Wounded Knee
Fill flash is a useful tool too often overlooked. It can be used to fully or partially stop action, fill in shadows, balance light intensity or light color. It is best used when it is least noticed, like the music in a movie score, if you don’t notice it is when it is the most stressful.
This photograph uses fill flash to illuminate the three crosses on an overcast day. If the photographer had not used the flash he would have had to increase the exposure and lost much of the detail in the sky. The fill light also gives the subjects a surrealistic feeling as if they are standing out separately from the prairie below and the sky above.
I like the effect but it is not very subtle. There appears too be a little to much light on the grass. It is nice that you were able to reduce the amount of shadow cast by the intense light of the flash.
Click on Image 
June 16th, 2008 at 10:10 am
I think the danger with the fill flash, same that this picture experimented, is that many times it makes the illuminated subject appear unnatural, as if not part of the scene because of a totally different lighting than the background. My suggestion is of working with filters and balance to try and equalize the type of front and back light, thus not losing the detail and exposure achieved with the flash, and also avoiding two separate pictures in one. Jorge
June 16th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
The comments albeit very helpful, highlight my lack of experience with fill flash. I will experiment more on other subjects not planning to return to the Wounded Knee Cemetery in the near future.