Flash!

I read an article by Joe McNally on his blog  and it made me realize that I have been playing around with flash photography a lot lately. During Jessica and Garrett's wedding I had to use flash if only because the venue was so dark. But I also had a lot of fun and got some pretty cool results even when there was plenty of ambient to work with. I found it gave the shots an edgy look and feel to them.  I have to say that I absolutely loved this shot when I saw it on my LCD and I was ecstatic when I saw it on my monitor.

I still think there are a couple of areas I need to improve upon. One is that, while I can do edgy, sometimes I want soft. Sometimes you want that light to wrap around your subject like a warm blanket. While the image above isn't the harshest I have ever seen, its definitely not soft.

The other problem I have is using flash so it doesn't look like flash. One of the comments on my self-portrait back in the spring was that it looked like I had been photoshopped in. So again, a softer more subtle touch with the light goes a long way. I need to work with the ambient and not against it.

Am I lot better with flash now? Absolutely. But I also recognize that I have a lot to learn. Maybe when I take Joe's two day workshop in November I'll learn even more. Did I forget to mention I was attending that workshop? Silly me! I am definitely looking forward to it.