Flash ? The Horror Story of Photography?

Flash – The Horror Story of Photography?

Using flash to take pictures fills some photographers with dread. What is it that they really fear?

I'm going to start with an analogy. Our ancestors were afraid of fire, and understandably so. Then they learnt to control it and use it to their advantage, for warding off predators, to heating, cooking and to drive the industrial revolution. The same can be said for flash. Flash has ben a part of photography since the early days. Once, little more than a mixture of explosives, it's now a finely controllable and sophisticated form of lighting.



Red eye and no modelling to the face


Flashbulbs and then electronic flash may have seemed like a godsend for many, enabling images to be taken in dark conditions. From family parties to press photography flash was (and still is to a large extent) king. Indeed many historical images wouldn't exist without it so flash has helped record those moments for posterity.

However, even the very thought of using flash makes some photographers want to crawl under a stone. Not because they may have some vampire ancestry but because the results from direct on-camera flash produce awful looking results. If you were to design the worst lighting system for photography you'd put the light right next to the camera lens facing straight at the subject. So where do camera designers put the light? You've guessed it. And I'll include mobile phones in that category. In practice though, if you want a built in source of light there aren't many options.



Off camera flash gives more modelling and mood – this could be any light source but is in fact flash here


Direct flash causes red eye (the most common 'fault' that people notice), very contrasty images with harsh unflattering shadows, burnt out highlights especially with anything shiny, and a two dimensional appearance. As a photographer, those are all qualities that you don't want to see. Look at the portraits from the Grand Masters of painting and see how they use the light sympathetically and creatively. OK, they never knew about direct flash (that's not the point) but they did know a heck of a lot about light.



Off camera flash for close-up subjects


Over the years, there have been innovations. Bounce flash became popular for camera-mounted guns. Various light modifying attachments were devised. They all had different effects, some more successful than others, which I won't go into here. The one thing they all attempted to do was make the light softer, and by increasing the surface area of the light. That's another issue with small camera or phone based light sources – they are small. Small light sources are harsh. Think of the sun on a cloudless day (a small point source) compared to an overcast day (the most massive light source you can get). Size matters.



Macro photography of insects often benefits from using carefully controlled flash


Once you get the idea that you need to control the position and size of the light you can make efforts to improve your images. Here's the thing – flash is just a source of light like any other. As an example, a small LED panel or work light can be just as harsh and need as much careful control as flash. Done well, you can illuminate a portrait or location with flash and emulate any sort of light. That warm low angled glow from a camp fire? Could be flash. Light spilling onto a background from a window or car headlights? How would you know? Maybe all three.

So who's afraid of the big bad flash? Learn to control it and it's your friend.

Next time I'll look at a creative option for the humble camera flashgun.


All text and images © Keith Rowley 2021