How useful is a flash for the non-professional?

[eddyshoots]

It's not professional vs non-professional photography, it's really bad vs. good photography.

What proper flash does in photography is remove dark shadows from a face that occurs even on a bright day, gets rid of the ridiculous requirement to have the sun behind the photographer, making everyone squint in the photo.

A separate flash which some people treat like it's an anvil allows - of course more power - and the ability to diffuse the light or bounce off a ceiling, making a natural photo indoors or the evening rather than the very amateur blast in the face of the subject with glare and then the black background.

I always say, always use flash in people/portrait photography.

Not a big fan of that word in the world of photography...."always"

I'm a lighting geek through and through but when nature provides good light, use it. It takes time and a practiced eye to recognize good light but when it's there for you, there is no need for artificial light.

--
http://www.sportsshooter.com/cyadmark
Ann Arbor, MI USA

Equipment in profile

--
eddyshoots

 

[ChristianHass]

I'm quite sure the SB700 is a much better flash than the SB400. But for me it comes down to how much I use a flash and cost. The SB700 is too bulky and expensive, the SB400 is affordable and small, and it's still a big upgrade from the pop-up flash.

--
Shooting for fun and memories.

 

[Camnu]

So far, we could summarize that if one is taking a lot of pictures indoors, then the flash is the must-have.

I have a quick question: without flash, I use Aperture mode most of the time. I think a lot of pros use A-mode too. Now, I read some books, and they recommend to use Manual mode with flash. How about you ? What shooting mode do you use without flash, and with flash ?

 

[blue_cheese]

With flash I use either Shutter priority or Manual mode, I find that shutter speed is hard to control in Aperture mode and with flash really likes to stick to 1/60th indoors which is too slow.

 

[Chuck Yadmark]

I always say, always use flash in people/portrait photography.

Not a big fan of that word in the world of photography...."always"

I'm a lighting geek through and through but when nature provides good light, use it. It takes time and a practiced eye to recognize good light but when it's there for you, there is no need for artificial light.

--
eddyshoots

You are right. I should have said always consider using flash. When the light is not too contrasty/backlit, no flash is certainly fine. And of course if you want to make use of contrast/backlighting artistically as well.

--
http://www.sportsshooter.com/cyadmark
Ann Arbor, MI USA

Equipment in profile

 

[blue_cheese]

You are right. I should have said always consider using flash. When the light is not too contrasty/backlit, no flash is certainly fine. And of course if you want to make use of contrast/backlighting artistically as well

And if there is no natural contrast/backlight you can make some if you had a flash

 

[Blue Guitarist]

The current flashes all have some form of TTL metering. This means that the flash will make a guess at how much power to deliver with the flash, so a manual camera mode keeps things steady with the only difference being how much light the flash puts out. This makes it easier to interpret what you're seeing when you chimp.

For an example, I'll bring up another topic. You basically get two exposures in one with flash. One exposure is due to the flash, and another is due to the ambient lighting. Assuming you're in manual mode and using a camera mounted flash (trust me, you'll want to take the flash off camera at some time, but let's keep things simple for now) to take a snapshot of your favorite person in the livingroom. The flash will likely do a good job of exposing the person's face. If the livingroom in the background is too bright for your liking, reduce the shutter speed to allow less ambient light into the camera. The flash will compensate for the faster shutter speed. Now, the person's face is still properly exposed, and the livingroom is darker.

On and on it goes. Flash really gives you more flexibility.

 

[Camnu]

Without flash, we know that the shutter speed is related to the shaking and blurring image.

With flash, the shutter speed controls the ambient light. But does it affect the shaking too ? Let's say, I shoot at 1/15th, is there a chance of blurry image due to shaking; or the shutter speed is irrelevant (shaking) with flash as it freezes the scene.

 

[blue_cheese]

The flash "freezes" the motion for the duration of the flash fire, however the shutter still remains open for some time prior/after (Depending on if it is regular or rear curtain sync) this creates a ghosting/buring effect around moving subjects, even camera shake would result in some of this ghosting such that it softens up the image. This can be used to create some very nice images that capture a sense of motion.

From what I have seen, it seems that the amount of contrast of the moving subjects impacts how viisble the motion blur is.

 

[wlad]

So far, we could summarize that if one is taking a lot of pictures indoors, then the flash is the must-have.

I have a quick question: without flash, I use Aperture mode most of the time. I think a lot of pros use A-mode too. Now, I read some books, and they recommend to use Manual mode with flash. How about you ? What shooting mode do you use without flash, and with flash ?

