flash/harsh shadows

[stan the man]

hi folks

okay,i've been playing with the flashgun tonight,taking a few shots of my grandson...but there are harsh shadows which are caused by the flashgun,i presume.so my question is,how do i take shots without getting these shadows?

sorry to sound a bit vague/basic,but i know very little,if anything about flashgun use..

TIA

 

[awp]

Can you post some pictures?

You could bounce the flash - but better advice after seeing your pics.

 

[stan the man]

hi andrew,and thanks.here's the shot i was talking about,and as you can see,there's quite harsh shadowing below his head,which i assume the flash has caused.as you will also see,the shot was taken from above.

 

[HoppyUK]

I think that's quite effective, but in that particular shot if you wanted to reduce that shadow a reflector would do it very nicely.

The harshness of the shadows is directly related to the size of the light source. Small point light source (eg sun, torch, direct flash etc) equals dark, sharp shadows. Big light source (eg overcast day, flash bounced from the ceiling, flash fired through a transluscent umbrella) equals lighter shadows with a sofer edge.

Basically, the bigger the light source, the softer the shadows.

 

[stan the man]

I think that's quite effective, but in that particular shot if you wanted to reduce that shadow a reflector would do it very nicely.

The harshness of the shadows is directly related to the size of the light source. Small point light source (eg sun, torch, direct flash etc) equals dark, sharp shadows. Big light source (eg overcast day, flash bounced from the ceiling, flash fired through a transluscent umbrella) equals lighter shadows with a sofer edge.

Basically, the bigger the light source, the softer the shadows.

thank you for your explanation,richard...thats been a big help to me

i need to invest in a decent reflector or some decent lighting before i try this again