Canon® EOS Digital Photography Photo Workshop

8.8. ASSIGNMENT

A Filling Experience

Using a flash isn't limited to lighting up a dark room. Often you may wish to use it on a sunny day when shooting a subject to eliminate the "raccoon" look of shadows beneath their eyes.

There are several ways to use fill flash, and in part the different methods depend upon what type of flash you have. If you're using a higher-end flash, such as the 580EX II or the 430EX, then you'll want to switch it to manual mode on the LCD panel and drop the flash's power to half or one-fourth of its full strength. If you cannot set your flash manually, such as if you're using the 220EX or an internal flash, then you will need to force your flash to fire even though it's sunny.

Experiment with a subject on a sunny day with as much overhead light as possible. First, try the photo with no flash and see what happens with shadows. Now, try the shot with your flash using the settings described. When you get it right, you should have enough light that shadows go away, but not so much that you lose detail.

When Amy Timacheff shoots portraits, such as this one of a graduating senior, often she'll use a natural setting. And, an image using only the light coming through the trees can often be improved by using fill flash, such as the example here illustrates. Adding flash not only diminished the shadows under the subject's eyes, it also increased the catchlight in his eyes and the overall color of his skin and depth of the image. The flash's intensity was lowered ...