The Canon EOS Digital Rebel XS/1000D Companion

Creating a Better Exposure with Fill Flash

I want to take a quick moment to introduce you to the simplest—and most-often used—form of flash photography. While most people think that a flash is for shooting in low light, flash can be just as important when shooting in direct sunlight. In fact, since the built-in flash on the Rebel XS is not especially powerful and can't be pointed in specific directions, you may find you use it more in bright daylight than you do in low-light situations.

For example, if you're shooting someone standing under a tree, the tree will shade their face, while full sunlight brightens up the scenery behind them. This is just like the earlier example of shooting someone in front of a window. The camera will most likely meter for the background, rendering the foreground underexposed. In the window scenario, we used different metering modes to properly expose the foreground at the expense of overexposing the background. If you don't want to blow out the background, and if your subject is within range of the flash, you can use the pop-up flash to fill in the foreground to create an even exposure.

Figure 7-34. Before and after fill flash.

Similarly, someone wearing a hat can have a face cast in shadow. Fill flash can easily open up these shadows to produce a better exposure.

Figure 7-35. In the image on the left, the hat is shading the woman's face. With a ...