Thaw before reheating.
{ 2006 07 21 }
…if only that shutter moved a little bit faster without the flash!! *sigh* Little Kate just can’t keep that head still yet.
This one is my second favorite, done in portrait mode with flash and some color editting in Picasa. Any photographers out there have comments on these to help me as I learn?
Posted by holly on Friday, July 21st, 2006, at 2:59 pm, and filed under Uncategorized.
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Regular dishes on life in New Orleans, historic home renovation, raising kids, completing a PhD, travel near and far, global concerns, and health issues.
You know the story, right? International health... work all over the place... drag my kids around in sacks through villages in Central America... yadda yadda. I decided to go for another degree, so in 2004 we moved to New Orleans with no intention of staying. Then Katrina. And then *blink*blink* New Orleans is a completely different place and we just can't leave. Suddenly I'm on TV talking about immigrants and health and Paul is starting a company. Or two. His side is high-tech, mine is community health and our lives are yearly evacuation, regular celebrations, and nonstop work here, there, and everywhere. Our door is always open. I only ask that if you decide to go ahead and make yourself that mint julep, you make one for me, too.
We strive to make our life our argument.
Matt | 21-Jul-06 at 6:41 pm | Permalink
You shoot Canon, right? Some suggestions…
For available light:
Get a faster lens. Canon makes a F1.8 50mm (equivalent to 80mm on your camera because of the 1.6x crop – maybe a little long, but you can often back up a few feet so it can work well) that costs $75 shipped from JR. F1.8 is pretty darn fast, works well in low light. Gets nutty fast if you up your ISO. This will let you take available light photos more frequently.
Use a higher ISO value – the Canon’s chip does buttery smooth ISO100 images, but you can probably go up to 400 or 800 and not notice a whole lot of noise, particularly when scaling for web use or printing small prints.
Use a tripod or monopod to help you steady the camera.
Technique could also help. I have hand-held 1/5 second shots that have come out sharp enough to enlarge. Your first shot has a nice available light look. I can’t tell if the kids moved or if you moved the camera. Make sure you stand or squat in a stable position. Squeeze the shutter button — don’t push it. Much like shooting a firearm, you want to avoid putting the camera in motion while it is exposing.
Using the flash:
Bounce the flash off the ceiling. Not easy to do unless you have a flash for the hot shoe. You might try holding a business card 1″ in front of the flash angled at 45 degrees to redirect the flash to the ceiling. You might have to increase the flash by a stop to do that since the camera will meter based on a very powerful direct flash.
Soften the flash when using it to fire directly at the subject (what you’re doing with an on-camera flash). Cut out a small business card sized piece of paper, hold it 1-2″ in front of the flash perpindicular to the way the lens is pointing. Also try it with a business card.
Good luck, above all else, have fun learning.
Matt | 21-Jul-06 at 8:38 pm | Permalink
Another thing…
Shoot in RAW mode, tell the camera to underexpose by .5 or 1.0 stops, then when converting from RAW to JPG, change the exposure upward. Because the CCD is capturing more dynamic range, you can recover the detail in post processing, but still get a good framerate. Not knowing the autoexposure program of your camera in auto mode (assuming that’s what you used), you may have to actually switch to the “S” mode (shuttery priority), and pick a good shutter speed. Maybe 1/60 or so, then change exposure compensation to -1 stop and shoot.
You could also try this with JPG mode. It apparently works reasonably well – I just like having the extra data that RAW provides because you can pull out another 1/2 – 1 stop of information from it. Here’s a link describing the technique for avoiding blowing out the highlights. You may be able to apply the same thing so that you can get a higher shutter speed and avoid blur.
http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/fixing-dynamic-range.htm
Holly | 21-Jul-06 at 9:42 pm | Permalink
Awesome, awesome, awesome comments, Matt!
Yes — I’m using the Canon Digital Rebel XT. Most, if not all, of the pictures I take (roughly 100 a day) are spontaneous… the kids are doing something cute and I grab the camera. So I am often having to react to the light rather than setting it up around me… and I’m struggling with how to adjust the camera to deal with the different light situations.
In the top picture, Kate bobs her head. It’s hard to get a picture of her without flash since she is so wiggly. But I really prefer the non-flash pictures that allow for the natural light and color.
I’ve learned over the past year to do what you suggested with keeping the shutter down part way, although I’m still not great at it. I think that you are right — a faster (bigger) CP card would help with this. We’ve got 512 right now. My Dad has the big brother to our camera and a much bigger card… it is seriously fun to play with.
It may be worth it, too, to find a tripod. That way I could rig up something with blocking the flash… a great idea. I’m pretty good with being still (laying on the floor with my elbows supporting, etc.) but it would be great to have more stability.
Thank you again for the comments — I can’t wait to read up on the website.