For the longest time I've been jealous of my sister's photos that she takes at birthday parties. Most of my grandchildren have birthdays from November through to April, and that's a terrible time for indoor pictures of kids, and I hate the way flash pictures look, so I find it almost impossible to take decent indoor photos of them. I've improved my camera's range by sewing a little white cotton pocket to cover my flash, and that mutes it to an acceptable level, but my photos are never as sharp as my sister's.
She said it's not so much the difference in our cameras, but the fact she has a separate flash, that she bounces off walls and ceilings to get more light on the subject, but not directly in their fasces. She kindly loaned me her flash so i could play around with it. It's a big, heavy unit.
She said it's not so much the difference in our cameras, but the fact she has a separate flash, that she bounces off walls and ceilings to get more light on the subject, but not directly in their fasces. She kindly loaned me her flash so i could play around with it. It's a big, heavy unit.
I just took some pictures of the dolls standing around... Like my Asa.
Here, hand held at 800 ISO with flash bouncing off the wall behind me....
Here, hand held at 800 ISO with flash bouncing off the wall behind me....
And here at 800 ISO, handheld without any flash
Benny's family with the flash bouncing off the ceiling....and without any flash...
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To be quite honest, I think the photos without the flash are better. They are definitely sharper. That certainly surprised me. Maybe I just didn't use the flash properly. Or maybe it's because with the flash attached, the camera weighs 50% more, and that's getting too heavy for me to shoot hand-held. I can sometimes hand hold my camera for photos down to 1/8 of a second, but it's a very light weight camera, and I can only do it if I'm sitting down, because with my vertigo issues it's impossible to do standing up below 1/30 of a second. Anyway, I found that with the big heavy attachment, the camera was very awkward to hold. Maybe even too heavy for me. Especially with shaky hands.
I haven't tried the flash with a tripod, since that defeats the whole purpose - which is to get sharp photos inside the house, of hyped up kids and babies high on sugar. With a a tripod, and using the self-timer, the kids would have bounced out of frame by the time the camera takes the picture.
I haven't tried the flash with a tripod, since that defeats the whole purpose - which is to get sharp photos inside the house, of hyped up kids and babies high on sugar. With a a tripod, and using the self-timer, the kids would have bounced out of frame by the time the camera takes the picture.
The one situation where the flash did help was when my doll was in front of the window.
Here's my Asa, taken at 800 ISO without any flash....
And at 800 ISO with the flash bounced off the ceiling....
Her face isn't in focus, but to be honest, the camera refused to focus on her face, but let me focus on the front of her bodice - and that is in focus. I do like the effect, even though it is a bit grainy.
Looks like I need to practice some more, but with my flighty, overwhelmed brain, I can't focus on absorbing anything in the Instruction Manual right now. Not that I can understand those things even with a clear head.
Looks like I need to practice some more, but with my flighty, overwhelmed brain, I can't focus on absorbing anything in the Instruction Manual right now. Not that I can understand those things even with a clear head.
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