Using Existing Lighting and Flash
Canon PowerShot S30

I am beyond weak in using flash in photos to correct bad lighting situations. And finding backlit thingies to fiddle with in the rainy/cloudy weather we have had all week is [ahem] interesting to say the least.

When the leftovers from the storms that have been here most of the week broke, I headed out in the backyard in late afternoon sun [what little there was of it ;-] to try using flash in dim or backlit situations. The experiments do not make for lovely photos and many of my tests with the flash brought less than satisfactory results.

I did decide to try to stay away from auto settings and go at least partially manual here. Along with using the internal flash [only option on this camera] at some different settings I also experimented with exposures in the natural light just to see what gave me the least objectionable results.

no flash	no flash	no flash	flash used

The above shots are of an ornament [bird feeder?] on the top corner of a neighbor's fence. I am looking west as I shot this so the sun, or what there is of it is going down right in front of my lens causing a bit of backlighting. Click thumbnails for larger views and details. And no laughing at composition or lack thereof...had to hold the camera over my head to get the shot at all. lol

In this case, I believe the flash shot gave the best detail.

Here, another neighbor has a fall display. I used flash to try to pull detail from an ear of corn in the array of fall goodies.

Once again, I think using the flash gave me better results. Click thumbnails for enlargements & details.

I only included this because I found it a wee bit odd that flash actually darkened the shot of the Army Corp sign and woods we back into here.

I actually think I might try to go back and get a really interesting shot of this or one of the other signs for the woods/lake shore property. I think it has potential for an interesting compostion and I don't have to go far to get it...lol

I found the color variations I obtained from this little birdhouse interesting. I did not like the flash results in this case. I am thinking that the second of the four shots probably came out the best lightingwise, but I can see using the greener or bluer shots in different situations. I kind of like all except the flash version here.

Click thumbnails for larger views and details. [are you tired of hearing that yet? ...haha]

As good old Bugs Bunny & his friends would say.... th-that's all folks! See ya'll in week 5

_^..^_
Farron