advice needed for photography technique?
Posted by Admin in Digital SLR Photography Tips and Techniques on 12 9th, 2009 | 5 responses
Skulkarn asked:
i want to take a christmas photo of my toddler daughter with the christmas tree. I know that dark room, no flash, lit tree shows the christmas tree the best, but it needs a slow shutter time … which means my moving daughter gets blurred. but with fast shutter time, its dark. with flash, she’s caught, but tree isn’t impressive.
i want to take a christmas photo of my toddler daughter with the christmas tree. I know that dark room, no flash, lit tree shows the christmas tree the best, but it needs a slow shutter time … which means my moving daughter gets blurred. but with fast shutter time, its dark. with flash, she’s caught, but tree isn’t impressive.
any advice for a good shot?
photography techniques
photography techniques
Diffuse your flash. If you block out the flash the image may be to dark but you will have a fast shutter and partial flash. This may work. Try using panty hose to cover the flash. I would try white or beige only. Or anything translucent. Beware of a anything colored over your flash as it can reflect on the subjects in the photo. You should be able to manipulate the exposure just right with a diffused flash while having shutter fast enough to get no blur from your daughter. I really hope this works for you. If you have an SLR there are other tweaks for optimum results.
photography techniques
Try “Slow Sync” if your camera offers that mode. Or try Labatt’s suggestion of diffusing the flash. Maybe (if it’s small enough) you can put some Scotch “Magic” tape over the flash to cut down the output.
Digital SLR Photography Guide Official Site
Set up a low lighting system (a shade-less lamp will work) Direct the light towards her face at a 30 deg angle. Stand her away from the tree, atleast 1/2 foot or 1 foot away so that the light only hits her and the tree stays in the dark.
Digital SLR Photography Guide Official Site
If you’re Photo Shop savvy, you could take two pictures, one of your daughter by the tree with the nice flash, and one of just the tree when you can give it the extra shutter time needed, and combine them afterwards. Setting up a tripod so you take the picture from the same spot both times will make this WAY easier!
Digital SLR Photography Guide Official Site
Use low lighting and a tripod. Try to get your shutter speed around 1/30 second and tell your daughter to stand still!