Got called out on my mall photos for bad lighting and it forced me to learn something new

A guy on this forum last year tore into my pictures from the Lincoln Mall in Rhode Island. He said my flash was washing out all the cool decay and that I needed to shoot with available light or a tripod instead. At first I was PISSED because I thought I was doing fine, but I went back to the old Warwick Mall the next weekend and tried his way. I left the flash off, set my camera on a railing for a 2 second timer shot, and the difference was NIGHT AND DAY. The dust motes floating in the sunbeams and the peeling paint on the food court ceiling actually showed up for once. Now I hardly ever use a direct flash inside these places. Has anyone else had a stranger's criticism totally change how they shoot in dead malls?

2 comments

2 Comments

mark_nguyen9511d agoMost Upvoted

Whoa hold up, just a small thing actually. You mentioned the Lincoln Mall in Rhode Island, but that place closed for good back in 2020. The Warwick Mall is still open and kicking, so you probably went to the old Lincoln Mall spot which is totally different. I know because I tried to shoot there last year and security chased me out before I even got a good shot of the food court. Still though, your point about ditching the flash is spot on. I learned the same lesson after someone on Flickr roasted my overexposed shots of the Danbury Fair Mall.

rodriguez.cora11d ago

Four different security guards at the Meriden Square Mall have yelled at me for using a flash, but the one at the old Waterbury mall just watched me take photos of the empty arcade for twenty minutes without saying a word. Maybe it's just me but the mall cop at Lincoln must have been bored out of his mind that day, probably just wanted someone to chase for the fun of it. I swear some of those guys are just waiting for any excuse to feel important, like they live for catching a guy with a camera in an abandoned Food Court.