One of the worst photo tips floating around the internet is regarding the use of flash. The tip reads like this: AVOID USING FLASH! Especially indoors! What???? Are these amateurs aware that ALL studio portraits are shot using FLASH, and the fact that it’s in a studio means that it’s literally INDOORS! Perhaps the tip should read: Learn to use flash PROPERLY!
The purpose of flash (also known as strobe, in professional realms) is to add more light. Where do we need more light most often? Generally speaking: indoors, where there is a lack of light! If you have ever attended a wedding with a professional photographer you will notice that the photographer is using flash… indoors. And yet we see over and over again, photography websites rejecting the use of flash. The question is why? Most photographers do not understand how to use their flash and leave it up to the camera to decide how much power to produce. Until recent years this meant a very hard light and too much light, leaving the subject looking as if it is washed out. With new improvements in exposure algorithms, companies like Sony have nearly perfected the use of flash in low light / indoor situations in their auto settings.
These algorithms balance the ambient light with that of the flash to give you an even exposure, where the both background and your main subject are evenly lit. If you don’t have a camera with a great indoor flash algorithm then the challenge is to balance out the two manually. Join us for a Times Square at Night session and we’ll show you how to use your flash properly!
Using your Flash properly is one of the most important tools in a photographers bag; learn to use it well and you’ll be ready for any situation.
Sometimes it seems that everyone repeats the same information over and over again because it sounds right but alas it is simply wrong.
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