Walt, points to consider: Like shooting from a tripod, adding in some artificial light can force you to slow down and consider your shots -- not actually a bad thing.
Flash is not the only way to get extra light onto human subjects. There are: light bounced from reflectors, incandescent or halogen bulbs, LED panels, fluorescents, etc. If flash is intimidating because of its transient nature, then continuous light is very easy to work with and very familiar to you. They can be used with modifiers too. Eg: I put LED panels into softboxes and umbrellas. A 160-LED panel and a lightstand will cost you $50 these days at eBay or Amazon. A little bit of extra light added to a scene can lift your image from "it's okay" to "oh wow". If your scene is lit by uniform flat light, you can get a perfectly okay shot. But your eyes are drawn to lighter areas or more contrasty areas, so if you take that flat shot and light your subject's face by a half stop or more, you'll see how much better it can become. Light becomes a part of the composition that you get to control. In the past I considered flash to be either unnecessary, too complex, too expensive, or just annoying -- until I actually tried it, first with one hotshoe flash then two and three. The very first time I tried working in a studio, despite stumbling around like a complete noob, I absolutely loved it. I took to it right away and saw how it opened up a world of new possibilities. On Mon, Feb 11, 2013 at 3:58 PM, Walt <[email protected]> wrote: > Thank you, Ann. :) > > One of these days, I'm going to invest in a decent flash. I just have a hard > time justifying the expense considering how much I dislike using it. > > It's something I'll eventually have to get over, I guess. But, I've always > preferred shooting in available light and generally lose interest in > shooting when flash is required. > > -- Walt > > > On 2/11/2013 1:45 PM, Ann Sanfedele wrote: >> >> The flash shot looks fine... >> >> steady on, Walt :-) >> ann >> >> >> On 2/11/2013 03:59, Walt wrote: >>> >>> So, my latest favorite subject returned tonight for a visit. I asked her >>> about whether or not she'd be interested in posing for me -- perhaps in >>> some motorcycle (ahem, Larry!) shots. Let's just say, after discussing >>> the last photo I took of her, she's amenable; I daresay enthusiastic. >>> >>> I couldn't let her get away without taking another shot tonight. >>> Unfortunately, the light was crappy, so I used flash. Here are the >>> results: >>> >>> http://www.flickriver.com/photos/walt_gilbert/8463612961/ >>> K-5, FA 50/1.4, 1/100 sec, ISO 3200 >>> >>> I didn't think to pull back the ISO before the shot, but it turned out >>> remarkably well in spite of my oversight, I think. >>> >>> I think I'm really going to enjoy working with this girl (and the K-5). >>> >>> -- Walt >>> >> > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and > follow the directions. -- -bmw -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
