Week 4
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Terry Grogan
I've learned more about flash photography than I ever knew this week. This was a great lesson for me. I've always stayed away from using the flash because I never liked the results. I didn't have a good understanding of where to place the subject and how much light would reach it. The lesson was really valuable. I also learned how my camera functions with regards to flash. I had no idea that I have such flexibility with my flash settings. It was cool to experiment with those settings this week. Many of the pictures came out "right crap" - but I understood why, heehee.

No Flash vs Flash in Low Light Conditions

Here's a picture of a spider hanging from a web under my spouting. This was taken about 6pm, when the sun had basically gone down but it wasn't really dark. There isn't much definition to the spider and definitely none for the web.

Shooting Mode - Shutter Speed Priority
Shutter Speed - 1/30
Aperture Value - 5.6
ISO Speed - 400
Here's the same spider. I set the camera to full auto, which automatically gave me flash. Much better definition on the spider - you can see some of its colors. Of course, the flash did a great job of showing the web. This picture also shows just how limited the flash is on distance. The sky in the background is very dark - not what the real day looked like.

Shooting Mode - Auto
Shutter Speed - 1/60
Aperture Value - 5.6
ISO Speed - 400

Fill Flash during the Day

This is a little "memorial" to 5 teens (all under 19) who lost their lives about 5 years ago in a terrible car crash at this spot. This picture was taken at 8am on a partly cloudy day. Nice enough picture, but the center cross is a bit dark.

Shooting Mode - Shutter Speed Priority
Shutter Speed - 1/1000
Aperture Value - 5.6
ISO Speed - 400
Here's the same cross using a fill flash. It shows the wood details much better. I kept the camera on shutter priority to take this flash. The camera compensated by stopping down the aperture.

Shooting Mode - Shutter Speed Priority
Shutter Speed - 1/200
Aperture Value - 11
ISO Speed - 400