Flash Photography
Flash photography can be quite a challenge. Use our tips to explore different flash modes, including fill flash and slow-sync flash.
Flash Modes
Given how many challenges there are with using the small built-in flash units on most compact cameras (from red-eye to lack of power), it’s well worth the effort to experiment with a couple of the more useful flash modes on offer. These include fill flash and slow-sync flash.
Fill (forced) Flash
Unless you switch off your flash function, your camera will by default fire the flash when the light goes, but there are times you might want to force the flash to fire even in bright conditions. This is known as fill-flash, used to brighten the main subject of an image when the sun is behind it. Without flash, the main subject may end up in shadow or as a silhouette. Fill-flash soon sort things out!
Using fill-flash is as simple as changing the flash mode from ‘auto’ to ‘on’. You can now take the shot and the camera will sort out the balance of available and light and flash illumination.
As in all photography, experimentation is best.
Slow-sync Flash
Slow-sync flash allows the dim light in a room to register on the sensor and produce an image with atmosphere. Usually, turning the flash on sets a fairly high shutter speed (around 1/60th sec). This is much too fast for dim ambient light in the scene to register in the photograph, which is why flash shots lack atmosphere. Slow-sync mode uses a slower shutter speed, and so allows some of the light already in the scene to record in the photograph. The result is a sort of double exposure, with some sharp and some blurred areas, and it can be very eye-pleasing. It’s important to keep the camera still though, otherwise you will get too much blurring.
Slow-sync combined with panning is a tricky technique but the results are very impressive!
If you found inspiration on our flash modes page, feel free to browse the following pages too:
Related Pages
* Flash Photography Tips
* Low Light Photography
(Back to Beginners Photography)
(From Flash Photography back to Basic Photography Tips Home Page)
Read, reflect and be inspired. If you find something of value on our flash photography page, enjoy its gifts and please pass it on to your friends.
|
