdoor photo? For many, the answer to both questions is “no”. For most amateur photographers, flash is just a solution for taking photos when there is not enough natural light. Although a legitimate use of flash photography, there are much more ways to efficiently use flash. This article will cover the various types of flash units available, the different scenarios under which they can be used, the advantages of using flash to achieve better photos, and the common mistakes people make when using flash photography.

As with any other technology knowing how it works behind the scenes and your options can help in better utilizing it to your advantage. Flash photography has been around for more than a hundred years. It started with a dangerous and manually controlled technology that used a powder that was lit by either fire or an electrical current. These flash solutions were dangerous and hard to use since the flash was not automatically synchronized to the camera’s shutter. Modern flash units use an electronic flash tube synchronized with the camera’s shutter. When turning the flash on, the photographer does not need to worry about flash timing - the camera takes care of it automatically.

There are two types of flash units: Internal and External. The internal flash unit is built-in to your camera. It can be controlled through the camera’s menus. Some low-end cameras only allow the use of their built-in units. Some low-end and all high-end cameras also allow the attachment of an external flash unit to be attached. External flash units are either attached to the camera’s body through a dedicated slide-in slot or are connected to the camera using a cable. They vary in strength – how much light can they generate for how long - and in mechanical characteristics – can they be tilted or skewed or are they fixed in relation to the camera’s body. Regardless of the connection type external flash units are electronically connected to the camera and are synchronized with the shutter.

When setting your flash unit to automatic mode, the camera fires the flash in scenarios where insufficient light is available. The camera often makes a wrong judgment and will either fire or not fire the flash when the opposite is needed. Also, in some scenarios, the camera cannot tell that firing the flash will result in a better photo. One problem when using a flash is washed-out photos. When the flash is too strong, or the object is too close to the camera, the result is a washed-out photo with not enough details, and the object appears too white or too bright. Another problem is a photo with too many details: in some scenarios, the flash can create artificial shadows and lights, which result in a photo that includes details that are exaggerated relative to their appearance in real life. For example, when taking a photo of an older person's skin, wrinkles and imperfections can look much worse than they really are in real life.

It is essential to know the limitations of the flash unit. Any flash unit has a certain amount of light that it can generate. Usually, this amount can be translated to an adequate range for using the flash. When trying to take a photo with the object too far – more than the flash unit range – the object will appear dark. When trying to take a photo with the object too close to the camera, the object will be washed out or too white. It is essential to know your flash range and make sure that your object is within that range.

If you need to take a photo with your objects not within your flash unit range it is better to turn off the flash completely and use a tripod with long exposure. Using the flash in such scenarios can fool the camera into setting a high shutter speed, resulting in a darker photo than a photo taken without using the flash.

In some scenarios, the camera will not automatically fire the flash, although using the flash would have resulted in a much better photo. One such scenario is taking a photo during day time when the object is shadowed. For example, if the object is wearing a hat, the hat can block the light from the object’s face, or when the object is lit from the side, the object’s nose can block the light creating a shadow. In such scenarios, the flash unit can be set to “fill in” mode. The flash will be fired to fill in those shadowed areas, but it will not be fired strong enough to wash out the photo.

Another scenario is when the sun is behind the object. One example is taking a photo on the beach against a sunset. If taken without a fill-in flash, the result will most likely be a silhouette of the object. If taken with a fill-in flash and the object in range, the result will be a clear photo of the object against a sunset.

In conclusion, your flash unit can be a great tool. Although, for many using the flash in automatic mode is enough for the more sophisticated photographer who wants to achieve higher quality photos, understanding and experimenting with the flash unit can yield great results. Following some simple rules, such as making sure objects are within the flash unit range and using fill-in flash when shadows can appear on the objects, is easy and significantly improves your photos.