Thursday, October 22, 2009

Myth Busting


MYTH: You should always try to balance your ‘fill’ flash with that of the background.

Many photographers attempt to ‘balance out’ ambient light with that of their flash. While admirable, it is but one option ... and quite honestly, it’s one that’s been overplayed. Take a look through our Web sites and blogs and you’ll see example after example where the background is much, much darker than the foreground information or vice-versa.
Trying for ‘normal’ is not being creative ... it’s just normal. This is why we abandoned our auto settings long ago. Pushing beyond average is something every artist-with-a-camera should be doing. Exploring their vision and societies as well.
We as the artists need to make a stand. The world does not have to look the way it appears and our photos don’t have to match some quirky and unneeded societal bias toward ‘even’ lighting. We have to stop being drones and start creating meaningful message — and that means doing away with some rather bad habits.
An In Focus off-camera flash photographer should be willing to go out on a limb and change the way the world looks. Sure he runs the risk of people not liking his photos but the whole point of adding light is to take charge of your images. Why not push things? Why not explore that creative side without limits?
The only thing you should ever have to balance when it comes to off-camera flash photography is your check book.


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