Monday, September 13, 2010

A Lesson on Flash Photography

Many photographers avoid using flash when they shoot portrait. According to them, portraits taken with flash fired “don’t look natural”. But I am surprised that even some snap shooters have learned to distrust camera flash. Perhaps somebody had told them that flashed photos are bad, so they also turn off the flash when taking pictures, without knowing the tricks.

Last August, I attended graduation ceremony after I completed my MBA study. After the ceremony, my classmates and I took some group shots. For once, I wasn’t the photographer, but one of the subjects. A few days later, my classmates e-mailed the photos to me. I was disappointed, as most of the pictures didn’t turn out good…

The following is one bad shot. The picture is blurred due to handshaking problem. A check on the EXIF data reveals that “flash did not fire”. That’s exactly the cause. Had the flash been fired, we should have got a sharp picture. A flashed photo may be unnatural, but it is still better than a blurred one, right?

(click to enlarge)

Now, you may ask me why a flashed photo is sharper than a flash-less one. The explanation is somewhat technical, and is not within the scope of this post. Just remember: flash helps to counter handshaking problem, thereby giving you a sharper picture. (Well, assuming that you don’t suffer from Parkinson syndrome.)

Here is another flash-less shot. This picture was taken with Canon EOS 550D, supposedly more advanced than my own camera. Furthermore, the lens had Image Stabilization, which helped to counter handshaking. Hence, unlike the first shot, this one is sharp. Nonetheless, I am still not satisfied, because the skin tones of the people look yellowish. (Remember that Asian women generally love fair skin?) Again, had the flash been fired, we would have got more accurate, or more appealing, skin tone.

(click to enlarge)

As a conclusion, don’t be misled into thinking that flashed portrait must be bad. If you haven’t learned the basics of photography, I suggest that you switch to auto mode and let the camera decide for you.

23 comments:

  1. If I were to comment, I'd say the above 2 photos need flash because they were taken indoors. :P

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  2. You are absolutely right, flash can be a necessary evil and it looks like these pictures could have been greatly improved with it.

    This is why I'm often disappointed when I hand my camera, I'd rather be the photographer even if I sometimes make mistakes too.

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  3. even though sometimes the photo from my p&s looks over-exposed with flash, I still use flash simply because I don't want to have very noisy or blurry shots. mong char char how to see?

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  4. I actually like to use flash if I'm taking pictures indoors (portrait or regardless). But I have to say the built-in flash of EOS is a bit harsh, maybe that's why people don't use it. I love the external flash gun though! I don't think I can live without it now. LOL! Btw, I sold my LX3, hoping to get LX5. So in the meantime I'm using the EOS 500. Do you think I should get a LX5????

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  5. One more thing! How come you looked so fierce in the pictures??? No smile at all!! LOL!

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  6. backing the light.... surely need flash light! =)


    p/s: if that is not a LV.... wat brand is that? ^^

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  7. agree with Witch! y no smiling face? shudnt u be happy at that moment? :D

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  8. witch, caroline
    I only know taking picture. I don't know how to pose for picture >.<

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  9. errr, i normally don't use flash also.. could be because of my skills (ok ok, i'm not into photography and my camera sucks), those with flash looks very ugly..

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  10. so, how to take a nice photo with flash?? i am using Panasonic Lumix woh.. especially when taking close up of object under dim environment..

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  11. I like shooting with natural light as much as possible. If not, then it's always advisable to shoot with an external flash unit. Blurred photos are a no no for me.

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  12. Oh dear, I do hope you have other better pictures for your album.

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  13. from the 1st photography lesson i attended, flash is very useful when there is 'not enough lighting. when we wanted to catch a object we have to focus on the darker sight so that we are able to catch a 'balance' photograph. will send you pictures taken from my 'idiot' digital camera..:)

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  14. Well placed flash decides usable or going to trash picture

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  15. SK
    How to take nice photo with flash? That's case by case. Can't generalize.

    happysurfer
    I still have studio shots ^^

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  16. Still they are priceless pictures. :D

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  17. I guess with flash the shutter speed can be much faster hence minimizing hand-shaking induced blur.

    However, with or without flash the natural skin tone should depend on the correct WB.

    Like MT, I too prefer natural lighting (because haven't bought any external flash...:-))

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  18. 我终于看到你的真人照,你的模样像吃了苦瓜。。呵呵呵。。。

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  19. congrats on your MBA.

    Re: China flag. I am there there was a China flag as there are many students from PRC. It must have been me, I was trying to be discrete when I was taking the photos. I must have missed a panel.

    I won't be going there again as it took us more than one hour to get there. Besides, they may not let me take photos. At that time, i went on official duty.

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  20. Hi Kheng Siong, congrats on your MBA! Finally eh?

    I like the photo with all the beauties surrounding u....

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  21. So many girls taking photos with you! Only one boy in your MBA class? :)

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  22. Jasmine
    There was another guy, but he didn't join us.

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