Calling digital cam. experts..when to use red eye and "fill" flash?

[Jillpie]

I understand the red eye thing, but how often do you use it at DW? Do you use it in the parades at night?

I am confused about the flash situation. When do you put it on auto flash and when do you use fill flash? I thought it detected (even during the day) whether it needed a flash, hence auto flash. So why would I need fill flash too?

We are first time digital camera users. Just bought an Olympus 4MP and love it. Sometimes though, when using the flash indoors, the pics will be overexposed and way too bright. How do you avoid this?

thanks!

 

[Dan Murphy]

I rarely use flash, most often have it off. For night and parades it almost MUST be off, but manual settings will help a lot. Red eye is mostly used for indoor shooting. Fill flash is used generally when there is enough light for an exposure, but shadows would be present, or backlighting is prevalant.