• Underexposure
• Shadows
• General flash tips

The most common cause of poor picture quality is underexposure. Underexposure occurs when inadequate light reaches the film, resulting in a thin negative, a dark slide, or a muddy print. Adequate light is necessary for proper exposure regardless of the film speed.

Film requires considerable light for proper exposure -- more light than is typically available inside a house or a building. A flash approximates sunlight and provides a normal color balance.

To minimize underexposure:

• Use flash when shooting in low-light situations, for example:

  • indoors

  • outdoors in heavy shade

  • outdoors on dark, overcast days

  
  

• Make sure the subject that you want to photograph is within your camera's flash range. Subjects beyond the flash range will not be properly illuminated, resulting in underexposed negatives and prints that look grainy, dark, or even unprintable.

Note:

• Pictures taken indoors without adequate flash will take on the color of the existing light source.

• Most homes have incandescent lighting so photographs taken without a flash will have a gold or yellow bias.

• Most public buildings use commercial lighting which contains unnatural colors. Photographs taken without a flash will not provide true-color image quality.

Background shadows are a natural and unavoidable condition of single-flash photographs. The shadow location depends on the orientation between the flash and the camera lens.

To minimize shadows:

• If you want to take a vertical picture, hold the camera so the flash is at the top. If you hold the camera with the flash at the bottom, the shadow may appear above the subject and be quite noticeable. Refer to your camera manual for recommendations on how to hold the camera for horizontal and vertical pictures.

• Position yourself at eye level with the subject being photographed. Shadows will be less noticeable at eye level than if you aim the camera at an upward angle. If you cannot be at eye level, aim the camera downward rather than upward.

• Avoid photographing subjects that are close to walls, particularly blank walls. Wallpaper with a pattern or design minimizes shadows.

• Turn on all room lights, even during the daytime. A high ambient (surrounding) light level minimizes shadows.

• Use fill flash to provide just enough flash to illuminate areas of a picture that would otherwise be too dark. Fill flash is available on most camera models and is helpful in the following situations:

  • For sunny day portraits: to fill in dark shadows under the eyes, nose, or under the rim of a baseball hat.

  • To correct difficult lighting situations: dark complexions on a beach, or a child playing in the snow.

  • To balance the scene in back-lit or side-lit pictures: subject standing in front of a window during daylight hours. In this example of a back-lit scene, there may be sufficient background bright area to provide an 'average' brightness for the entire picture, but the subject is left in the dark. Fill flash balances the scene so the subject is properly exposed, and the background is unaffected.

  
  

• Do not cover the flash with your finger when taking pictures. Blocking the flash reduces the amount of light illuminating your scene.

• Make sure the flash is fully charged before taking each picture. To achieve maximum flash output, wait several seconds after the flash ready light glows before depressing the shutter release button.

• When holding your camera vertically, make sure the flash is on top.

• Protect the camera from impact. If the camera is dropped or knocked against a hard surface, internal parts can be damaged causing camera failure.