Flash
Christmas Morning Photos: 19 Quick Tips
22/12/11 23:32
Christmas Morning Photos: 19 Quick Tips
Christmas time is here and I just wanted to share a few quick tips for being able to capture those Christmas morning memories. So, here they are:
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Candid photos are a great way to capture Christmas Memories.
A little blur is not always a bad thing.
Even a shutter speed of 1/125s can freeze the action. She was really ripping the paper off of this present.
After the presents are opened, if the kids want to pose with a few toys then be ready to capture the moment.
Remember that is a big day for your pets too.
I hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
-- William
Bonus Tip: Don’t worry about the quality of the camera. If you only have an old point and shoot or a cell phone, still get in there and take pictures. The following photo was taken with a 3 mega pixel point and shoot, you can see that the color is terrible and it is grainy and a bit washed out. However, this was the best camera I had at the time. The technical quality of this image does not matter so much as does the fact that I was able to capture the moment.
Christmas time is here and I just wanted to share a few quick tips for being able to capture those Christmas morning memories. So, here they are:
- Charge up your batteries for your camera and put fresh batteries in your flash.
- Format your memory card and make sure to have a backup memory card handy.
- If you have a DSLR and a fast prime lens, then Christmas morning is the time to use them both. A fast lens can really make taking low light photos much easier.
- The night before Christmas be sure to clean up the area around the tree, vacuum or sweep the floor, get rid of piles of magazines, trash or anything else in the background or foreground that might be distracting.
- Talk to the children a few days before Christmas about where you might like them to sit and take a few practice shots. This practice session will help keep kids from sitting with their backs to the camera and will help keep children from sitting in front of one another and blocking your view and ability to take some great candid photos.
- After Santa comes and before you go to sleep make sure and take a picture of the tree. This does not have to be a work of art just a nice reminder of what it looked like before the kids get to the presents.
- Have the kids in modest festive pajamas, or better yet set out some nice clothes and tell everyone to get dressed before anyone can go in to see what Santa left under the tree.
- Get down on the ground and take pictures at eye level with the kids and don’t make the kids look at the camera.
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Candid photos are a great way to capture Christmas Memories.
- Avoid having a large bright light or window directly behind your subject and be sure to set your exposure metering to center weighted or spot metering, either of these settings will help the camera ignore any back lighting that might occur.
- If you are using an external flash unit then remember to use a flash diffuser or bounce the light off of the ceiling or a white wall.
- If you only have a built in flash then turn it off, or at the very least make sure that the red-eye reduction setting is turned on.
- If you are shooting without a flash then bump up the ISO to ISO 400 or ISO 800. Sure the photos might be a little noisy, but at least they will not be blurry.
A little blur is not always a bad thing.
- Shoot in manual or shutter priority mode and try to get as slow of a shutter as you can that will produce an image without blurring movement. I typically will shoot at about 1/160 of a second shutter speed. If your kids are really tearing into the toys then you might have to bump that up a bit, and if your kids are a bit more methodical then perhaps you could slow it down some. Remember to check a few exposures up front to make sure that you are not getting a blurry mess.
Even a shutter speed of 1/125s can freeze the action. She was really ripping the paper off of this present.
- Shoot lots of pictures.
- After the presents are all open then pose a few shots if you want. Then, while the kids are basking in the glow of Christmas, keep taking a few shots of them playing with the toys. I recommend not using the flash and stay a little further away from the kids. This is the time when they will forget that you are taking photos and you are sure to get some fantastic candid photos that will really tell the story of this special time of year.
After the presents are opened, if the kids want to pose with a few toys then be ready to capture the moment.
- If you have pets be on the lookout for them being curious. Remember, this is an exciting day for them too and they can be the subject of some very memorable holiday photos.
Remember that is a big day for your pets too.
- Get in a few pictures yourself. Don’t worry if you feel fat, old, or ugly, your kids love you just the way you are and they will cherish the photos of you when they are grown.
- Most importantly, remember that you are not trying to create art with these pictures. These are snapshots. They do not need to be perfect, they are to record the moment, not to be hung in a gallery.
- Remember to back up your photos as soon as you get the chance to do so. I recommend printing the best photos and sharing them with family and friends using the internet and social media. One word of caution when sharing, make sure that only the people you want to see your pictures can see them, unfortunately there are people out there that are up to no good and they shouldn’t have access to current pictures of your kids, particularly if GPS coordinates are embedded in the picture file or the included with a post.
I hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
-- William
Bonus Tip: Don’t worry about the quality of the camera. If you only have an old point and shoot or a cell phone, still get in there and take pictures. The following photo was taken with a 3 mega pixel point and shoot, you can see that the color is terrible and it is grainy and a bit washed out. However, this was the best camera I had at the time. The technical quality of this image does not matter so much as does the fact that I was able to capture the moment.
