Natural Light vs. Flash Photography??

Not sure if this is the appropriate forum.

Ok, so before I got into photography.. I had my 1st child's pics taken in a studio by a professional photographer. She used flash, all the works! Then, I had my 2nd child.. and then I hired a natural light photographer.. who didn't use flash at all..

Both are great! Although, I sort of prefer using natural light.. Specially for newborn shots...

This is probably a dumb question but why use flash when you can attain great pics using natural light (provided, there's some)..

Are there 2 groups of photographers, really? the pro-flash and the anti-flash?

I am hoping to go pro someday.. and I'm sort of gearing towards natural light..

My buddy who is a wedding photog is antiflash. He's also anti zoom. Yeah he's crazy. But hey, photography is art, and they want to do what they want to do. He literally rolls in with two 5ds on each shoulder with a prime on each one and that's it. he has a suitcase bag, that has a 70-200mm and two 580exII's, just in case. And he knows how to use the flashes, he just prefers natural light.

I think he's crazy. But he's in demand and gets paid very well, so who's to argue.

I like natural light...

I'm not a fan of natural light at all...I believe that photography is all about light and thus, whynot try to have the most perfect light possible...but at the same time, also being able to control that light. I do agree though, for new born shots...ambient light can be nice for that, but so can off camera flash. I think off camera flash allows you to create photos of which you would not be able to create if you didn't have such lighting, not to mention, it also allows greater control over the photo.

Not all natural light is good light and not all good natural light is enough light. Are there two groups? Absolutely. But the best photographers are the ones who know how to recognize and use both.

I think you can add this to the other age old questions: Canon vs Nikon, Apple vs PC etc.. It comes down to personal preference. I'm sure there are numerous times when natural light is the best for a given situation or when flash would be better.
Like it has been said above, it all lays in the skill to observe and learn where each would be best suited and then to proceed accordingly.

JCP

cdifoto wrote in post #10042496
Not all natural light is good light and not all good natural light is enough light. Are there two groups? Absolutely. But the best photographers are the ones who know how to recognize and use both.

+1 in addition to our "gear" light (ambient and flash) are just tools of the trade. A good photographer should know how to use both and know which is best to use in what circumstance and what end result he/she wants.

While photography is not a life or death matter, I think musashi said it well "You should not have any special fondness for a particular weapon, or anything else, for that matter. Too much is the same as not enough. Without imitating anyone else, you should have as much weaponry as suits you."

cdifoto wrote in post #10042496
Not all natural light is good light and not all good natural light is enough light. Are there two groups? Absolutely. But the best photographers are the ones who know how to recognize and use both.

well played.

the same could be said for lenses as well... both types have their places.

cdifoto wrote in post #10042496
Not all natural light is good light and not all good natural light is enough light. Are there two groups? Absolutely. But the best photographers are the ones who know how to recognize and use both.

I absolutely agree! When the natural (or ambient) light is good and bright enough for my purposes, I will opt to use that first. However, when it isn't good or when it's not bright enough, then Plan B is to use articial lights (i.e. flashes or strobes) but set them up such that the resulting lighting looks as natural as possible.

But sometimes, I have to resort to Plan C and that's to use a flash just to take a picture in the dark!

I think its important to remember that there is an art to working well with either natural light or artifical lighting (flash, strobes, perminant lights etc..) and that many who are die hard fans of one aspect tend to be those who have thus far only learnt to control and master one and not both.

There is of course another factor to consider and that is the tools one has to use - I bet you natural light shooters for weddings would change their minds if they had to use a 300D camera body and not a 5D or 5DM2 The high and clean ISOs have really pushed what is possible with natural light in recent years. The same however is also true of artifical lighting - if you only had the popup flash to use chances are you'd quickly start to favour natural light most of the time.

So there is both a skills and an equipment limit to the choice that many make - I also lik to consider that there is a situational limitation as well. Certain situations call for one over the other - situations can be both environment based (a really dark church) or creativity (you want low ISO, small aperture handheld macro shots).

All in all I think the key is to approach both with an open mind, make a choice as to which to learn to use and work with first and heck maybe that gets you the results you need so you never need to consider the other - but never close your mind to the possibility or suggestion of using the other.

slingnanay wrote in post #10042218
This is probably a dumb question but why use flash when you can attain great pics using natural light (provided, there's some)..

..

Ditto other's comments about photography being ALL about the light. Great photographer's can recognize when the natural light is great, and if it's not, then create some of their own light to make a pleasing photograph.

Thanks guys!! I really like the responses.. I think I'm just being 'lazy' having to learn about flashes and stuff... I agree with the responses that a good photographer should be able to decide whether to use flash or not.. to achieve the best shots..

thebishopp wrote in post #10042698
+1 in addition to our "gear" light (ambient and flash) are just tools of the trade. A good photographer should know how to use both and know which is best to use in what circumstance and what end result he/she wants.

While photography is not a life or death matter, I think musashi said it well "You should not have any special fondness for a particular weapon, or anything else, for that matter. Too much is the same as not enough. Without imitating anyone else, you should have as much weaponry as suits you."

cdifoto wrote in post #10042496
Not all natural light is good light and not all good natural light is enough light. Are there two groups? Absolutely. But the best photographers are the ones who know how to recognize and use both.

Cdifoto and thebishopp, Very well put.. Thanks!

Have a read here: Flash Photography Techniques


"These pages were originally written to help other photographers who struggle with on-camera flash. But they were also written as a reaction against the snobbery of the purists who insist on using available light only – even when it looks terrible."

Sometimes natural light sucks, but you still want to make an image in that environment. Then you need some sort of artificial light! So it should not be a matter of philosophy, because a good photog should be able to use all the tools available to them to get the image they want.

Light is light, regardless of the source. The trick is learning how to control and use it depending on the situation and the look you want to achieve.