Flash opens up the world, changes the world, and creates so many new photo opportunities!
Why I love RICOH GR II
The RICOH GR II is a perfect camera— and has a flash!
Look at some non-flash photos and with flash photos below — to see how fun it is to see the difference with flash:
Food flash
Photos of food shot with a flash look so much more interesting and epic! I love these colors with flash on RICOH GR II positive film JPEG to death:
Also with home cooked food:
Shooting flash outdoor during the day
Also during the day, use a flash to increase the detail, dynamic range, and contrast of outdoor scenes.
Photo on the left is without flash, on the right with a flash:
Dark flash
You never know what flash will look like, so I generally recommend to shoot all scenes both without and with a flash:
Plants
Plants look good with flash too!
Non flash on left, flash on right:
Shaded flash
The effect of shooting with a flash in the shade is effective.
Without flash, not as much detail or contrast. With flash, more detail and contrast.
Natural light and flash
Left is nice natural light on Cindy (without flash) and right photo with a flash.
This is interesting — when you have nice natural light AND flash, the photos have greater dynamic range (more detail in the foreground and background):
Indoor well-lit flash
Even when shooting indoors, the flash improves color and contrast. Left photo without flash, right with flash (Trader Joe indoor mural):
Regular flash vs slow sync flash
Taking it a step further —
To get more ambient lighting, use a slow sync (slow shutter speed) flash.
For example on the left is normal flash, and the right is a “slow sync” flash on RICOH GR II:
Outdoors night flash (long distance)
You never know if natural light or flash will look better — so do both!
Conclusion
The lessons:
- Flash often looks better than no flash (90% of the time)
- Sometimes no flash looks better than flash (10% of the time)
- When you have the opportunity, always shoot with and without flash.
- RICOH GR II as ideal flash camera, because it has integrated switch on left of camera for flash. Also built-in macro mode, for great close focus flash photos (especially for food).
See more: Flash vs No Flash >