Why use an External Flash

There are "Photographers" and "Fauxtographers" everywhere you go.  One of the areas that separate them is knowing when and how to use an external flash when shooting.  This is not saying that if you do not use a flash that you are not a photographer and I do not want to start contraversy with others in my statement.  But there are certain instances that when using a flash will greatly improve your image and provide the right lighting in order to flatter your subject.

I am extremely opposed to using the built in flash that comes standard with cameras, but have been known to use it as a last choice when my external flash is not working.  I currently use a 430EX external flash when I need it and contrary to popular belief, a flash is not only for shooting inside or when it is dark outside.  As you can see in the above photo, it is toward the middle part of the day around 10:30-11:00am and I still used my flash.  The reason I use the flash was to provide enough fill light on the subject since the sun is behind the left side of the tree and would have had a great amount of shadows fall on the subject.  By doing this, I give just enough power to the flash (current photo was diffused lighting at 1/4 power) giving the appropriate lighting to the subject, at the same time able to use a fast enough shutter speed to not have a completely washed out sky and able to even pull in some of the blues from the sky in the image.

This is not the easiest thing in the world to learn and takes a lot of practice in order to estimate the amount of light needed in different scenarios.  I am not perfect in this aspect either and this set-up even took me about 2-3 tries to adjust the power and shutter speed to get the look I was after.

I hope that this has helped you understand some situations that you could use a flash and why it is needed.  It has been awhile since my last post and was actually determining if I would continue this blog or not due to being extremely busying with work.  The main reason I am starting to write this blog again is that I really have a passion to teach others from my own experiences and to help those that are starting out in photography.

Last note that I will mention is that the one reason I do not use the built in flash on cameras is that the maximum effective distance for the flash is around six feet and even when it is used it can cause your subject to look flat by having no shadows.  I recommend that everyone should have an external flash that has the ability to adjust the power level.  Good shooting everybody and hopefully I will be able to write again soon.

Raney