I really try hard not to use my flash if I'm trying to capture the moment. If the flash fires and makes everything bright you really don't get a "feel" of the time of day or the lighting when the picture was taken.
Kaylee and her friend were watching their movie late at night. You can see in the catchlights of their eyes that the only light source was the TV off to the side. They have very small catchlights! I didn't want a big bright flash in their face because then it would look like mid-day. SO I turned my ISO up to 1250 and shot away....
To me it reflects exactly how my eyes saw them up in the loft that night.
Same with Rebecca reading by her lamp. If the flash would have fired you wouldn't have even been able to tell that a lamp was on. It would also have alerted her that I was taking pictures.
Birthday cakes are another perfect time to turn off the flash and capture the mood of the candles...
Pictures don't always have to be nice and bright. The shadows and lighting help in portraying the moment. SO, my photography tip is to turn off your flash and try to achieve the lighting as you see it!
I love when you share photography tips! Like you I enjoy capturing the moment with my friends and family. I started shooting in manual in Sept of last year and I'm getting better... but, low light situations always get me. My ISO gets a "grainy" picture on anything over 800. what make and model is your camera?
ReplyDeleteI don't know much about photography, but rarely think a picture taken with the flash turns out. Your pictures are great!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip. I've really been trying to go flashless too but low light situations get tricky. I need to play around with the ISO setting more, but I'm having a hard time figuring out how to best work with it. When it's dark and I change the ISO a lot it seems like the picture is blury unless I hold the camera SUPER still. Do you use a tripod for these shots or are you just really good at holding the camera steady? Or am I missing something all together? Also, what do you think about the flashes that attach to the camera (the kind that you can point up so that it flashes up instead of directly at the subject)? Thanks again for the tips. You always take such great pictures!
ReplyDeleteShare more tips! I love your photography!
ReplyDeleteBeth
I struggle with this one because I LOVE BRIGHT and VIVID and SHARP! But in reality our world doesn't look like that... sometimes life is dark and blurry and fuzzy... I'd love to embrace (and love) that MORE! THANKS for the reminder of beauty in EVERYTHING!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree. I can't stand flash pictures, and I like them even less with my Nikon's flash because it is just way too bright for anything I am trying to capture. Sometimes you just really need a flash. I came across this cheap gadget on another blog, and put off buying it for about 6-8 mos, because I really don't like to use the flash anyway. Then I was taking some family pics of a large group, and it just wouldn't work without a flash. I was so disappointed with the results, I looked this gadget up again and bought it on the spot.
ReplyDeleteIt is called a Lightscoop I think and is made by a guy named Kobre. This thing is awesome!! Go check it out. Sheesh, I sound like a salesperson, but if you struggle with your DSLR flash, this will change things.