Flash

 

An insect that you would probably normally not give a second glance, but close up and frozen by flash, it's like a flying model on a catwalk parading its fashionable attire. Those big compound eyes are really amazing too.

I have rarely used flash in my photography for two reasons:

1) I am usually photographing landscapes or wildlife, both of which are out of range.

2) Flash (if mounted on a camera) leaves a hard black shadow outlining objects, making photos crude and harsh.

However I recently used flash to capture newts in a puddle hidden away in the shaded forest where lighting was too low, making flash essential. I was surprised how successful the results were and realised that for closeup photography, like insects and wildflowers, it can be very useful. Obvious to your average photographer but sometimes it is easy to overlook what is basic photography, especially with the infinite settings on cameras these days, stealing much of your time and concentration.

I began experimenting using flash more often and was surprised that despite shooting wildflowers against an open landscape, most of which was sky or distant hills, the background came out almost black. Not what I would have expected and it gave the photos a very strong look.

Another advantage of flash is that it freezes the image, an advantage when photographing moving insects or flowers swaying in the breeze. 

 The colours also seem to be more saturated.