Using Flash Outdoors

I have been told to always use the flash on this camera when taking outdoor shots. I enclosed a pic of snow which has had flash on. And the snow has reflected in the shot. What do you think?

Answer:

I think the use of fill flash in this photo helps to draw the viewers eye into the photo. Both the reflection from snow and the way the flash helps light the first tree is good.

When or when not to use fill flash outdoors comes down to personal preference and depends a lot on the lighting conditions but I would not recommend to use it all the time on any camera.

Fill flash is very helpful when shooting back-lit subjects and can also be used to enhance natural lighting in a number of different settings but certainly is not a requirement for taking a good photo outdoors.

In your photo the use of the flash helped to make the snow within the range of the flash brighter and appear to be whiter. But you can get properly exposed snow that looks white without using fill flash by adjusting the exposure compensation to slightly over-expose the image from what the camera's automatic metering system would consider a "normal exposure".

Overall I like your image and do believe that the fill flash helps improve it by helping draw the viewer to the first tree and "into" the picture.

Thanks for sharing your photo with us.

Regards,
Alan