Getting Started with Flash Photography
That people are afraid to use flash in their photography seems to be a widely held (and written) opinion. It is probably not fear of the flash, but fear of the terribly written instructions and jargonistic approach to them that is off-putting.
Flash photography is a simple undertaking that will tremendously improve your images. With flash you can use a decent shutter speed that will avoid the blur of very slow shutter speed. Unpleasant shadows can be avoided and more pleasing shadows created.
The subject can be isolated from the background or the background may be well lit while the subject is still accentuated by the lighting from the flash. Look at various images and try to analyze the lighting, especially the flash or strobe lighting. This will enhance understanding of how flash might be applied.
What kind of Flash?
The first issue is what sort of flash should one use? Many cameras come with built in flash units. The only benefit of this is that they are there when you need them. They can be crudely adjusted in some higher end cameras, but they all tend to produce over lit, slightly burned out areas in the image.
External flash is much better, even the small distance above the camera helps. Similarly buying a flash that matches the make of your camera is a better way to go although it is likely to be a bit more expensive. The high-end third party manufacturers such as Metz, Sigma, Sunpak make flashes dedicated to different brands of cameras.
Most flash units are TTL units. This stands for through the lens. Nikon calls its units i-TTL while Canon has e-TTL for its name. The e stands for evaluate. The Nikon system is wireless and the flash adjustment is quite sophisticated. There is an excellent discussion of the technology for this on Flickr here.
Flash Output
Flash output can be confusing. The flash emits a burst of light that is of a near constant intensity, the thing that determines the flash output is the duration of the flash. The shutter typically opens at the beginning of the sequence and might be open longer than the flash duration. Modern cameras and flash units work together to find the right setting.
The flash unit emits a pre-flash, information comes back to the camera through the lens that is evaluated and the flash duration is set. This prior sentence contains all of the letters needed for the acronyms i-TTL and e-TTL, as first letters of the important words, look for them.
Fill Flash
Fill Flash is a very useful. This solves the problem of the backlight setting the exposure for your shot and then overriding that needed for the subject. The subject at best has “raccoon eyes” or is simply a silhouette. To fix this set your camera to fill flash, focus on the subject. And make the shot. The flash should provide enough light to properly illuminate the subject. This fill flash should produce a nice blend of properly lit background and subject.
Drag Shutter
Drag Shutter is just that. Your flash settings are normally acquired but you deliberately set the shutter speed slower. This allows the background light to fill in making both subject and background better illuminated. This longer exposure requires that a tripod be used. Otherwise, movement will blur the image.
These few things will get you started. There are many more things you can do for special effects and situations. As you progress, there are a few websites that lean to your needs, you can then follow them regularly for further tips sand instruction.
Learn more about flash:
