Indoors with built in flash?

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almac7

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I've got a Nikon D7000 and my wife's pal has asked me to do a family portrait for her tomorrow. As I don't have any flash or lighting apart from the built in on camera, I've been persuading her to do it outdoors but the weather says rain...and she insists we will just do it indoors. Is it possible to take decent portraits with the inbuilt, I never use it?
 
If you can rig up some kind of difuser on the flash you should be able to get away with it. There's a few threads on here regarding the best way to make something. Have a look in the lighting and studio forum to see if there's any tips there also.
 
It's easy to make a diffuser. cut up an empty milk carton, into rectangles larger then the head of the onboard flash. try single layers of it, double if you need more softening. Tape them onto the flash and away you go. You may need to mess with the flash exposure. Even a sheet of white paper held across the front of the flash will do the trick. It'll kill red eye and give nice lighting than the bare flash..
 
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Had thought of tracing paper or something to diffuse but a milk carton might be an excellent idea...will experiment.
 
Window is a good idea.

Make a reflector out of something covered in tin foil - large piece of card perhaps?

There's quite a lot you can do Blue Peter-wise to make up for some specialist equipment.

Remember also, watch your backgrounds - that doesn't need any kit - piles of washing or odd things out the side of peoples heads messes up a photo far more than anything else and its totally controlable in this scenario :)
 
Any natural light is a better start than the built in flash. Window light and careful use of reflectors is the best suggestion.

But this is where the skill is in portraiture - it's not camera settings or gear - it's about managing people.
If she's asking you to do it, that means she's putting her trust in you to do a good job. She isn't then in a position to demand that you have to perform under impossible conditions, you can let her bully you and produce crap pictures, but she's put you in charge and your options are:
  • Outside - between showers
  • Outside - in the rain, make it work, it could be fun.
  • Outside - rearrange the date
  • Inside - Use window light and reflectors
  • Inside - buy rent or borrow some lighting gear
  • Inside - use what you've got and guarantee a 2nd rate photo.

For those that say a home made diffuser can work - please post up some excellent examples with a diffuser on the built in flash where it's lighting a group of people - then I'll modify the last line. I'm not holding my breath - because the built in flash isn't just too small, it's in the wrong place and immovable;).

The built in flash makes a handy fill flash on sunny days. And nothing else that you'd call photography.
 
Yes, a flash a couple of inches above the centre of the lens isn't ideal and they are rather small but they're better than nothing! It's possible (think periscope arrangement) to lift the eventual source of light up to a more sensible level, although I've never bothered - I take very few portraits and even fewer where flash is needed (or more than 1 person is involved!).

I will agree that the built in flashes are better as fill ins than as a main light source but they are better than nothing, even if it's not by much!

OP, where are you based? I have an SB-600 that you could borrow if you're local to me - I'd like £100 (fully refundable) deposit in case it gets dropped or someone does a runner with it though! I'm based in Exeter and unable to drive at the moment, so you would have to collect and return it.

Nod.
 
Ahh but window light isn't nothing! A winter sky isn't nothing, even romantic low level room light isn't nothing.

Nothing is complete darkness, on camera flash bears that. But it beats very little else, I'd use candles first But that's just my opinion.
 
Phil V said:
Ahh but window light isn't nothing! A winter sky isn't nothing, even romantic low level room light isn't nothing.

Nothing is complete darkness, on camera flash bears that. But it beats very little else, I'd use candles first But that's just my opinion.
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Obviously I wouldn't use candles to light a group. But then I wouldn't use on camera flash either by choice, even a good one bounced. But then I have easy options.
 
As you say, you have easy options, not everyone does!

Depending on the weather, window light may not be enough. Time for the OP to grab all the spotlights he can to light the group - use a bit of white card in a test pic to establish an accurate white balance for the real shots if the camera's choice leaves a cast (or shoot in raw and rescue in PP).
 
Nod said:
As you say, you have easy options, not everyone does!
..
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But that goes back to my other point, the OP has to make the most of his options, and I'm standing by the built in flash is his worst option for a good photo.

If he just goes for the 'easy option' he'll be ending his chances of any referrals.

The trick is getting his own way, being nice about it and proving he was right with great results. Easy;)
 
Don't use in-built flash, even if you have a diffuser for it. What makes it terrible is the direction.. almost on the same axis as the lens.. this results in terrible modelling and a very snapshot aesthetic.

Use available light and reflectors as others have said. in-built flash has pretty limited uses beyond fill-in and just to splash some light onto a scene that merely needs to be recorded. For portraits.. avoid like the plague.
 
Don't think the OP has been given any option by his other half - it seems to be "shoot today and get whatever results you can". If the necessitates using the onboard flash, that's the way it's going to have to be! I fully agree that available light would be far better (and is also far better than many so-called proffesionals' sudio lighting rigs!) but given the time of year and current weather, it may not be enough! A splash of onboard, ideally reflected up at the ceiling to give a little bounce, will be better than nothing - postponing the shoot until outdoors or more window light was available would be my preferred option but that doesn't seem to be one that's open to him!
 
Nod said:
Don't think the OP has been given any option by his other half - it seems to be "shoot today and get whatever results you can". If the necessitates using the onboard flash, that's the way it's going to have to be! I fully agree that available light would be far better (and is also far better than many so-called proffesionals' sudio lighting rigs!) but given the time of year and current weather, it may not be enough! A splash of onboard, ideally reflected up at the ceiling to give a little bounce, will be better than nothing - postponing the shoot until outdoors or more window light was available would be my preferred option but that doesn't seem to be one that's open to him!
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Back to my first post then. Portrait photography isn't about window light vs on camera flash. It's about people. And it's up to the OP to make this work, which will be more about the people than it will the gear or weather.
 
Well, if my calculations are correct, the shoot (or snapping!) should have taken place yesterday, so maybe the OP could show us his results, warts and all! I hope (sincerely) that he managed to get a couple of decent shots.
 
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