Question about flashes

[Kingloser]

I have just started takeing pictures of miniatures and have run into a bit of a contradiction.

Most people tell me not to use a flash when I take a picture, but I have found out through trial and error that my pictures look better with it on. I have adaquate natural lighting includeing several reveal light bulbs and a couple of blue spectrum halogen reef lamps.

I have tried several combinations with camera settings and diffrent light positions but this is the best my pictures come out with out the flash

http://www.pbase.com/image/16089279

While with the flash in my opinion it looks better

http://www.pbase.com/image/16125202

Am I wrong in assuming under no circumstance should you use a flash or did someone tell be a bunch of bull?

 

[Corvus]

I\'m not going to tell you if you should use a flash or not (because I know almost nothing of photography), but I think the colors of the first mini look better and brighter...

 

[Flashman14]

I think the objection comes when people utiilize the flash as their main or ONLY light source. This creates a lot of harsh shadows on the fig leaving enough of it over exposed or in darkness. Bright, EVEN lighting is best where the fig is equally lit all over with minimum glare.

In essence a good photo should, as close as possible, clearly reveal the paint job. Anything that obscures that is bad . . . (unless it\'s a mood lit diorama)

 

[AAvH-Darkblade]

I have to agree with Flashman14, as long as the lighting is even and there is no glare you\'ve got half the battle won. My biggest problem happens to be glare, and as I shoot film and not digital it is a real pain to test different set ups.

Regarding your pictures, you might want to adjust the levels in Photoshop or some other program, as it will really help to clean up the image and get it to a truer representation. There\'s an article in the Articles section that explains how to do this.

 

[vincegamer]

Originally posted by Kingloser
I have found out through trial and error that my pictures look better with it on. I have adaquate natural lighting

This is inherently untrue. If you had adequate lighting, you would not see an improvement with a flash. I agree that your with picture is better, just looking at the bone part. The flash seems to be countering a yellow light source coming from up and to the viewer\'s right. However, the blues and greens look a little clearer without the flash. I think with your particular setup, you can go ahead and use the flash. The problem is that when it is dim enough to cause a flash to automatically light, that normally means you will end up with one very bright white light source directly in front of the mini. That usually results in washed out colors and is far more likely to get a reflection than indirect lighting. It doesn\'t appear your flash is automatically engaging, or you probably wouldn\'t have been able to get that first pic.

 

[Kingloser]

Thanks

Thanks everyone for your input I rearrainged my lighting again and added a blue halogen the pics look great without a flash now.