I've been wondering about all this low light level photography I've been doing and how well it is performing against using the built in flash. I've been setting the ISO to 6400 and am rather impressed at the low amount of noise. I recently came on this odd light situation and realized it might be THE time that a flash was needed. A darkened room on a bright day with a door open. I like both pictures for different reasons. The first, without flash, captures the atmosphere at the moment. It is what it is, a darkened bar in the day with a few people listening to an impromptu band that appeared on a Sunday afternoon open mic. Good stuff, and the shadows convey both the joy of this moment, as well as the intimacy of the crowd and the lack of anyone else there. The second does not hint that this is anything other than a crowd shot of people dancing in a bar.
The second photo, with flash, might seem at first as though the door was shut. Look closely and the shadows are the same, however. The light now brings the attention to the dancers, and the emptiness of the bar along with some of the intimacy is lost. It draws the attention to the audience enjoying the show and lets the background disappear. I think it is more because of the lighting than the angle (I moved to the right and shot fewer empty chairs also).
There are other thing - the second looks less posed, though neither were, largely because of the stances and direction of the gaze. I still cannot get over the feeling that the first photo is truer to the moment. Both have their merits, but the first seems to tell the tale of the bar, the second more the tale of the people.
Of course, manual over exposure might have had the same feel by washing the background out while lightening the faces. Opposites with a similar effect. Perhaps I can edit this to see.
Any fellow photogs care to interpret?
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