[AndyR]

I'm going to throw this post in before talking about exposure compensation, because it highlights something important.

In locations where it is appropriate**, using flash makes a mind boggling difference in the amount of detail your camera can capture. I didn't take the set of images below to create a teaching point, they just struck me as interesting and very illustrative as I was scanning some old images looking at settings.

Images 1a, 1b, and 1c are all created from the same photo. Versions b and c simulate what it would have looked like if I had applied the stated amount of exposure compensation in the camera. The flash did not fire in this photo because I didn't wait quite long enough for the flash to recharge. There is a finite time between flashes, and back in those days it could be close to 8 seconds if the flash fired at full power, and the batteries weren't really fresh. Someone unintentionally stepped between me and her in the previous photo I took, and I guess I pushed the shutter button again before counting to 8.

Image 2 was shot a few seconds later, but the flash had recovered and was ready to fire by this time. Notice how obvious the wet spot in her panties is in comparison to any of the previous images... and I did try to bring out the wet spot via software manipulation in 1b and 1c.

Images 3a & 3b are created from the same photo. I deliberately turned off the flash because I wanted a nice full-body shot showing off her boobs in that position, and I didn't want the slight over-exposure on her skin that I knew from experience the flash images would have.

Image 4 the flash is on again. Notice that you can actually see the stitching in the leg band of her panties... serious detail that otherwise would have been completely lost.

The images are annotated, and numbered in the order in which it makes sense to view them.

In case you are wondering why the shutter speed is so low, after I just spent the previous post taking about keeping it over 1/320, well, this is because of the flash. If you refer back to the post where I talked about settings recipes that I frequently used (bottom of page 3), you'll note that I said "Manual mode (M) 1/200sec (limited by X-sync of camera), aperture f8, ISO never below 400", and that's exactly what I'm shooting. I also said "not to push" the zoom, and you'll note that in all cases I was under 200mm on that old Canon 75-300mm image stabilized zoom. I'd say that recipe works!


**appropriate - generally speaking, any tourist venue where there are steps with people sitting on them, and an interesting tourist attraction behind them, such as a famous building, a statue, a monument, a fountain, sculptures, anything of that nature. Buskers & street performers make an excellent excuse as well, just be careful to tip them if it appears you've taken a bunch of pics of them so as not to cause a disturbance - what's a buck or two in exchange for an excuse to take a bunch of great uppies? If you spend a little time watching, you'll notice other people's flashes going off in these kinds of locations too, so it's unlikely you are the only "flasher" - lol. When you use the flash, it's *especially* important to snipe, not spray. You can do 2 to 4 images, stroll around while keeping an eye out to see if the position improves, then if it does, maybe fire off a couple more flash images, then you're done, you need to move on, even if you don't want to. I do not advocate taking undue risk, but when you have a fuster-cluck of tourists all taking pics, one more flash in the mess goes unnoticed, unless you start making a nuisance of yourself. Places where flash is inappropriate is any place where people are scattered far between, and there are absolutely no scenic things around that would justify a photo, flash or no.

Note: You can not, you must not use the internal flash on your camera to try to take images like these. It is not powerful enough, and everything will come out under-exposed.