Christmas Gift Ideas [3 of 3] | A flash you can afford

Gift 3: An affordable flash

I never use the flash built into the camera. Seriously. Never. I would rather have a dark picture than the pictures that result from that kind of flash. So why are they so bad? It isn’t their quality and it isn’t their light output, it is their direction. When you use the built-in flash on your phone/camera it fires light directly at your subject, which makes them look washed out, makes the picture look flat, and makes the colors look fake.

So what is the solution? There are flashes that mount to the top of your camera (aka the shoe) that allow you to control the direction the flash is fired. So the best way to take pictures with a flash at home is to point the shoe mounted flash to the ceiling, not the subject. That allows the light to fill up the room as well as bounce off the ceiling, giving a soft gentle light on the subject instead of a hard intense one. It look natural. It looks well lit. And it looks professional.

The problem: A canon hot shoe flash will run you at least $400. But I have found, used, and am highly impressed with an off brand flash that will run you less than $100. The brand is Yongnuo. Get on amazon and check them out. Seriously, you will not regret the quality of pictures this helps you achieve.