Most people when they think of using flash, think of indoors in low-light. Well, outside in bright sunshine, flash can be your friend as well.

How many times have you been outside taking pictures only to find all your subjects faces dark and the background beautifully exposed? Sure, you could adjust your exposure to expose the faces better, but now you’ll have a background that is blown out. A better solution is fill-flash.

Below is an example of a shot I took without flash and another taken just a few seconds later using flash.

I set my camera exposure manually to the scene (bright sun on a deck at 3:00p in the afternoon). This turned out to be f/11; ISO 100 at 1/250s. Because I was going to use flash, I did not want to set my shutter speed any faster than my camera’s sync-speed of 1/250. Another alternative would be to set your camera to shutter priority (Tv in Canon) and set it to 1/250 of a second. I prefer manual settings, for I don’t want the the camera being fooled by the scene.

My daughter was in her pool where the sunlight was coming from camera right, casting a shadow across her face. The shot on the left looks like a snapshot taken by anyone with a P&S. Just by using my flash, and setting it in ETTL mode (Canon) with a Flash Exposure Correction (FEC) of -1 2/3, that same shot brings out much more detail in her face without that harsh flash look. The sun still overpowers the flash, creating it’s normal shadows. I may have even been better off using at FEC of -2 or even less (in negative territory here), but now, the picture has a much better look and feel to it.

Imagine if the sun was coming from behind her. That first image would really show a dark face, which would be completely in the shadow. So, next time you are out in the sun taking pictures of family and friends, don’t be afraid to experiment with a bit of fill flash.