Zeh Bounce
18/05/11 16:09
In an earlier article entitled, Turn off the Darn Flash!, I go in depth about the reasons for not using the flash indoors, at sporting events, and at plays. One really good reason not to use a built-in flash indoors is that, for it to be effective, it has to be close to the subject. Using the built-in flash indoors often causes red-eye and blown out highlights. That is to say, any thing that is white in the image loses all contrast and instead just becomes a glowing white blob on the image.
An example of using a built-in flash indoors.
ISO 200, 28mm (Prime), f3.5, 1/80s
As you can see from the above snap-shot of my cat, the whites are really bright and there is a loss of contrast around the face. I am already using a pretty large aperture and the shutter speed is pretty slow as well. I could bump up the ISO a bit and try to get the image without a flash but that solution would add grain to the photo.
The same scene taken without the built in flash.
ISO 200, 28mm (Prime), f3.5, 1/80s (Pretty under exposed, wouldn’t you say?)
In this type of situation the light from the flash needs to be softened or diffused. A common trick when using an off-camera flash is to bounce the light from the flash off of a white surface like a wall or ceiling. This is done by aiming the flash in the direction of the wall or ceiling instead of aiming the flash at the subject of the photo. Aiming the flash towards a ceiling or wall has the effect of lighting the scene using reflected light instead of direct light.
This same effect of bouncing the light, to diffuse or soften it, can be accomplished with a built-in flash using a new product from Zeh Photographic. This cost effective piece of kit ($10 US) is called the Zeh Bounce. It is simply a small rectangular piece of foam that is notched so as to fit in front of the built-in flash. The foam piece can then be bent easily to direct light in the direction of a ceiling or wall.
The Zeh Bounce mounted on top of a DSLR.
Photo courtesy of Zeh Photographic.
This piece of kit works and works well.
Another snap-shot of my cat. This time using the Zeh Bounce.
ISO 200, 28mm (Prime), f3.5, 1/80s
Left: non-diffused built in flash image.
Right: image using the Zeh Bounce.
ISO 200, 28mm (Prime), f3.5, 1/80s - both images.
Conclusion:
It is clear that the Zeh Bounce works and works well. At the time of this writing, it is available for Nikon, Canon, Sony, and some Panisonic/Lumix cameras.
The Zeh bounce is not without problems. It does have a slight learning curve since using any type of diffuser will throw off the camera’s automatic exposer settings. I also felt like the Zeh Bounce was going to slide off of my camera and in fact did come off the camera while shooting (I wrote Zeh Photographic about this issue and they are aware of the problem, It only occurs on some Sony Cameras and does not occur on Nikon or Canon DSLR cameras). I corrected this by adding a small strip of hook and loop fastener to the underside of the internal flash housing and then placing the other portion of the hook and loop fastener on the bottom of the Zeh Bounce. The small learning curve and the minor modification are not deal breakers.
Overall Grade: A-
You can purchase the Zeh Bounce @ http://zehbounce.com/
Keep reading to learn how to use the Zeh Bounce.
The following instructions come with the Zeh Bounce:
How I used the Zeh Bounce:
Ideally when shooting in manual mode a photographer will use a light meter or at the very least read the histogram on the camera. Since both of these are advanced techniques I thought I would try using the Zeh Bounce in a less scientific way. The first thing I did was set my camera to Program Mode and made sure the flash was up. I then framed up my photo and pushed the shutter button half way down and held it half way down and took note of the recommended exposure settings, note you could also go ahead and take a photo. The purpose of pushing the shutter button half way down or going ahead and taking a photo is to see what exposure the camera thinks will be needed to take the shot. Note: Many cameras will recommend exposure settings in manual mode. I opted to use the Program mode only because I know that this method will work on every major brand of camera. After seeing what the camera recommends, I then entered the recommended settings into the camera after switching to the manual mode. See your camera’s operating manual for instructions on the use of manual mode. I then went ahead and took the photo. Often this will work without further adjustment of either ISO, shutter speed, aperture or flash compensation. Then I reviewed my photo on the camera’s view screen. I noted that the image was slightly under exposed. So, I made a decision to slow the shutter speed down from a recommended 1/120s to 1/80s. I could have just as easily have opened the aperture a bit more, bumped the ISO up to 400 from 200, or increased the power of my flash via flash compensation. That type of decision is dictated by the subject. In this case, my cat was sitting very still and I did not want to sacrifice picture quality or depth of field for the sake of speed. Had this been a photo of my child playing I may have decided to sacrifice the picture quality a bit, by adjusting the ISO, so as to not blur the image or risk taking an out of focus shot. Such are the trade-offs when taking a photo.
Recap of how I used the Zeh Bounce:
Now, get out there and get to shooting.
-- Enjoy.
An example of using a built-in flash indoors.
