Turn Off The Flash!

Hello everyone! My name is Eric Doggett, and I am a photographer based in Austin, Texas.

The kind people here at Sparkplugging.com have asked me to help start a column on photography, and so I am very excited to give you some tips and tricks to help you get the most out of your camera!

We are going to give you some great advice, whether you have a top-of-the-line DSLR or a crappy hand-me-down pocket digital camera that you received as part of some introduction to timeshares.

We’ll include some example pictures where we can, and I welcome your input on these articles plus suggestions for future articles. You can reach me at babydaddy -at- ShootTheBaby.com.

Let’s get going!

For this first article, let’s talk about when to turn off the flash. ‘What?’ you might say? ‘The camera knows when to use it, so why would I turn it off?’ A good question indeed. The fact is that your camera doesn’t always know when it’s best to turn off the flash. It has a set of rules to follow, and it’s going to stick to them no matter what. And sometimes, you end up with a bad picture. But you can take control and get better shots more consistently.

I can hear the moans now.

Your camera came with a manual that’s written in 32 languages and pops open like a diorama. There’s no way you have the time to figure out all the settings you need to make this work. Actually, it’s easier than you think! All I am suggesting is to turn off the flash and leave everything else on automatic. Usually, for pocket cameras, you can turn off the flash with one button that looks like this:

If your pocket camera is like mine, it probably rotates through a menu like Flash On, Flash Off, and Auto Flash (otherwise known as Sporadic/Inconsistent Mode). For DSLRs that have a built-in flash, you’ll need to look at the manual, but it will probably be something very similar.

What kind of results can you get from doing this? Let’s check out an example. Here’s a shot of my son, taken with a pocket camera. It’s the middle of the day, and there’s a big glass door behind me. However, with all the light coming in, my camera decided to use the flash and this is what I got:

Uggh. So ‘point and shoot’-ish. But, by turning off the flash and leaving everything else on automatic, I can get this:

Much better. The lighting is more even, and you can see the room much more clearly.

So, where should you try this?

Well, you’ll need a lot of light, so trying this while your kid is sleeping at night isn’t going to work. I recommend using window light! Window light is great - it’s soft, slightly directional, and can work wonders. Try having the window to your back so that you are between it and your subject. Have your subject face you, turn off the flash, and take a few shots. The camera will realize that you are putting the smack down on the flash, and it will compensate.

While you are practicing, take a note of the shutter speed that the camera is using. If you don’t have enough light in the room, the shutter speed will be too low, like 1/30th of a second, 1/15th, or slower. If that happens, you will get a blurry mess. I would try to get a shutter of 1/60th of a second or higher. You can shoot with a slower shutter, but you will need to practice being still, and also having your subject still. Good luck with that last one - the only time my oldest is still is when he realizes he’s in trouble. Sometimes he thinks he’s being punished when I take his picture anyways, so it all works out.

Here’s one more example of using window light, this time taken with a Canon 5D:

There are some extra retouching steps I’ve done in Photoshop on this image, and I hope to cover some of those tips in future articles.

There you have it - your first tip to making your images better! I look forward to passing on more tips in future articles!

Eric Doggett is a photographer based in Austin, Texas. He recently launched a site specifically for baby photography tips at ShootTheBaby.com. This month he is also launching BoxOfficeBaby.com, a site where you can order custom birth announcement and birthday party movie posters. You can reach him at babydaddy -at- ShootTheBaby.com.