The Endangered Camera Flash
It’s Time to Save One of Photography’s Most Valuable Tools
Any photographer who’s ever slung a camera bag over his shoulder has a horror story about flash—tales of family members being blasted into ghost-like figures, demonic red-eyed children, and death-parlor blue tones for what should have been a cozy family gathering.
I understand. Nightmares are unsettling. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Those bad dreams are avoidable with today’s cameras and flash accessories, if only we give them a chance.
With a little practice, flash can be a photographer’s illuminating companion. It can help offset strong backlighting, open up murky shadows, and add a twinkle to a pair of pretty green eyes.
But smartphones’ computational photography and the unbelievably high ISO performance of modern mirrorless cameras have overshadowed flash photography. I think it’s time for a comeback, and I’ll show you why.
First, let’s talk about photography without a flash. Even though smartphones can produce good exposures under most conditions, are they the exposures you want? If you’re taking a picture of a friend in a low light setting with colorful neons in the background, are you getting the rendering that makes for a pleasing portrait? The same goes for increasing the ISO to…
