# Do photographers use flash in daylight?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-photographers-use-flash-in-daylight/358678
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [May 30, 2006, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-photographers-use-flash-in-daylight/358678 "2006-05-30T00:25:24Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2006, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-photographers-use-flash-in-daylight/358678/1 "2006-05-30T00:25:24Z")
A classic cliche from movies is of a person walking from a courthouse to a waiting car while they are mobbed by photographers desperately asking questions and taking photos. One think I noticed about these photos is that, even during broad daylight, there is still a flurry of flashes. Does this happen in real life or is it movie fiction?
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### Author:  [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2006, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-photographers-use-flash-in-daylight/358678/2 "2006-05-30T00:36:00Z")
Yes. It’s called fill flash. Ensures good colors and helps control shadows.
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### Author:  [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2006, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-photographers-use-flash-in-daylight/358678/3 "2006-05-30T00:46:39Z")
For once, we have one that is not movie fiction, as watching a press conference or perp walk on the evening news almost any day will demonstrate.
The main reason is to get a consistent and reliable exposure. Flash eliminates shadows from hats, surrounding objects, and other sources, and also creates an attractive highlight in the pupils.
In some situations, photographers will use the flash as a fill-in source. Exposure is set for the ambient light, and the flash only provides a little extra evenness for the image.
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### Author:  [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2006, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-photographers-use-flash-in-daylight/358678/4 "2006-05-30T00:47:30Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#):
>
> Yes. It’s called fill flash. Ensures good colors and helps control shadows.
[A good basic description.](http://best-family-photography-tips.com/fill-flash.html) There are quite literally hundreds of variables involved. A major variable is what contrast ratio between filland daylight one wants. You can just about completely overpower daylight with an intense enough flash (not a hard thing to do, btw), or you can just barely add the subtlest of fills for an eye catch light.
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### Author:  [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2006, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-photographers-use-flash-in-daylight/358678/5 "2006-05-30T00:54:49Z")
[An even better description. With examples.](http://www.danheller.com/tech-fillflash.html)
There are so many things a long time photographer will do that have become virtually an instinct, so that one forgets others don’t even know about the basic technique. That’s why it took several searches to find just the right cite. Hopefully that helps out.
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### Author:  [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2006, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-photographers-use-flash-in-daylight/358678/6 "2006-05-30T01:01:27Z")
I agree with these posts, and in fact I took a few shots today using fill flash in open sun.
However. If I had to guess, if you asked a producer or director why he had the photogs using flash, he wouldn’t know jack about fill flash and would say, “Well, that makes it look like the camera is really doing something.” Same reason they always used to show tape drives instead of a CPU cabinet when they showed you a computer.
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### Author:  [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2006, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-photographers-use-flash-in-daylight/358678/7 "2006-05-30T01:59:59Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#):
>
> However. If I had to guess, if you asked a producer or director why he had the photogs using flash, he wouldn’t know jack about fill flash and would say, “Well, that makes it look like the camera is really doing something.” Same reason they always used to show tape drives instead of a CPU cabinet when they showed you a computer.
Or include a “click” with TV remote controls.