A Lesson In Bounce Flash

[Jimbaux won the lottery when he was born.]

Dear Jimbauxlings, a few readers have requested that I conduct a lesson on flash and indoor photography, and I present such here to you today.

When To Use Flash

Ideally, you’d never need to use flash, but there are situations, even outdoors during the daytime, when a judicious use of flash will improve the photographic results.

How Not To Use A Flash

The most common way that people use flash is to shine the flash head-on toward the subject in front of the camera, meaning the light rays travel parallel with the optical axis.  While this method can and often does yield good results, it’s also the most overused use of flash.  I’m not going to present an example here of poor use of this technique, but you probably need not look very far – in your own collection of indoor photos or that of your friends – to find some examples of this.  You’ll see washed out faces and bodies that are  beamed by the flash, causing detail to be lost, and you’ll see an excessively dark background.

Bounce!

I’m not known for my abilities at photographing indoor subjects or subjects with flash, and I can only offer one piece of advice, but it is a very important piece of advice that could greatly improve your photography.  I’ve already given you a strong hint at what it is.

Redirect the direction of that flash!   You want to distribute the light, don’t you?  I present to you four pictures that I took at a social gathering in New Orleans two years ago, each of them having the flash bounced off the ceiling or a nearby wall rather than directed right into the faces of the people in the pictures.  Have a look at this:

That’s my pal Brian, The Kirminator, right in the center of the picture.  Anyway, you’ve probably already decided that this picture is better than the flash-in-your-face pictures that you are so accustomed to seeing from your friends, but do you know why?

Take a look at the above picture, and pay close attention to the faces of each of the three men.  Notice that their faces have definition not found in your flash-in-your-face pictures.  Why?  Can you tell that light is coming down from the ceiling?  Look at their faces and notice how the underneaths of their chins, noses, eye sockets, etc., are in the shade.  That’s what gives the pictures definition!  If I had fired the flash directly into their faces, would you see that detail?  You’d see more of the oils in their faces, as throwing flash directly into the faces often makes faces look very oily and wet.

Meet One Who Makes Jimbaux’s Journal Possible

The gentleman you see in the below picture is Brett Baumann, and that’s his lovely wife Cheryl Mintz.  These are two people who are just not afraid to live life, I tell you, and that’s a challenge that Jimbaux is finally facing in his own life, having been too scared to live it for too long.  Brett is also the owner of PlanetGuide, the site that makes Jimbaux’s Journal possible.

Brett and Cheryl are neither scared of living life nor scared of themselves, and the picture seems to show that!

Like in the prior picture, there is evidence in this picture of light coming from the ceiling as well as somewhere near the camera.  See the shadows in the background?  You have to look to find them, but they’re not hard to find.

Saint Jude

Here are some more.  Notice the clarity with which you can see creases in the clothing as well as nuances in the skin.

That’s one of my head whoadies in the picture.  He likes this picture because he said it looks like he’s running for dogcatcher.

So does the bounce flash thing make sense to you?  There are two main reason why bounce flash is underused.  The first is that the camera one uses might not allow for it, forcing the user to shoot flash directly into the faces of his subjects.  The second reason is ignorance, but I hope I’ve done plenty to combat that here!

See Jimbaux Using Bounce Flash in Action

I was in Kansas in the summer of 2008 visiting friends on my way back from North Dakota, and I shot a self portrait with the three of us in their house.  Before I did that, I fired off this shot to test the exposure.

You like how I burned my face (the part not eclipsed by the camera) in the picture?  Hey, ladies, I’m sorry, but Jimbaux is a coy young man, although he is successfully battling his hatred and fear of himself; so, just be happy that this much is shown, okay?  😉  Yes, it’s a huge irony that I really don’t like to be photographed.

Human Devices Set Me Free

Anyway, from the above picture, you can see the flash pointed toward the ceiling.  However, look closely at the casing of the door behind (in front of) me.  Notice the reflection on the casing, and notice how its intensity of brilliance rises the higher you get.  Bounce flash is not perfect.  Also, notice that I’m not using a bounce card in this picture.  What’s a bounce card?  Something you should have if you use bounce flash.

Was this helpful?  I hope so.

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Jimbaux