R&R PHOTO

 

Flash  

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Harness Lighting
In some situations you may want to turn OFF the flash, or at least change its behavior. You are probably familiar with the crisp but somewhat uniform look of these pictures. So what if you want to try something different?
 

The Flash Mode Button
When in program mode, the camera will fire the flash if the light level is low. (which is more often than not). You can easily take back control of the flash - look for a small button or icon with the "lightning" symbol..

 

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Pressing the "lightning" button will cycle through available flash modes


 

Common Flash Modes:
Auto-Flash
In most camera modes, Auto-flash is enabled by default and will automatically fire if the camera thinks it needs more light.

 
Disabled Flash
no flash. There are many cases where you may not want flash at all. The mood of the photograph can sometimes be more dramatic when the natural light is used.

 
Forced Flash
When forced, the camera will always fire the flash regardless of necessity.

 
Slow Flash
In this flash mode, the shutter is kept open longer to expose the background. (Essentially the same as the Party/Indoor shooting mode)

 

 

Fill Flash Learn how to make your camera flash when it does not want to.
By adding a little Flash to the image the shadows are “Filled” in. But the image looks natural

 
 
   
nThe top picture with out any extra light “Fill Flash”. By using or balancing the light the impact of Josh seeing a roller coaster for the first time can be seen.
 

 
 
nFill Flash will also “Fill” in the shadows and blend the bright spots.
 

 
No Flash Learn how to over ride the flash
The range of the cameras flash is very short 10-25 feet. Learn to turn the flash off, hold your camera steady and allow the ambient light to expose your film. Use a tripod when possible.

 
   
 

Slow Synchronized Flash

 

Look in your camera manual for a section on slow synchronized flash. When the flash is set to slow sync, long exposure times may create unwanted blur in the image. At times like this, you may want to use a camera support.

 
Often, pictures taken with flash show a well exposed foreground subject against a black or dark background. The slow synchronized mode is designed to minimize this problem by leaving the shutter open longer than usual to lighten the background.

In many cases, the slow shutter speed used in this mode allows blur from rapidly moving objects or camera shake to appear as blur in the images. To avoid blur, use a tripod and photograph static subjects. Or, use this effect creatively. A short flash burst combined with a long shutter speed gives interesting effects. The flash freezes objects sharply, and then the dim ambient light blurs the image slightly and moving lights appear as streaks.

 

 
Red Eye  

Look in your camera manual for a section on red-eye or red-eye reduction.

 
When photographing people, you’ll often see images with what’s called "red eye." The light from a flash has entered through the subject’s pupil and reflected off the back of the eye (the retina) and back out to the camera. Since the retina is full of thin blood vessels, it takes on a red color. To eliminate red-eye, many cameras have a "red-eye reduction" mode. This mode works by firing a short pre-flash lamp or a burst of flashes to close the subject’s iris a moment before the actual flash fires to take the picture.

To minimize red eye, you can also move an external flash farther away from the axis of the camera lens, tell the subject not to look directly at the camera, or increase the overall room lighting. You can also remove red-eye later using software included with the camera, but it’s easier to avoid it to begin with.

 

 
What are those other flash modes?
While you might be familiar with the Fill-in Flash\Flash On mode and the Flash Off mode , you may have never used the Slow Sync modes or . If you used them without knowing what they do, you may have gotten results that were less than desirable. When used in the right situation you can broaden your picture taking ability.

1st curtain (front curtain):
This flash mode is very similar to Fill-in Flash Mode , however, the camera will use a longer exposure time (i.e., slower shutter speed) than it normally does for flash photography. This results in an image where both the background and the subject are properly exposed. Typically flash shots result in a brightly exposed subject against a dark background. These types of shots make it difficult to have any sense of atmosphere or convey any insight as to where the subject was located.

 
Image shot in 1st curtain (front curtain)
The background is properly exposed via the slow shutter speed in use, while the use of flash illuminated the woman.
Note: Use when shooting portraits against a dark background. This will incorporate the red-eye reduction mode and keep the image looking as natural as possible.

There are a couple of things to keep in mind when using this mode:

  • Your subject should be relatively stable — standing still or not displaying any movement.

     
  • Your camera should remain steady such as when placed on a monopod\tripod or on a steady surface. Or brace the camera against your body, as best you can to keep it as sturdy as possible.
Bracing the camera:
To help steady the camera, slowly inhale as you press the shutter button and exhale afterwards.

2nd curtain (rear curtain):
This mode is similar to the mode described above; however, the flash fires at the end of the exposure or right before the end of the long exposure. Normally, the flash fires at the beginning of the exposure. By having the flash fire at the end of the exposure the result creates more naturally appearing movement of bright objects in the scene, such as the trail of a flashlight or birthday candles. Once again, the background and foreground will be properly exposed.

Again, keep your camera steady when shooting in this mode. If you don’t have a monopod\tripod or steady surface, brace the camera against your body as best you can. See "Bracing the camera" above.

 

Notice in the trail of lights appears to be in front of the subject and in the trail of lights is actually behind the subject for a more natural appearance.

Don’t forget to change back to the regular Auto or Fill-in Flash mode on your camera when your nighttime shooting is over or your daytime and indoor shots may be blurred.
 		  

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