Shadows vs Flash

I know I’m revisiting fill flash – again – but I have another example for you.  I’ve read in several places that if your subject is in the shade, you will have a more even light to work with and you don’t have to worry about raccoon eyes from the sun overhead.  Well, that may be true if you are in full shade.  The other day the boys were playing in our pool in the backyard.  Half the pool was in the shade and half was in full sun.  I wondered what effect that would have on my photographs.  I took two shots of my son in the same exact spot -in the shady side of the pool – less than a minute apart.  For one I used the pop-up flash on my camera for fill flash and for the other, no flash at all.  Here are the results.

Obviously, merely being in a shadow is not the complete answer to raccoon eyes in the mid-day sun.  You need to be taking enough pictures in enough situations to learn to anticipate the type of results you can expect your camera to produce.  In the example above, the flash saved the picture.  If I had only taken the no flash picture, I would not have a picture that captures my son’s fascination and excitement with his pool toys.