Flash is not just for night photography ­- a good flash gun can help you to shoot better in daylight as well.

Britain is not renowned for its bright sunny days so here are some tips for photography using flash.

Subtle use of flash can really brighten up the colours in your pictures. Fill-in flash can really help when the background is brighter than the subject.

Tips for photography with flash guns:

• Invest in a good flash unit that can be angled, hold diffusers or be slaved to fire from a distance or at a different angle. Watch the Introduction To Flash video on our our Photography Videos page for more information about this.
• Red eye is the bane of the flash photographer. It’s caused by flash illuminating the blood vessels at the back of the eye. Minimise it by using flash units that have plenty of separation between the bulb and your camera’s lens. Most of today’s digital cameras also have ‘anti red eye’ functions.
• Make best use of your flash unit’s range. Between 5ft to 10ft is generally the recommended distance.
• Try ‘bouncing’ flash off the walls or ceiling to take some of the harshness out of the light from your flash.
• Create atmospheric effects by connecting the flash unit to your camera via a long cable so the light is coming in from a different angle.  

Notice how strong and black the shadows are in the left hand picture which was taken without flash.

Compare it with this second slightly closer shot on the right.

By getting within range of the flash gun and firing it at minus one stop, the shadows are still there but much less harsh.

For more free tips for photography plus information on digital photography courses or one-to-one training days, contact us now.