Learning My Camera: Flashing
After I shared a photo of my everyday face routine, many people complimented on my skin and the coverage of the product I was wearing. It's been bothering me a lot. But please don't be mad at me. I'm really am ashamed of what I've done so I wanted to confess my secret. Besides just fixing the colors of the photo, I did also erase a few dots here and there in Photoshop. It's just an itch that always gets to me...However! I promise I am trying my hardest to not use that tool anymore, especially for the blog. I am slowly learning to accept my not perfect complexion and trying my best to not be over self-conscious about posting photos for everyone to see. So be ready for some blemish filled photos in the future. |
| I was wearing a foundation here, no external pimple erasing here. & Excuse the messy eye makeup! I was just playing around :P |
But that is not the main point of this post! Camera flash also played a big part in washing out some of the blemishes I had and added more dimension/shadows to my face before I even went in to do any photo editing. It's really amazing the difference flash can make (sometimes). I don't have any professional flash equipment or anything (if I get serious enough about photography I'll think about investing in them later on). I just use the flash that's from my camera. I assume if you have proper lighting and flash it could enhance contours and highlights even better.
For the most part, all the photos on the blog are taken with flash. Personally, I like the end result more when there is flash involved. For one, I find that without flash the photo comes out a lot grainier or noisier than with. Secondly, my room is lit with yellow toned "daylight" bulbs. If I take photos without flash, the photos come out way too yellow to even try to fix in any photo editing program. But as always there are negatives of flash as well. Usually, for me, parts of the face can get over highlighted/exposed or there is a flash mark/washout on the packaging. However, when I take photos outside on a sunny day I find that I usually don't need to use flash at all. There isn't the same graininess because of all the natural lighting.
What do you prefer when taking photos? Are there any camera tips you'd like to share with a photography newbie/enthusiast like me?
I use flash for most, if not all my photos. But .. I have an external flash,which makes the light more diffused rather than being directly at the object you're taking a photo of. . Usually you can change the exposure of your flash to -1/-2/0/+1/+2. This will change the brightness. Flash also tends to wash things out a bit, so I find blemishes disappear in my photos [unless it's a close up]. Hope that helped a little :) have fun playing around with your camera! :D
ReplyDeleteAhh so thats what an external flash could do...They're so expensive tho :( Must save up for that next xD I've played with the exposure on my camera before. Sometimes it's useful and sometimes it's not. Or perhaps I just haven't learned enough about my camera yet lol Thanks!!
Deleteyea ive gotten compliments on my skin too, when in fact it's the camera and lighting. pictures can be deceiving!
ReplyDeleteMhm! Can't say that enough sometimes :P
DeleteFor the makeup up part, I have to agree that if you are going to show your everyday makeup look then you should keep editing to a minimal. That's nice of you to come clean and let your readers know that the way the picture was taken also contributed to the result. I do quite a bit of editing myself but I do that based on what is relevant about the picture. I always try to capture colors and textures as accurate as I can. I don't have perfect skin and occasionally I get a pimple here and there, so if I am posting about a makeup look, I would erase it. Not intentionally trying to deceive anyone but because I feel that it is distracting from the main idea. However, if I'm going to blog about a review for foundation, concealer, or how my face normally look, then I would refrain from doing such edit.
ReplyDeleteI use flash moderately if I feel that my lighting is not enough or if I want to capture some details that I can't get with the lighting that I have available. Currently, I prefer no flash when I take self portrait. I like the diffused shadows I get from natural light and artificial light. Flash tend to make my face look flat or washed out and create harsh shadows. I don't know if you've ever tried to set your white balance on camera but that will solve the issues with the yellow lighting. Also a high ISO setting will cause more noise, which is the trade of for a brighter picture without flash or appropriate lighting. I too have gotten some daylight bulb that are yellow, to my surprise, lol. I can't tell the difference from looking at the packaging. I think you and I could both benefit from this post http://www.prettyhandygirl.com/2011/08/cfls-leds-and-incandescents-oh-my-a-review-of-light-bulbs.html.
Thanks for your input! I'll definitely look into those more soon. I try my best to fix the colors to be the most accurate too but the blemish erasing itch just always gets to me.
DeleteI try not to edit my photos on my tutorials. I keep my pics as minimal as possible and true as possible as well. I tend not to use flash too much cause it washes out my face. I use a brighter setting on my DSLR camera.
ReplyDeleteInteresting..I usually lower the exposure if I find the flash washes out my face. But then again the camera settings can only help so much sometimes :\
DeleteI think your skin looks fine, hehe. And your eyeshadow here is purrty. I tend to go for natural lighting/without flash. I just like the softer lines it produces rather than the sharp/shadowy flash pictures. But that's just my preference. Interesting to learn about yours! :)
ReplyDeleteReally? This was a 'good' skin kinda day tho xD I like the sharp shadows more because it 'slims' my chubby face LOL But there are times when softer lines work better. Depends on the situation :]
DeleteI actually don't think your skin looks that different with/without flash... but then again we're always harsher on ourselves :P I don't ever use flash O_o maybe it's just my camera but it just makes everything too bright for me. I like to take pictures with sunlight, preferably behind me :P I feel like it gives my photos such a nice photoshopped quality XD
ReplyDeleteReally? Most of the time flash tends to wash out my acne scars. But I like it most because the shadows it gives make my face look a bit slimmer :P Thanks for the tip! I'll have to try that soon.
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