Nooo.....!!!!!

It’s common practice in digital and analogue photography to do bracket. The pros do it, and digital photography means Never Having to Worry About Paying for Film Again™. As Gav said, you’ll only get so much from adjusting RAW and regular bitmap data. Photoshop is pretty capable, but you can over do it very quickly. Brightness adjusting in apps like Photoshop does just one thing: manipulates the brightness - but you will lose detail in the process. Don’t rely on it being a life jacket.

You have not said what camera you have, but I am guessing that it’s a DSLR, so exposure adjustment should be there. If not, adjust shutter speeds or aperture and take shots. Remember you will need to shoot in either manual, aperture priority or shutter speed priority modes. Having the camera on automatic won’t give you this facility.

Anyway, before you do anything else, run (don’t walk) to Amazon and see if there is a Magic Lantern book for your camera. These are extended manuals, and are written fairly plainly. I have mentioned them here (and in the old place) many times before, and I really can’t recommend them enough. You will find out stuff about your camera that you probably didn’t know before.

Look here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_5_1 ... ic+lantern

Before you launch into taking the photos, practice on a friend, relative or (if you have the gift of the gab) a complete stranger. At least you won’t be fumbling with your equipment in front of the pretty girl

hm other friends is possibly out the question to photograph as most of the ones I hang round with atm are of Indian ethnic, (pakistani & bengali to be precise)

Ah. And that makes them invisible to cameras does it?

what I meant is whenever I take pics of white people at nighttime using flash the pics come out terrible as the flash shows up a lot in their white face

ta but I dont see myself buying that as I have no idea what is meant by "magic lantern" etc first ive heard of this strange phrase

Stop using the flash for one thing!

I'd just like to chuck in that fill-in flash can be useful for portraits in some situations to good effect. Maybe it should read "stop using the flash incorrectly for one thing!"

I'd just like to chuck in that fill-in flash can be useful for portraits in some situations to good effect. Maybe it should read "stop using the flash incorrectly for one thing!"

I'm really looking forward to Brattys reaction when this girl says she wants some "magazine shots"