Without flash, I use Aperture priority mode exclusively. If necessary, combined with auto ISO to keep shutter speed fast enough. And exposure compensation in rare cases.

With flash, I shoot in Manual mode exclusively, with auto ISO disabled and flash in TTL mode. I select the aperture and shutter speed depending on what I want to accomplish. Then I raise ISO until the camera exposure meter displays around 1-1.5EV underexposure. The flash in TTL mode bounced off the ceiling/wall takes care of the rest. Sometimes a small flash compensation is necessary.

 

[The Big One]

For portraits (indoor and outdoor), as well as any posed setup, a flash is essential IMHO. When used properly it can provide fill, soften dark shadows (especially if the natural light is not the right position / quality), and can turn a fair picture into a great one.

I would definitely recommend it over any similarly priced lens (and probably quite a few more expensive lenses as well).

Cheers
--
--Wyatt
http://photos.digitalcave.ca
All images (c) unless otherwise specified, please ask me before editing.

 

[HansN46]

I'm not much of a flash photographer myself and mostly I take the challenge to capture the atmosphere with the ambient light available. Sometimes with a result that is not optimal but that's fine to me.

So I'm also not a person who says that one "always" must do this or that in photography. I would rather say: be creative.

But there are situations no optimal photographic result is possible without an additional flashgun on your camera. And for those situations I added a Metz Mecablitz 36 AF-5 to my gear. And even that simple flashgun increases the lighting possibilities of my D5100 tremendously.

So it depends on what you think you need.

Studio portraiture of course requires (a) flashgun(s) or additional lighting, as well as reporting and surveying the reconstruction of a building f.i. wich I have to do in the next months. And someone else asked me to record a party on wich I am a guest myself.

I am a non-professional as you can see, but in these situations I definitely will use the Mecablitz.

Good luck, H.
--
Happy photographing!

 

[Navmark77]

The #1 reason to me to own a flash is that the quality of lighting when you bounce it off a ceiling or wall is SO far superior to direct flash.

The other point I would make is, if in doubt, hedge your bets. Take a shot with high ISO and ambient light indoors, and then take the same shot with flash. You can decide at your leisure which you prefer.

 

[Suntan]

....more useful than putting that money towards better glass?

Honestly, depending on what you are shooting and how you choose to shoot it, putting money towards the lighting can be better spent than putting it towards lenses.

In any case, these days there is such an abundence of good flash products available at pricing that really is within the reach of most all hobbyists. It is a shame not to add some of it.

-Suntan

 

[Suntan]

I usually use A mode with one TTL capable flash on camera.

I use M mode whenever using flashes off camera.

Ultimately though, whether you choose to let the camer run the show or do it yourself, you're only doing yourself a disservice if you don't take the time to learn how to operate m mode, and more importantly, learn what your camera is doing when it is working in A mode.

-Suntan

 

[Suntan]

For portraits (indoor and outdoor), as well as any posed setup, a flash is essential IMHO.

I wouldn't say essential. A person certainly can take portraits without flash.

Flash just tends to open up more options.

-Suntan

 

[Suntan]

Edit

Think of the most indelible images of people in modern photography history. Almost none use flash. I equate flash with snapshots, crime scene investigations and 1950's photo journalism. They're more often flat a kind of hokey. For your personal images that stand the test of time, avoid flash.

Interesting. Most of the time I feel the opposite.

-Suntan

 

[Suntan]

The form factor of the SB flashes is terrible.

It's a matter of form following function.

First, the desire to eliminate red-eye forces the flash bulb to be at least a set distance from the lens centerline. No matter how you try and cover this up with industrial design, you're still going to be left with something that sticks out from the camera.

Second, the average photographer is very resistance to change. Making a hotshoe flash that doesn't look and act like a hotshoe flash is a recipe for slow sales.

Third, the typical hotshoe flashes do not appear as oversized and top-heavy on the larger bodied cameras, especially when mounted with larger, non-kit lenses. Although still awkward, they aren't as bad and so they just appear to be fish out of water to a lot of people that may operate smaller cameras.

-Suntan

 

[Suntan]

Without flash, we know that the shutter speed is related to the shaking and blurring image.

With flash, the shutter speed controls the ambient light. But does it affect the shaking too ? Let's say, I shoot at 1/15th, is there a chance of blurry image due to shaking; or the shutter speed is irrelevant (shaking) with flash as it freezes the scene.

In the simplest terms, for the above scenario, the items predominantly lit by the flash will appear stationary. The items predominantly lit by the ambient light will appear to have moved around and be fuzzy.

-Suntan

 

[sshoihet]

I make sure to add the word "generally" to the things I write, so the word police don't nab me :-D