Along with a few other coworker/photography enthusiasts, I was asked by my company to take photos at our annual holiday party. This year it took place in a fairly dark and cavernous club in San Francisco.
Because I had to stay mobile, I stuck my flash (with diffuser cap) on top of my camera and angled the flash about 75 degrees forward. Basile (see below) was also shooting and noted that the ceilings were high and painted black, so not enough light was bouncing off and reaching his subjects. He suggested that I do as he did and point my flash straight at the subjects.
I chose to ignore his advice. I almost never angle my flash that way, because it makes people look flat and gives them the deer-caught-in-the-headlights look, but hmmm, Basile's
photos turned out a lot better than mine. Furthermore, unlike my photos, his were not post-processed! There are other factors in play as well, we have different styles, we use different cameras, different lenses, etc. Maybe I just can't help
coveting other people's work. Whatever the case may be, my photos left a lot of room for improvement.
Of all the environments I've shot in, shooting indoors with a single flash mounted on my camera is my least favorite. I pretty much said the same thing back in
October. Because this is a very common scenario, I must continue to experiment. Besides Basile's straight-on flash angle, I saw another photographer with her flash's bounce card deployed. I regret not trying both these techniques at the party, so I'm definitely going to try them out the next chance I get.
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2 comments:
Yeah, indoor flash stuff is rough. But I've used the "direct-flash" technique a few times. Sometimes, there just isn't anywhere to bounce. It works alright, at that point I think you have to be careful about the intensity you have the flash at.
That's because I have Canon and you have Nikon. Haha, just kidding.
I agree with your friend. Intensity. But also distance from flash. And diffusion. But you know that already.
And Canon.
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