I was given the get pushed challenge by Kali @kali66 to explore slow sync flash. It was like pulling teeth to get me to seriously try it out. Early in the week I was sick for a couple of days and didn't take any pictures. One night I went outside with no particular subject, set the camera to the "Night Portrait" setting she said would produce that and fired off a couple of experimental shots. I was underwhelmed -- it seemed like regular flash to me. The article she pointed me to and portion of my camera's manual she suggested left me still not quite understanding what I could do with it. Last night I asked Frank to pose for me upstairs in the dimly lit hallway. Again -- ick -- regular flash-type horrible results. And Frank was enjoying his regular Saturday night time at the computer. I didn't want to impose too much for the sake of what felt like a losing cause. But I didn't want to admit I hadn't a clue, so I enlisted the help of the Allosaurus, who proved to be a very patient model. We first went out to the porch and used the porch light and the "Night Portrait" mode. Ah! I definitely could see a difference. Playing around with regular settings and flash, I managed to get a portrait of the Allosaurus that was pretty decent (it takes me a lot of floundering around in ISO, f-stop, and shutter speed plus flash to figure out what will work). BUT, the bckground was almost a complete black hole -- and the shadows were really dark. With the slow sync flash, the background context of lights across the street were restored and the shadows much less severe. The mosquitos were driving us crazy, so we continued our experimentation in the living room with the porch light coming through the window and casting a shadow on the wall. I'll post that later this evening as I need to get ready for parish picnic now.
Excellent challenge, as it turned out, even though the results are not spectacular. Definitely worth more exploration now that I have a bit of appreciation for the setting. In fact, I have explored very few of the many "scene" settings on that camera. Perhaps it's time I did a bit more. Thanks, Kali!
haha sorry it was a bit of a dry challenge perhaps but now you have an idea of what it does maybe you can experiment with it more... or not! the main thing was to point you in the direction of camera controls you dont use much or at all, so mission accomplished! thanks for being a good sport.
Hi Mary. We have been put together for this week's "Get Pushed". I've been looking through your photos and enjoy how you can see the detail in a scene and capture it.
So for the Get Pushed I'm going to challenge you to do a landscape picture, in particular if you can, to capture the emotion of the vast expanse of the Kansas prairies. It might be too early in the year, but I would love to see something like the golden colour of the tall grasses, or of the ripening grain.
I must admit this is selfish on my part. I used to live just about straight north of you (follow I29 north, cross the border, drive 60 miles and then turn right and I'd be home :-) ) I miss the golden grain fields and watching the harvest.
Hi Mary. I had time today and did a photo for the challenge that You gave me. Looking forward to your comments if the result is what you had in mind.
Jim
So for the Get Pushed I'm going to challenge you to do a landscape picture, in particular if you can, to capture the emotion of the vast expanse of the Kansas prairies. It might be too early in the year, but I would love to see something like the golden colour of the tall grasses, or of the ripening grain.
I must admit this is selfish on my part. I used to live just about straight north of you (follow I29 north, cross the border, drive 60 miles and then turn right and I'd be home :-) ) I miss the golden grain fields and watching the harvest.
Best wishes.
Jim
Jim