PHS Tips to Better Garden & Documentation Photography
Flash vs. Natural light (plus “fill flash”)
The Great Debate: Many photographers will disagree widely on the use of flash—some swear by it, other dislike it. In general, flash is good to use on dark days or sometimes on sunny days to “fill” in shadows (this is often done automatically on modern cameras). Other photographers like to use available “natural” light and manipulate with a number of tricks (see “Reflectors” under Techniques below).
Indoor Flash: Unless you use a very fast film, a tripod, and perhaps even a colorcorrecting filter (to get rid of the yellow of incandescent lightbulbs), you’ll probably want to use a flash indoors: use a flash unless you have a fast film or tripod. Normal flashes tend to create harsh light and “red eye.” To reduce these ill effects, you can buy “bounce” flashes that allow you to bounce the light off a wall, ceiling, or a reflector; or use the “red-eye reduction” feature on your automatic camera.
Outdoor Flash: Flash can be useful on sunny days when you’re shooting a backlit object. Without a flash, the subject would be dark, but fill flash gives just enough illumination to light the scene (this is the effect often used for outdoor fashion photography—you can tell because the model’s hair is brilliantly fringed by sunlight).
The second rule of photography: This is not reality
Posing: Your job is to convey a message, so it’s okay to bend reality to achieve your goals. If you’re not getting a good shot of volunteers working together, for example, it is okay to pose people, as long as they look natural. Remember, it’s all about the message
The Subject: Pick out a clear focal point or subject. REMEMBER: photos rarely capture more than one subject successfully. Keep the composition simple and uncluttered. If there are a lot people milling around in the picture, try to concentrate on just one person or object.
Look at the Background: In addition to the subject, look at the background. Is the background clean and simple, or jumbled and busy? Busy backdrops (fences, streets, etc.) can make for unpleasant, overly complicated shots. Simple is best, be it a distant wall, or block of color. Think about color, too. If your subject is wearing a bright red shirt, don’t put them in front of a red, pink, or purple wall. That will create an jarring clash of colors.
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