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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 own 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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