Enhancing Your Outdoor Photos:
Fill flash with point and shoot cameras

Tired of dark eyes and harsh shadows in your outdoor pictures? Most point and shoot cameras available (both film and digital) have the ability to override the auto flash systems. One would normally think that when you are taking pictures outside you have plenty of light. Well you do, it just isn't enough in the right places.

If you are taking pictures with the subject looking into the sun, you'll often get that "squinty" look. If you shoot with the sun at the left or right side of the subject, you get really harsh shadows. If it is directly overhead you get shadows under the eyes and chin. Last if you shoot with the sun behind the subject, you normally get a flat, underexposed look that is not very flattering.

The answer is simple...just turn on the flash. There's usually a "flash on" position on most cameras. With the fill flash on, what you get is a highlight in the eyes and a reduction in the shadows on the face. But you'll need to stay close to your subject for the fill flash to have any benefit. Most flashes won't reach out very far—usually only about three to four feet. The result will be even more pleasing if they have a hat on. Then their eyes are not squinting from the sun and the flash takes out the shadow.

What about cloudy days you ask? Well it even works then too. The fill flash adds some normal color back into the person's face by eliminating the blue look from the overcast sky and puts that sparkle (highlight) in their eyes.