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High
noon, bright midday sun, Maui, Hawaii: it's self-evident
that these two girls (Tori and Lacey) are illuminated much better--and
the color of their bathing suits is much richer--with the flash
employed (the photo on the left was shot with the flash set on
"automatic"--which means the flash didn't work at all;
the photo on the right was taken with the flash selection set
to "forced flash"). But you should also observe
(photo on the right) that the background displays richer
color as well. That's because with the flash illuminating
the girls in the foreground, less bleachout occurs in the background
as the camera's electronic light-metering system operates the
way it's supposed to. A win-win scenario. For the record: this
novice photographer used both his camera's built-in flash AND
an external mounted flash for that photo on the right; as you
can see, that extra flash "horsepower" pays you big
dividends when you're photographing out in the bright daylight.
Using
flash outdoors in the daytime is something professional photographers
have been doing for decades, but for some reason most novice
photographers have been slow to grasp and appreciate how much
it will improve their outdoor photos.
Forced
Flash--NOT "Automatic Flash"
Just
remember:
using your flash outdoors requires you to set your camera for
forced flash/fill flash... anything but
"automatic flash."
Forced/outdoor
flash is one of the most valuable features on your modern camera;
"automatic flash," on the other hand, does not work
when you need your flash the most... outdoors in the sunshine
or in bright daytime shade. Any setting on your camera that is
labeled "automatic"--especially "automatic flash"--was
put there to sell cameras (consumers lunge for anything
labeled "automatic")--not to help you to take
good photos.
In
any case, the photo on the left should convince you that setting
your camera on "automatic everything" is rarely (read:
never) your best option.
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