Use your digital camera flash outside during daylight to reduce shadows.
Cameras with flash settings menus offer options such as "Fill Flash," "Forced Flash," and "Red-Eye Reduction" -- making it confusing to new users to know which flash mode to use and when. Since most compact digital cameras as well as digital single-lens reflex models offer flash capabilities, learning these modes applies to any digital camera with a built-in flash. Rather than defaulting to the "Auto" flash mode, you have the opportunity to get creative and learn which flash setting to use to make your photographic vision a reality.
Fill-In Shadows
Your digital camera's automatic flash mode can't always detect shadows, especially when the majority of the scene is bright. Two flash modes, "Fill-Flash" and "Forced-Flash" allow you to use the flash and reduce shadows with a minimal burst of light, even when the camera "thinks" the scene does not need the extra lighting.
Use one of these manual flash modes when taking a picture of someone standing in front of a window during daytime so both the person and the scenery outside the window show in the final photograph. Other instances where fill-flash or forced-flash enhance a photo include taking pictures in the shade with a bright sunlit background, or any time someone has deep-set eyes or wears a baseball cap with the bill hanging low over the forehead. These two flash techniques use only a potion of a full-power flash burst, so the extra lighting doesn't overpower the photo.
Main Lighting Source
When you're in a dimly lit situation, use the camera's flash to provide the majority of light needed to expose the photograph. Using the "Flash" mode tells the camera to use a full-power flash during every exposure regardless of the amount of light coming into the camera.
The "Auto" mode will determine when the scene needs more light, but in tricky lighting situations -- such as in a stage performance with flashing theatrical lighting -- the camera can get fooled, so avoid the "Auto" mode.
If your photo subject includes people, use the "Red-Eye Reduction" flash setting. This mode emits a pre-flash or blinking light to reduce the size of the subject's pupils, making them less reflective and thus less prone to the red-eye effect during the actual camera exposure.
Turning Flash Off
Although the flash feature on a digital camera helps properly expose dimly lit situations, sometimes turning off the flash creates a pleasing image using available light. Think of your favorite sunset picture or a shot of someone silhouetted by the sun -- neither image might look as dramatic with extra lighting from a flash.
Sometimes the use of a camera flash is not permitted. Learn activate the flash "Off" function to adhere to flash photography restrictions at museums, during weddings or at professional athletic events.
Flash Limitations
Be realistic about what your camera's flash can and cannot do. The built-in flash on a compact digital camera or a DSLR can only reach from four to ten feet on average. When photographing fireworks high in the sky, or a stage performance several hundred feet away, your flash won't reach your subject matter, so turn the flash off.
To properly expose these dim situations you'll need to steady the camera on a tripod, increase your ISO sensitivity setting and use a long shutter speed.
Tags: camera flash, digital camera, extra lighting, Auto mode, built-in flash