I went to Stanley Park last Sunday with my friends and their children. I was trying to take a picture of the surroundings but I couldn't find a view I liked. This was round 4:30 to 5pm so the sun was still a bit high.
If you look at this picture, the exposure looks ok. But you can see there's a lot of long shadows from the trees, the people walking and the rocks. Depending on what you want to achieve, this may or may not be good photograph. If there wasn't any people, this would be acceptable for me. Although I would have used an SLR and use a polarizing filter to remove some of the haze in the mountains.
Anyway, I decided to take photos of my friend's daughter instead. If I shot it in full sun, there's a harsh shadow falling on her face.
No matter what angle I do, I just get shadows. Either my shadow covers her or I'm facing the sun making the exposure darker. Not pretty at all.
I decide to move into the shade and take her picture.
As you can see, this picture in the shade is much better since it evens out the light. But since the sun is still quite strong, her face is a bit dark while the background trees are a lot lighter. Her face looks bluish gray, not very flattering for a baby girl.
So how do you balance this? I turned on my flash to balance this photo.
Now this photo is more balanced in terms of exposure. Her face now looks of normal color and the background is exposed as it was in the first picture.
This is the proper way to use flash especially on a P&S camera. Since the flash on a P&S camera can only be pointed straight ahead, if used in a dark room, it would make the person look washed out and flat. But in strong sunlight, the intensity of the flash and the sun is pretty much even. So you can hardly see that a flash was used in this picture.
The only way you'll know that a flash was used is if you look at the girl's nose and cheeks, there's shiny white spots there. That's the reflection from the flash. Unless you're familiar with photography, you wouldn't even know it.
This is the best way use your flash.
Anyway, I decided to take photos of my friend's daughter instead. If I shot it in full sun, there's a harsh shadow falling on her face.
No matter what angle I do, I just get shadows. Either my shadow covers her or I'm facing the sun making the exposure darker. Not pretty at all.
I decide to move into the shade and take her picture.
As you can see, this picture in the shade is much better since it evens out the light. But since the sun is still quite strong, her face is a bit dark while the background trees are a lot lighter. Her face looks bluish gray, not very flattering for a baby girl.
So how do you balance this? I turned on my flash to balance this photo.
Now this photo is more balanced in terms of exposure. Her face now looks of normal color and the background is exposed as it was in the first picture.
This is the proper way to use flash especially on a P&S camera. Since the flash on a P&S camera can only be pointed straight ahead, if used in a dark room, it would make the person look washed out and flat. But in strong sunlight, the intensity of the flash and the sun is pretty much even. So you can hardly see that a flash was used in this picture.
The only way you'll know that a flash was used is if you look at the girl's nose and cheeks, there's shiny white spots there. That's the reflection from the flash. Unless you're familiar with photography, you wouldn't even know it.
This is the best way use your flash.
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