tips for taking photos?

Question

i had 2 questions, first is when taking a photo inside a home, when its dark out but lots of lights on inside, is it better to use a flash or without? i noticed with the flash that the object is bright but background is dark. also when taking pictures outside on a bright day, is it better to use a flash or no?

Answer 1

IMO you need to read and study the Owner's Manual for your camera.

Human vision is very different from camera "vision". What appears to us as a well-lit interior may be dim to your camera.

Unless you have your camera on a tripod and there is no subject movement you would almost always need a flash indoors. The reason your backgrounds are dark is due to the limitations of the built-in pop-up flash on your camera. It is capable of illuminating what's right in front of it. With a more sophisticated camera and an off-camera flash capable of being bounced off the ceiling your backgrounds would be lighter.

Using a flash outdoors on a sunny day is called "fill flash" and is a rather sophisticated technique. Just turn the flash off outdoors unless you have your subjects in deep shade - then you will need it.

EDIT for "DigiDoc":

The f-stop has littlle to do with whether or not the background in a flash photo is light or dark. At large f-stops (f2, f2.8) the flash duration will be very brief since the lens is admitting a lot of light. Depending on the camera's flash synch speed (1/60, 1/100, etc.) a little more ambient light might creep in at f2 or f2.8 but hardly enough to lighten the background.

Since ISO is simply a measurement of the sensitivity to light of a light-sensitive surface, a higher ISO simply reduces the flash duration. Again, a little more ambient light might affect the film or sensor but its unlikely to lighten the background.

I suppose if you used f2 and ISO 800 the background might be slightly lighter - but if its more than a foot or so behind the subject it will be out of focus at f2. Plus the quality of the image at ISO 800 will be less and at f2 you'd better be focused perfectly. Using bounce flash is the surest way to get a lighter background.

Answer 2

Good Questions.

Using flash is somewhat of a personal choice at times. A lot depends upon what you are shooting and what your options are. It will also depend upon what kind of camera you have.

If you have a camera that can bounce a flash (ie. point it at the ceiling), then this is often a good option. It will illuminate more of the room and produce a more diffused and pleasing light.

The reason the background become dark can be a few reasons. One is that the flash just doesn't reach very far. This is where you need to check your "Guide" number on your flash. It should be in the manual. The higher the number, the more powerful (and costly) the flash.

Another reason the background could be dark has to do with your aperture. If you shoot a flash shot with an aperture of f-11, the background is dark, if you shoot it with f2.8, the background will be lighter.

Another reason for the dark background is your ISO setting. The lower the number, the darker the background. Set at 100, it will be dark, set at 800 it will be lighter.

Very often flash is used to add light, while others it's to fill in shadows or balance the color (called white balance).

Using existing light is fine, but you have to know that the camera is far less sensitive to light then your eye. Your eye compensates for low light and poor white balance (or color). You need to think like your camera thinks, not how you see things. It takes practice and time.

As far as outdoors. Using flash is always an option and it's good you raised the question. In bright light it may not help you much if you don't have a powerful flash. You can sometimes use it when you are taking photos in the shade as a "fill" light or "fill flash". This is when you are mostly using the existing light, but adding a small amount of flash to fill in some shadows.

A common misconception is that you should take photos outdoors in bright light - WRONG! Taking photos of people outside is MUCH better in the shade. Bright light causes harsh shadows and causes people to squint. Even if you don't use flash, take people into the shade. You'll be amazed how much better your photos will look.

Fill flash is great, but it's somewhat of an art and takes lots of practice. The more control you have over your camera equipment, the better you can get it. If you are using a point and shoot, it will still work (and I suggest you do it), but it's a little more hit and miss. However the technology is so good today, that you should automatically get good fill flash photos from it in general.

Good Questions!

Answer 3

1) Indoors: SInce the flash is not strong enough to illuminate the background, only the subject is lighted and the background is dark. If you want to capture the "ambiance" of the surroundings, then see if your digicam has a scene mode called "Night Portrait" where the camera will flash to capture the subject properly and then keep the shutter open a bit longer to capture the surrounding. This means that ideally your subject should not move too much while the camera is still recording the surrounding scene, otherwise you'll see "ghost" image.
2) Outside, whenever you take a portrait, you can use fill-in flash if the background is very bright or the subject's face appears dark. Remember the old rule of never take pictures of someone with the sun behind him/her? Well, this is in fact a great way to light up your subject (gets a halo of light behind the head) but you need the fill-in flash to light up the face properly.

Just try, experiment and have fun!

Answer 4

You would need to familiarize yourself with your camera. Read the manual and check out all the stuff you can do with the camera. Know the limitations of your camera, the different features, etc. This will really help you a lot in your photography, Brush up on the basics of photography as well, or even some of the more advanced concepts and techniques. You could also look at the works of other professional photographers, study their styles. This will help you in developing and finding your own style.

Answer 5

why would you want a flash when you have a bright lit place? most new cameras today will know when it needs a flash or not if set on auto, heck my camera has a setting for almost any situation.