Back in a Flash

It’s not the first time while at an event or function of some sort, that someone with good intentions informs me that my flash didn’t fire.

Most often, I would reply simply with thank you and leave it at that. My having to be attentive to things at hand doesn’t always allow you time to explain much more. Sometimes, with all the flash guns firing at some events, it’s a wonder we aren’t blinded from all those bursts of light. Of course, this doesn’t make for much comfort for the recipient , your subject.

That said, I’m still surprised why we don’t cash in on the full capability of the camera gear we lug around. Many of the cameras today have some incredible ability in the high ISO ranges, and they keep getting better. Admittedly, in some of the earlier digital cameras, especially in the Nikon line, grain was an issue in anything above ISO 200, but that is constantly being improved, yet many will not dare venture in these high-altitude ISOs.

Now that said, it goes without saying that you will get some grain, and if the camera is an older model it will produce a fair bit of grain. Yet, you can clean up a lot of that grain in post-shooting software such as lightRoom.

The need to keep a low ISO, and then shoot using flash seems at times a sacrifice not worth having for me. Having decent lenses quite readily available today at reasonable pricing helps make for better pictures, too.

When you add these pluses together, you have some good opportunity to experiment and perfect your skills, and not being totally dependent on flash when you have low-light situations. Of course, there are some things to consider in this process, like having fast lenses helps, not shooting with the telephoto lens fully extended won’t hurt either, and remember, the longer the barrel, the more light will be consumed and you will need an even higher ISO with no flash.

That is, unless, you have a really steady hand at super-low shutter speeds.

Now, I’m not against flash by any means. I have invested quite a lot of money in them to date, but at times using flash is quite annoying, and, in some cases, not permissible at some locations. Yet you have to be able to pull off those decent shots in low light no matter what.

The advantage here is that if you take the time and effort to practise and hone your skills in these areas, you will be quite pleased and have some pretty awesome shots.

So don’t forget, your equipment may have some limitations, and you may not be able just yet to purchase that dream piece of gear you have been eyeing in the store, but you have tons of opportunity to do take awesome pics with what you do have.

You might find that its actually quite good after all, and you, too, have become even better with your skills.

Chuck Swinden is a professional photographer and photography instructor at Rodenas Photography. For more information, visit www.rodenasphotography.com.