A Trophy Presentation

Photo © Gary M. Pinkston 1998

      In this shot I chose a poor shooting angle and the flash reflecting off the window ruined the photograph. Not only does the reflection of the flash show prominently--between the heads of the second and third gentleman from the left, washing out their faces--but this light bouncing directly back into the lens fogged the film resulting in a flat, colorless, low contrast image.

      This is a simple error to correct. All that would have been required was to have taken one or two steps right or left; causing the flash to bounce away from the lens instead of back into it. But it's an easy mistake to make because the flash isn't lit while your setting up and even when you take the shot the flash is so fast you still don't see it. Your only defense against this kind of error is to think about your background as an important part of your composition. Reflective backgrounds must be shot at an angle--unless you want the reflections. The point is, even though you can't see flash reflection you have to give it some thought while setting up.