Can I be honest for a second? If I were not hosting this 12 Weeks to better Photography extravaganza, I probably would have skipped this week's lesson. Why? It is about the flash, and I *hate* the flash. I just don't use it very often at all. And if I do use it, I often implore little tricks to make the flash look less harsh. For example, did you know that you can put your finger just above the pop-up flash to prevent it from popping up all the way, thus giving you a less harsh flash effect? Justin figured that one out. Granted, Canon would probably say that doing this would break my internal flash. But I don't care if it breaks, because I hate it.
Anyway, if you really need to use a flash and can't afford an external one (lord knows that I can't!), I would recommend checking out the Lightscoop. No, this is not a paid advertisement, and no, I didn't receive one for writing about it. It's just a product that I've used on my own accord, and think is a high quality solution.
Now, on to the pictures. For this week, I chose option two, which was to use the fill flash to eliminate shadows on the face on a bright day.
First up, no flash:
Have I mentioned that my child hates the sun? She certainly didn't inherit that trait from me!
Now, with a flash:
Honestly, I like picture one much better. Even if there are shadows on her face...because, um, shadows exist in real life. I don't like the second picture at all, and it was far and away the best of the "flash" shots. Maybe I need to try one of the other suggestions for using flash...
How did you all do this week?
I haven't done mine yet but yours turned out great! I am not a giant fan of the harshness of a flash either, but our house is SO dark that I use it almost all of the time.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you... Now that we have the slr, I try to avoid flash. My hubby got an external one for Christmas, and if I use flash inside I use that one because I can turn it to bounce off the ceiling to help with harshness and shadows.
ReplyDeleteYou already know I hate the flash from last weeks lesson!
ReplyDeleteDidn't really like this lesson too much. I'm uploading my pictures right now!
Yep. I'm a flash hater too. I can never make it work right. I'm sure if I had the right tools, it would be better, but definitely not in the cards financially. The lightscoop looks really great. I may also try some of those tips to sort of diffuse the flash.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the first pic is definitely the best. As you say, shadows exist in real life.
ReplyDeleteAlas, my camera is too ghetto for a Flashscoop. Then again, I tend to take pictures of buildings and landscapes, not people. People are so boring. Hehe.
I agree that sometimes shadows are important! That being said, I'd never heard of using a flash outdoors before and I can certainly think of situations where it might be helpful (like when someone is completely shadowed by a building or something...)
ReplyDeleteIt looks like I might just be getting farther and farther behind on this. Lack of computer from home and thus ability to upload pictures has really taken a toll on my blogging habits. :(
ReplyDeleteHopefully I'll be back sometime soon.