Canon EOS T3I Portrait

So I'm new to photography. Well mostly. I used my iPhone for a year to take great photos. Finally getting myself an Eos T3i. I've got a quick question: If I use portrait mode indoors - do I use flash? May sound stupid but hey I'd rather sound stupid on something I wanna know than ignore it and not know. Any other tips will help.

No, on camera flash is a HUGE mistake, try to flash as less as you can because it ruins the photo most of the time. Since portrait mode is a type of auto mode it will most likely adjust it's own ISO and shutter speed. Though if the room is not lit correctly the picture may turn out strange or it the room is dark the shutter speed will go down and your are going to need a steady hand or tri-pod. On camera flash is a HUGE mistake, try to flash as less as you can because it ruins the photo most of the time.
A suggestion is that you try to use manual mode. Simply using a DSLR's auto setting is a waste of money. To bring out the full potential of a DSLR you are going to have to use manual. I suggest studying the terms first like aperture, shutter speed, ISO, Kelvin, White Balance, etc. Start with Program Mode(P mode) for now.

That's easy, if it's daylight or you like the ambient lighting a flash isn't used, it's only needed if it's too dark to get a good shot or you need a bit more light, even indoors you don't always use a flash, if the light is good it's not needed
you'll probably use an auto flash setting for the most part anyway so the camera will just use flash when it senses it needs to
for a digital camera you don't need to worry too much, if you take a picture and use flash or not you can see what it looks like and retake it if you think a flash was needed or not.
sometimes flash is overused, it can look better to have a darker photo with natural light than one with flash that looks artificial or too bright and in low light not using a flash can be a good thing too, it really depends on the situation and how you want to photo to look

All the recommendations that I read so far are not to use a flash unit (I'm talking about an external flash NOT the flash built into the camera!).

My recommendation to point the flash head to the ceiling and use a flash reflector which attaches with Velcro. The light from the flash hits the reflector first and then travels to the subject thus softening the light to make it more flattering.

www.bhphotovideo.com 1-800-854-5575

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/...+reflector

B&H # "LUBK" LumiQuest Pocket Bounce kit for shoe mount flash units… $27.10

Read:

The Owner's Manual for your camera. Study it.

http://photographyknowhow.com/photography-lighting/

http://digital-photography-school.com/digital-photography-tips-for-beginners

By actually learning to use your new camera you'll find that all those Scene Modes are just crutches for those who don't want to be bothered with learning anything about their camera and photography. All they are is some engineer's best guess as to what settings the camera can choose to produce a reasonably good picture. In Portrait Mode indoors the camera is going to likely choose to use the flash which will give a correct exposure but if you're too close to your subject will cause poor image quality because the pop-up flash is direct and harsh - and usually causes red eye which isn't at all flattering. So if you absolutely have to use the pop-up flash at least diffuse it with a piece of thin white cloth or tissue paper.

The main purpose of a DSLR like your T3i is to allow you to take control of the camera and end your dependence on those crutches called Scene Modes. If you use them then you wasted your money and a simple point & shoot would have been a better, cheaper, choice.

Read:

http://www.shutterbug.com/content/available-light-portraitsbr10-secrets-photographing-people-with-minimum-equipment

http://digital-photography-school.com/shooting-with-available-light-lifestyle-portraiture

I've been using off-camera flash since 1976, usually bouncing it off the ceiling if possible. Bounce flash gives a softer, more natural light and any shadows usually disappear because they are lower and behind the subject.

If you think lighting is sufficient, you can do without flash. Try. If the colors turn out wrong, adjust white balance accordingly.

Most of the time though, I recommend using flash. Indoors are usually poorly lighted. It's better to get a decent photo rather than a blurry one. If the picture turns out too bright, step back a bit then try again. If it's dark, move forward.