question about flash

[jessie25]

Excuse me if this is a dumb question - I'm a total neophyte when it comes to photography.

You know how sometimes when taking flash photos of people indoors, the people in the front of the picture come out really bright and the people in the back of the picture come out really dark? For example, a restaurant photo where one person is sitting at the table and another is crouching right behind them - the one in front comes out super-pale and bright, and the one in back almost looks black even though she's white?

What's that called? And does anyone know of any ways to prevent it? Camera features to look for, tips while taking pictures, etcetera?

[LoveOfSelene]

Excuse me if this is a dumb question - I'm a total neophyte when it comes to photography.

You know how sometimes when taking flash photos of people indoors, the people in the front of the picture come out really bright and the people in the back of the picture come out really dark? For example, a restaurant photo where one person is sitting at the table and another is crouching right behind them - the one in front comes out super-pale and bright, and the one in back almost looks black even though she's white?

What's that called? And does anyone know of any ways to prevent it? Camera features to look for, tips while taking pictures, etcetera?

From using an on-camera-flash can and very well blow out the foreground. You can prevent this to an extent using a external flash. Or equip your flashes w/ a defuser. There is always flash compensation. And for the background being to dark. Your shutter speed has to be slower to get that balenced background. The flash is only enough to fill the forground in most cases.

[speaklightly]

Jessie-

Love of Salene speaks of flash diffusion, there is stil another flash technique and that is bounce flash were the flash is reflected off of the ceiling, with a resulting very even light pattern.

However, please keep in mind that both diffusion and bounce flash are most effectively done with add on flash units. On camera flash is very distance sensitive and most built in flash units, with a few exceptions, reach out only to approximately 10 feet.

The attached photo shows an external flash unit on a Canon 20D with its flash positioned to the bounce position to evenly reflect off a ceiling.

Sarah Joyce

[jessie25]

Thanks, I never knew that. Learn something new every day. :)

Since I'm nowhere near the level required for such fancy cameras and add-on flashes, I guess I'll just live with it.

Do you think a camera with a more powerful flash would help, in that it would light up the people a little bit behind the front people better?

[PeteD]

That wouldn't help, because it would make the ones in front even paler and more washed out - so they would look worse still.

Try this:

Get an empty flip top pack of cigarettes, and cut out the hinged lid bit, and the side that it is attached to. Then stick the side onto your flashgun, or cut it to fit round the lens so you can stick it to the camera.

At this point you get a bit of chewing gum or blu tack and put it at the hinge, adjusting the hinge so it is at 45 degrees to the flash.

Then get some tin foil, from the kitchen, or from the remains of the ciggy packet. Wrap that artfully round the stupid looking structure that you have attached to your camera.

This will now divert the light from the flash upwards to the ceiling, which will then bounce the light back down more evenly on the folk below.

Voila, a bounce flash!

Unfortunately this would considerably reduce the amount of light falling on the subject, so you have to either add a stop or two of exposure by fiddling with your digicam's settings, or pretend to the camera that you are using a film that has a half or a quarter of the ISO rating.

I don't know if all this works, I just made it up.

[gary_hendricks]

Speaklightly is so right. I regularly use this 'flash to the ceiling' technique on my Sunpak 383 with Panasonic FZ20 combination.

Another more crude way to do this would be to cover the flash slightly with your finger (more and more until the picture looks right). :)

[GlennD]

An improvement on the Bounce Flash is to but a white business on the back of the flash unit, held in place with a rubber band. Have the card protrude about 1 1/2" above the flash head. This directs a small amount of light directly forward but not enough to wash out the fore ground features.

I have used a blue card when ceilings tend to be a bit yellow. I have also used an inverted plastic drinking cup, one that is opaque, not clear.

It's also possible to bounce light off walls for a different effect.

Glenn

[jessie25]

Cigarette packs... plastic drinking cups... I give up! I'm sure this all works really well but it's too complex for me. I'll just live with it, or adjust it later in software.

Thanks for all your advice though, hopefully someone who is more keen on trying out these techniques than me can benefit from it.

[Comedyman]

Also in the realm of contraptions... you could use a sheer piece of cloth over the center of the flash to dampen the direct pulse of light to the foreground targets but possibly get a nice flash to the background ones Slow the shutter speed down some to compensate. I just sat here and thought of that. Looks like I will have to go put it to practical use now and see if it works. :)