Flash vs. Natural Light

I've been on a big lighting kick for the last couple of years for our portraits. I've been studying and working relentlessly and invested thousands of dollars into flashes, stands, radio triggers, modifiers, and everything else you can think of.

I've always enjoyed the creative possibilities using flash offers, especially using multiple lights and the ability to shoot where there is little or no natural light.

With all the great things using flash offers there's one thing I'd never really considered until I saw it as plain as day on the following two photos. I shot the first sequence using flash. Then, seeing how nice and soft the natural light was I killed the strobes and went to natural light only.

You can see side-by-side the difference. They're both straight out of camera with no processing at all. The natural light photo on the right is certainly nice and flattering. It's what 90% of photographers shoot during every session and any one would be happy to have taken it. With a little processing in Photoshop it would be a great image.
 

Upon further inspection there are three things that really strike me. 

1. The first is how much more vivid and sharp the flash photo on the left is in comparison. The directional nature of the light coming from the flash really help to define the edges in the photo. Her eyes look sharper and there's more definition to her clothing and hair.
2. The color in the flash photo are much more vivid and true than the ones on the right. Using the flash means that the subject will not have any color casts from nearby objects influencing the color. It's clean and accurate straight out of the camera. Also, I prefer the modeling and direction of the light in the photo at left.
3. Finally, the biggest difference to me is in the eyes. Take a look at the 100% view below and you can really tell a difference in the color and clarity of the eyes. Shooting with just the strobe eliminates any of the distracting and strange highlights in her eyes and really shows a deep black pupil and perfect color to the eyes. Check it out for yourself: 

 

It's amazing to me the night-and-day difference between the flash and natural light photos. After seeing it for myself I think it's safe to say I'm never going back!

-Mike

Comments

[Lucasridley]

One quick white balance question: Did you change the white balance in camera before you took each image, or did you leave it on Auto? Thanks

[Mike Sisk]

I was shooting with the white balance set to flash on the camera. We use an X-Rite Color Checker Passport to profile our cameras and set the white balance. That was done to each image in Lightroom prior to posting online. Using flash helps to keep the white balance pretty accurate straight out of the camera, but we use the Color Checker in post to make it even more accurate. Thanks for writing in!

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