Flash Photography: Getting past that love/hate relationship!

I'm back at the blog after a great Labor Day weekend.  I hope you all enjoyed the holiday!  Today I thought I'd talk a bit about flash photography.

A few years ago I attended my brother-in-laws wedding in Florida.  He had hired a friend to photograph his wedding who was "starting" her own photography business.  During the wedding, and then at the reception, I observed that the "photographer" was not using flash.  The church, as with most churches, was dimly lit.  The reception, held at my brother-in-law's country bar, was downright dark except for the strobe above the dance floor and the soft glow from the lights above the tables.  I was curious why any photographer would shoot in this situation without a flash, so I asked.  She said flash makes photos look terrible and that she was specializing in "natural light" photography.  She had her ISO cranked up to 1600 and was firing away.   

I had a Canon 20D at the time (still have it in fact) and I noticed she had the same camera.  This was/is a great little camera, but it is not a high end model and shooting in low light and cranking up the ISO will give you some noise.  I also knew that the rooms we were in were so dark that even with a high ISO she must have had her shutter speed pretty darn low... and she was shooting hand held. 

Needless to say...   a few months later I asked my brother-in-law how the pictures of his wedding turned out and he said "not so good."  My wife and I had done the same thing about 17 years earlier.  To save money we paid a family friend to take photos at our wedding and they turned out like crap!  My wife regrets that decision to this very day.

So why did this "photographer" not want to use flash... which could have greatly improved her photos?  I'm guessing it is because flash photography is tough to master.  If you don't know what you're doing flash can jump all over the place and leave you with photos looking like your subject was staring at an atomic explosion, or with eyes that make them look like their possessed.  When I hear people say that they specialize in "natural" light, I wonder if that is because they love natural light, or because they haven't mastered flash?  After all, if you want to be a photographer, it seem's you would want to be able to use all the tools available.

So where am I heading with today's blog?  I am simply encouraging you... if you aren't already... to become a master of the flash.  It would take a lot more time then I've got, however, to teach you how to use your camera's flash.  Fortunately, someone has already done a lot of the work... and that is the purpose of todays blog.  I wanted to let you know about a great blog/website that does a great job of teaching about flash photography... and it's free!  How can you beat that?  It's called Strobist, and you can find them at http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/02/welcome-to-strobist.html

Check em' out.  You might just find that flash photography ain't so bad!

Ryan