Tips for mums: W4 Pop up flash vs natural light

One of mums asked if I use flash in my photography. To be honest, I don't use on camera flash at all. I do use studio lights for fine art portraits but not for everyday life photos.

On camera flash is not only distracting and not very pleasant for a subject (no, it is not harmful) but it also creates flat images. Most cameras come with a pop-up flash and you need to turn it off as it can be set as a default. It is very easy to see, if the built in camera flash has been used. You can see very hard shadows behind the subject, white spot in the middle of the eye.

Quick snapshots to show you the difference

On the first the light nicely fell on his face adding to the mood of the image . On second the face is flattened out.

On the first you can see the texture of the fur, the light in her eyes is the reflection of the window.

 Why Natural light

• I prefer natural light because you can be photographing almost paparazzi like and capture the mood much better without your child noticing you. Once you use flash, your subject might be distracted and ''the game is over '. 

• Also I like the soft shadows and streams of light which add to the image mood and also create the 3D effect. With flash, everything is flattened.

At first try photographing close to the window, but not in the room where the sun is shining directly in, use the other side of the house then. What if she/he is playing with her favourite car in some dark part of the room? Take the toys closer to the window and let her/him play again, once they forget about you start photographing and you will get lovely candids beautifully lit.

I was sitting back to the window

I was sitting in the middle of the room and asked Max to look out the window

 
If the images you are getting are too dark, change ISO in your camera to the higher number until your picture is light as you want it. With higher ISO you will get a grain, but it is better to have a grainy picture and natural image than dark or blurred.