Using your Pentax camera's built in flash for fill flash
How to use the small built in flash for creative fill-in flash photography
28/10/2011 - 00:00

I often use flash to inject some detail in the foreground when shooting landscapes or scenes. It can be used to lift some detail in a foreground object such as a flower or statue, but also to light an expanse such as this seascape where the foreground was a crustacean clad rock that just helped give some foreground interest to an otherwise distance scene.
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Without flash the surface is dark and lacks detail, force the flash to fire and it adds a rich layer to the photo.
Be careful though - if you use the flash with a wide angle lens you may get a semi circular shadow of the lens in the bottom centre of a horizontal shot.
To use the flash just press the flash button to the side of the prism to force the flash to pop up. Then take the photo in shutter priority or manual mode. If you use program or aperture priority the shutter speed will automatically go to the correct flash sync speed which may be too fast for the daylight/brightness levels.
In the above example with the rock I used the flash on automatic, but you can override auto and have more control. I do so for another of my main flash uses – still lifes, demonstrated here on a dried rose.
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For close ups the flash can be really useful. This rose was positioned a metre away from a cream wall. The lighting was a window to the right. Notice how, on the natural no flash shot, the left side of the rose is in harsh shadow (above left). That's fine for creativity, but if you want a more balanced photo the built in flash can help.

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To set exposure compensation on the K20D press the Fn button (with the flash in the raised position) and navigate to the flash control display using the rear controller wheel then adjust the rear exposure dial to go up or down the flash exposure scale and select the necessary compensation.
Have a play around with your camera's built in flash – I'm sure you will be surprised!
All the best,
Chris
sheryl
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MickyT
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