Skip The Flash Unless Your Subject Is Moving

Just because they put a flash on your camera doesn’t mean you should use it. In fact, our camera-obsessed sibling blog Gizmodo suggests that there are very few occasions to bust out the little eye-reddening light source.

Giz not only breaks down the reasons for skipping the flash on a consumer-grade camera, which only travels about 4.5 metres and rarely results in great, even lighting, but shows the photographic failures. Their big pet peeve, no doubt bolstered by hundreds of ruined gadget photo leaks, is using a flash on a non-moving gadget with shiny surfaces.

This one may be a bit of a tech blogger pet peeve, but please, turn off the flash before taking pictures of your gear, especially if it has a screen. Even the brightest, matte-est screens act as flash mirrors, as do all manner of plastic and metal finishes. It’s nearly impossible to take a good photo of a gadget with your flash on, and there’s rarely a reason to: Gadgets generally won’t move unless you tell them to, so find a way to stabilise your camera and treat your subject to a nice, loooong exposure.

Actually, “unless your subject is moving” is a bit of simplification — but only a little. John Herrman also recommends shooting with a flash when your subject has daylight shadow problems, or when it’s completely dark. In some situations, converting to black and white might help a poorly-lit shot, but in general, it’s up to the photographer, not a flash, to get a better shot.

Giz Explains: When (Not) To Use Your Camera’s Flash [Gizmodo]