How many of you see your photographs looking blunt and ugly each time you use your flash? A flash gun can prove to be an asset for your photography expeditions or a disadvantage, depending on the way you use it. In earlier days lighting was done with the help of flammable flash powders which were ignited by hand, and then the flash illuminated the entire scene. Nowadays higher end cameras usually have a portable flash unit, such as the advanced Sony HVL HFL 1, that can be mounted, or used separately. The cheaper cameras come with an in-built flash unit that will only allow you to put direct flash on your subject as you can’t dismantle it. To click the right picture with flash, you need to keep certain things in mind.

Always bounce the flash and do not throw it directly on the subject- it is necessary to bounce your flash to give the proper exposure to your picture and avoid harsh shadows. For instance see the two pictures featured above. The first one has been taken with a camera mounted flash that throws light on the subject from front, giving it an unnatural look with dark shadows. The second picture has been taken after bouncing the flash from the white wall above and gives a natural look to the subject, bringing out the contrast. Hence it is always advised to dismount your flash gun and bounce it from a white surface, which could be a white wall, a reflector or a plain white thermocol.

Avoid the red eye effect- you would be horrified if your subject looks like a ghost in your picture with the red spot in their eyes. This can be avoided by throwing a little extra light on your subject while you use flash, as the red-eye effect happens due to the opening of pupil due to low light. So if you throw some extra light, then the pupil will remain in its original size and won’t reflect the red light form your flash.