benperrin said:
I really don't see how you can say that just because people don't use it is equal to people not knowing how to use it. I made this point awhile ago but I think it's worth restating it. There are 3 different areas that highly influence the look of light. 1. Quantity 2. Quality 3. Direction. You could also say that temperature is another. My issue is that a popup flash will only ever deal with number 1 (quantity). You can add more light into the scene but you can't change the direction or quality without adding modifiers which defeat the purpose of the popup flash.
This is flat false, and why I said people don't know how to use it.
Let's say the light is coming straight from the side. Adding a little flash from the front effectively rotates the side light slightly to the front. If the front light is as powerful as the side light, it rotates it to about 45 degrees from the front. If it's double the power of the side light, it effectively rotates it more toward the front.
The purpose of a flash is NOT TO ADD LIGHT QUANTITY TO A SCENE. If you use it that way, you are doing it wrong. Oh sure, this can be done in a pinch just to get a shot, but that's generally going to result in lousy shots.
The purpose of a flash is to help control scene contrast. It can also control angle, color and diffusion, and a popup flash, used properly, can do all of these.