Lea Murphy writes: > OR just look at your digital readout. > > If your highlights are blinking turn your flash down. If things are > dark, turn it up. > > You can do this without knowing anything about guide numbers. Flash > can be as easy as reading your histogram. black cat in a coalmine, white dove on a sheet. Know your GN's and there's nothing to think about, the shot will be correctly exposed every time from the first shot. rely on auto and you better have studied the manual of the specific flash and know how to compensate! Teaching guide numbers was abandoned in the photo course I was involved with a few years back, however, contrary to expectation and as flash automation progressed and units became more camera specific, people in the course became more frustrated. When I showed a few how to use a manual flash and work with guide numbers there was a backlash as other students wanted to know why they hadn't been taught this system they saw as easier, more reliable and more flexible than relying on flash meters or camera / flash automation. it subsequently was adopted again and students were also a lot happier being able to migrate their chosen flash unit to whatever cameras they used. Automation may have taken over a lot of things to make it easier for almost anyone to get acceptable results, but the camera and flash is still a lot stupider than any photographer who knows what they are doing k
