Pop-Up Flash: Use It as a Weapon

The pop-up flash built into your digital camera is designed to do one thing: give you the flattest, harshest, most unflattering light modern-day man has ever created. If you have a grudge against someone, shoot them with your camera’s pop-up flash and it will even the score. Here are just some of the reasons why you want to avoid using that flash at all costs: (1) The face of the pop-up flash itself (where the light comes out) is very, very tiny and the smaller the light source, the harsher the light it produces. (2) Since the flash is positioned right above your camera’s lens, you get the same quality of light and angle that a coal miner gets from the light mounted on the front of his helmet. (3) Using a pop-up flash is almost a 100% guarantee that your subject will have red eye, because the flash is mounted so close to, and directly above, the lens. (4) Because the flash hits your subject straight on, right square in the face, your subject tends to look very flat and lack dimension all around. (5) You have little control over the light, where it goes, or how it lands. It’s like a lighting grenade. These are the reasons why so many people are so disappointed with how their shots look using their camera’s flash, and it’s exactly why using your pop-up flash should be absolutely, positively, a last resort and only done in the most desperate of situations (okay, actually it can do a somewhat decent job if you’re shooting outdoors, your subject has the sun behind them, and you need a little bit of light so they’re not just a silhouette. Then, maybe, but other than that...). So, what should you use instead? That’s on the next page.