External Flashes for More Beautiful Indoor Pictures
Indoor photography presents a challenge for every photographer, from the novice to the pro. There is simply not enough ambient light in most indoor shots to take a properly exposed photograph. Your camera senses the low light and turns on the built-in flash. This burst of bright light illuminates the subject within a certain distance, allowing a proper exposure.
The built-in flash has its limitations, however. The light is harsh, overexposing the subject and underexposing the background. Skin tones are flat and shiny, details obliterated, and the background is a blob of black shadow, perhaps with some harsh reflections on glass or mirrored surfaces.
An external flash is a practical solution for the amateur photographer. The flash is easy to put on and take off—it slips onto the hot shoe on top of your camera and locks into position. Once you turn the flash on, photographing with the external flash is automatic. Your camera triggers the external flash when you press the shutter release.
External flashes are admittedly heavier and more bulky than using a built-in flash. This small inconvenience is offset by many, many advantages.
Avoiding red eye
The built-in flash is located very close to the camera lens. When the flash goes off, the light bounces off the back of your subject’s retina, right back into the camera lens. This shows up on your image as red eye. Raising the flash a couple of inches above the lens changes the angle of the light in relation to the lens, essentially eliminating red eye.
Powerful flash photography
The external flash is larger and more powerful than a built-in flash, illuminating a larger area. The external flash is powered by its own battery, requiring less time to recharge than a built-in flash, which draws power from the camera’s battery. The external flash allows for more images in a shorter period of time, better for catching fast action shots.
Bigger flash equals softer light
Picture a portrait studio—the lights are huge, with even larger diffusers, creating a large, brightly lit area. An external flash is orders of magnitude bigger than a built-in flash, sending out a larger and softer cone of light. Although the external flash is bulkier than a built-in flash, the extra size translates into softer light for your indoor shots.
Bounce flash
An external flash has an articulated head that allows you to control the direction of the light. If you point the flash up, aiming it at the ceiling above your subject, the light will bounce off the ceiling and down onto your subject, creating light and shadows that are much more natural. The light is softer and skin tones more natural.
More creative options
Some external flashes have remote capabilities, allowing you to completely remove the flash from the camera, placing it wherever you wish. With this feature, you can illuminate the subject from the side, the back, or from an angle, opening up the creative possibilities. Your camera sends a wireless message to the flash so it will go off when you press the shutter release.
London Drugs sells a variety of external flashes for different camera systems—click here for some of our products. Bring your camera into the store and speak with our camera specialists. They will help you find the right flash for your needs.
