Portraits With Integral Flash

I find that indoor informal portraits using integral flash can be very
satisfactory - except for the inevitable shadow behind the sitter where
the background is a wall. Shots using a window as a background can
solve this problem, but the window frame can be intrusive.

I have a recently purchased a Digital Rebel/EOS 300D and the built in
flash extends quite high which helps to avoid the other portrait
problem - redeye!

I am thinking of buying a separate flashgun - a 380EX would be adequate
for me and although out of production they can be bought second-hand at
a reasonable price: the tilt facility would be useful especially with a
diffuser attached. Another solution is to use bounce flash off the
ceiling but I have found in the past that this can produce a very flat
image lacking adequate contrast.

One problem that neither built in flash nor a flash attachment can
avoid is that if the camera is held vertically - the most suitable
position for portraits - the lighting is to one side of the
face.Something like a Stroboframe attachment can solve this problem but
it is rather cumbersome to use.

Another solution is to use the camera horizontally and then crop the
image to produce a vertical format: this has the disadvantage of losing
pixels - but hopefully with the Digital Rebel';s 6 MP they can be
spared!This seems the simplest way of using either the integral or an
external flash and is perhaps the way to go - I would be interested to
know what other members think please.
Denis Boisclair
Cheshire, England.

On 27 Dec 2004 00:01:28 -0800, wrote:

I find that indoor informal portraits using integral flash can be very
satisfactory - except for the inevitable shadow behind the sitter where
the background is a wall. Shots using a window as a background can
solve this problem, but the window frame can be intrusive.

Or a dark background, far enough away not to pick up the flash at all.

http://www.xmastree.34sp.com/images/monalisasmall.jpg
http://www.xmastree.34sp.com/images/monalisa.jpg (original big version)

(I know, I just posted that last week...)

That was taken with a D70, using auto mode and the built in flash. No setting
up, I just snapped it... Guess I got lucky.

--
Chris Pollard


CG Internet café, Tagum City, Philippines
http://www.cginternet.net

I don't like using flash for portraits, except during the day, for some
extra fill light. If you make a portrait in a normally lit room (ie -
almost dark), you will get really good face detail, but sadly that
includes veins, pimples and the like - if you decrease the strenght of
the flash you get low contrast. Not to mention the shadow, yes, but you
can fix almost anything in Photoshop

I always prefer to use strong light, close to the face of the subject -
the skin tones are not just strong highlights and deep shadows (as when
using flash). Using a
"constant" light you get a more natural contrast. The eyes are deeper
with closeley situated strong light, which is, for some people, half
the portrait.

What I did last night, just for fun - I stood up next to the room light
(standard, 60W, yellow, but decided to use B&W mode, to make a powerful
portrait, with no "distracting colors") and took a picture of myself,
by extended my arms, so the light is basically above and between me and
the camera. The portrait is really good, in my opinion, take a look
here, http://heximal.hit.bg/PICT0001.jpg It would be nice to hear what
you think!

To summarize - I would always use strong artificial light rather than
resorting to flash.

On 27 Dec 2004 00:57:44 -0800, wrote:

the camera. The portrait is really good, in my opinion, take a look
here, http://heximal.hit.bg/PICT0001.jpg It would be nice to hear what
you think!

It works, doesn't it? What aperture did you use?

--
Chris Pollard


CG Internet café, Tagum City, Philippines
http://www.cginternet.net

Since I wasn't looking through the viewfinder (taking photos of myself
) I had to resort to the EXIF info - it reads F 3.20, Exposure 1/20,
I think it was shot in Program mode. I think the photo turned out
pretty professional looking, for an amateur like me.

I forgot to mention that the camera is a Konica-Minolta Z3, bought it a
couple of days ago and I am incredibly glad that I did - I recommend it
to anyone!

writes:

I find that indoor informal portraits using integral flash can be very
satisfactory - except for the inevitable shadow behind the sitter where
the background is a wall. Shots using a window as a background can
solve this problem, but the window frame can be intrusive.

I have a recently purchased a Digital Rebel/EOS 300D and the built in
flash extends quite high which helps to avoid the other portrait
problem - redeye!

I am thinking of buying a separate flashgun - a 380EX would be adequate
for me and although out of production they can be bought second-hand at
a reasonable price: the tilt facility would be useful especially with a
diffuser attached. Another solution is to use bounce flash off the
ceiling but I have found in the past that this can produce a very flat
image lacking adequate contrast.

I generally feel on flash diffusers to be too small to make much difference
(either the Lumiquest or Sto-fen varieties), until you get to something like a
Photoflex x-small litedome (12x18"), but then you would need to mount the flash
on a large bracket, or on a sepate lightstand. Have you considered using an
umbrella with a flash mounting just like they use for studio strobes?

For that matter, have you considered going up to studio strobes? The problem
with flashes is they aren't that powerful, particularly after you are diffused
or reflected the light.

Here is an album I made when I wanted to test all of the flash modifiers I had
at my disposal using my Promaster 5750DX flash. Note, a DSLR has much less
depth of field than prosumer cameras, and often times the cheaper consumer
lenses are slower as well, which means while I can get by shooting at f/2.8 on
my camera, you might need to go to f/4 or f/5.6 on a DSLR, possibly boosting up
the ISO (which is less noisy granted).

http://www.the-meissners.org/2004-sm...mod/index.html

One problem that neither built in flash nor a flash attachment can
avoid is that if the camera is held vertically - the most suitable
position for portraits - the lighting is to one side of the
face.Something like a Stroboframe attachment can solve this problem but
it is rather cumbersome to use.

I dunno, I find my two Strobo's to be extremely handy and very easy to use. I
use the small Stroboflip for everyday use (my camera is in it just about all of
the time), and the larger Pro-RL when I'm going to shoot more deliberately.

Another solution is to use the camera horizontally and then crop the
image to produce a vertical format: this has the disadvantage of losing
pixels - but hopefully with the Digital Rebel';s 6 MP they can be
spared!This seems the simplest way of using either the integral or an
external flash and is perhaps the way to go - I would be interested to
know what other members think please.
Denis Boisclair
Cheshire, England.


--
Michael Meissner
email:
http://www.the-meissners.org

wrote in news:1104134488.140909.142750
@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:

diffuser attached. Another solution is to use bounce flash off the
ceiling but I have found in the past that this can produce a very flat
image lacking adequate contrast.

Bounce at a 75 degree angle and use a reflector card on the flash to
provide direct light. Much nicer than straight flash.

One problem that neither built in flash nor a flash attachment can
avoid is that if the camera is held vertically - the most suitable
position for portraits - the lighting is to one side of the
face.Something like a Stroboframe attachment can solve this problem but
it is rather cumbersome to use.

Get a flash that tilts and swivels, and then you can bounce for vertical
photos too.

Bob