The most obvious area where this isn’t always possible is indoors. No ceiling light or table lamp can be as bright as the sun, so you will almost always have to add more light with a flash. Most professional photographers prefer to have more control over the lighting so they will use a variety of stronger lights to help them. By adding more light to an indoor scene, you can avoid the need for a camera flash, which can be distracting to the subject, particularly when you are trying to capture unposed or natural shots.

When it isn’t practical to add more light to an indoor or low-light scene, you can often rely on a flash to help add to the available light. A common mistake with a flash, however, is to misunderstand the reach of the resulting light. Most portable cameras can only light up a subject within an average of 10 to 15 feet – so, if the subject of the photo is further away than that, then either move closer, or look for an alternate light source or option. Professional photographers will often use an external flash, which can be synchronized with the camera like a built-in flash, but can be much brighter, as well as having the ability to position it separately from the camera itself.

Where lighting is less than optimum, you also have a number of options at your disposal if your camera provides more manual control over its functions. Many of these options simply allow for more light to enter the camera (more depth into these features is discussed on the next page covering ADANCED TECNIQUES. By adjusting the aperture, you can widen the lens opening to let more light in at one time into the camera, thereby taking more of the existing light in than you would otherwise. You can also adjust the shutter speed – by using a longer shutter speed, you allow more time for the available light to enter, however the disadvantage of doing this is that your shots are more prone to camera shake and blurring, so be aware and mount the camera on a flat surface or use a tripod. Many cameras also offer the ability to adjust the exposure which can help to compensate for having either too much or too little light available. A more dramatic example of these kinds of adjustments is with night shots, where photographers will often use a combination of all three, sometimes with shutter speeds of 20 seconds or longer, to effectively capture nighttime traffic, starry galaxies, or unique images of popular monuments.