ISO 200, 28mm (Prime), f3.5, 1/80s
As you can see from the above snap-shot of my cat, the whites are really bright and there is a loss of contrast around the face. I am already using a pretty large aperture and the shutter speed is pretty slow as well. I could bump up the ISO a bit and try to get the image without a flash but that solution would add grain to the photo.
The same scene taken without the built in flash.
ISO 200, 28mm (Prime), f3.5, 1/80s (Pretty under exposed, wouldn’t you say?)
In this type of situation the light from the flash needs to be softened or diffused. A common trick when using an off-camera flash is to bounce the light from the flash off of a white surface like a wall or ceiling. This is done by aiming the flash in the direction of the wall or ceiling instead of aiming the flash at the subject of the photo. Aiming the flash towards a ceiling or wall has the effect of lighting the scene using reflected light instead of direct light.
This same effect of bouncing the light, to diffuse or soften it, can be accomplished with a built-in flash using a new product from Zeh Photographic. This cost effective piece of kit ($10 US) is called the Zeh Bounce. It is simply a small rectangular piece of foam that is notched so as to fit in front of the built-in flash. The foam piece can then be bent easily to direct light in the direction of a ceiling or wall.
The Zeh Bounce mounted on top of a DSLR.
Photo courtesy of Zeh Photographic.
This piece of kit works and works well.
Another snap-shot of my cat. This time using the Zeh Bounce.
ISO 200, 28mm (Prime), f3.5, 1/80s
Left: non-diffused built in flash image.
Right: image using the Zeh Bounce.
ISO 200, 28mm (Prime), f3.5, 1/80s - both images.
Conclusion:
It is clear that the Zeh Bounce works and works well. At the time of this writing, it is available for Nikon, Canon, Sony, and some Panisonic/Lumix cameras.
The Zeh bounce is not without problems. It does have a slight learning curve since using any type of diffuser will throw off the camera’s automatic exposer settings. I also felt like the Zeh Bounce was going to slide off of my camera and in fact did come off the camera while shooting (I wrote Zeh Photographic about this issue and they are aware of the problem, It only occurs on some Sony Cameras and does not occur on Nikon or Canon DSLR cameras). I corrected this by adding a small strip of hook and loop fastener to the underside of the internal flash housing and then placing the other portion of the hook and loop fastener on the bottom of the Zeh Bounce. The small learning curve and the minor modification are not deal breakers.
Overall Grade: A-
You can purchase the Zeh Bounce @ http://zehbounce.com/
Keep reading to learn how to use the Zeh Bounce.
The following instructions come with the Zeh Bounce:
- The bounce is designed for indoor use and ceilings that are less than 12ft are desirable.
- It is best to run in M-mode, but can be used in AV, TV, or P modes.
- Some compromises may have to be made in ISO, f-stop, or shutter speed to add brightness.
- If your images are still too dark, bump up the flash compensation. (see camera’s owner manual for this function)
How I used the Zeh Bounce:
Ideally when shooting in manual mode a photographer will use a light meter or at the very least read the histogram on the camera. Since both of these are advanced techniques I thought I would try using the Zeh Bounce in a less scientific way. The first thing I did was set my camera to Program Mode and made sure the flash was up. I then framed up my photo and pushed the shutter button half way down and held it half way down and took note of the recommended exposure settings, note you could also go ahead and take a photo. The purpose of pushing the shutter button half way down or going ahead and taking a photo is to see what exposure the camera thinks will be needed to take the shot. Note: Many cameras will recommend exposure settings in manual mode. I opted to use the Program mode only because I know that this method will work on every major brand of camera. After seeing what the camera recommends, I then entered the recommended settings into the camera after switching to the manual mode. See your camera’s operating manual for instructions on the use of manual mode. I then went ahead and took the photo. Often this will work without further adjustment of either ISO, shutter speed, aperture or flash compensation. Then I reviewed my photo on the camera’s view screen. I noted that the image was slightly under exposed. So, I made a decision to slow the shutter speed down from a recommended 1/120s to 1/80s. I could have just as easily have opened the aperture a bit more, bumped the ISO up to 400 from 200, or increased the power of my flash via flash compensation. That type of decision is dictated by the subject. In this case, my cat was sitting very still and I did not want to sacrifice picture quality or depth of field for the sake of speed. Had this been a photo of my child playing I may have decided to sacrifice the picture quality a bit, by adjusting the ISO, so as to not blur the image or risk taking an out of focus shot. Such are the trade-offs when taking a photo.
Recap of how I used the Zeh Bounce:
- Determine needed exposure via light meter or built in camera metering.
- Install the Zeh Bounce.
- Enter recommended settings into the camera’s manual mode.
- Take the photo.
- Review the photo.
- Adjust the ISO, shutter speed, or aperture or flash compensation to correct exposure problems.
Now, get out there and get to shooting.
-- Enjoy.