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Can any photographers offer some advice?

2K views 7 replies 6 participants last post by  SkyHook 
#1 ·
I have a Canon A80, and i really love this cam. I am not well versed in the manual modes, so i stick to Auto 95% of the time.

When i have the flash enabled, every pic i take comes out sharp and crisp. If i turn the flash off, in a low light situation, the pic is very blurry.

For example, i was in an underground parking lot last week. My car was nice and clean, and i liked the soft lighting in the garage, so i decided to snap some pics. When i used the flash, it made the front of the car too bright, and the back remained unaffected. I wanted the whole picture to have the soft glow of the light, but when i take the flash off, the pics come out way too blurry.

I took 30 or 40 pics, all with the same result. I tried to be as steady as possible with my hand, to no avail.

Is this common?

I thought the flash just adds light to the pic. It kinda seems like its doing more work.

Must i always use a tripod in this situation?

I surfed around on some photography web sites, and they are all far too technical, so i was hoping a member here could offer some insight.
 
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#2 ·
yes you need a tripod, it's impossible to hand hold any camera in a underground garage without flash even if you crank up your iso all the way up. Your flash is also a lot more powerful than you think. when you use a flash, your flash becomes your shutter speed, that is why your flash pics are sharp and crisp.
when you hand hold without flash, your camera must compensate for the lost of light, and since your lens is probably not wide enough to let enough light onto your sensor, it must compensate by letting the shutter expose longer than with a flash.

vince
 
#3 ·
I thought the flash just adds light to the pic. It kinda seems like its doing more work.

Must i always use a tripod in this situation?
What is happening here is when you turn off your flash, the camera has to compensate for the lack of light entering the camera. It does this by choosing a longer exposure or shutter speed. Without the use of a tripod your pictures will ALWAYS come out blurry. This is called camera shake.

To better understand shutter speed and aperture (ƒ stop):

The shutter speed is the length of time the shutter stays open

Aperture is a little more complex. The aperture is like a little door that also lets light in, but it works alongside the shutter. Picture the opening of a James Bond film where there's that weird opening that Bond shoots into. That's an aperture. The aperture controls light and combined with the focal length of your lens, it can create some really interesting results.

The more the aperture opens which is the lower number the more light comes in and the greater depth of field you will get in your pictures (subject in focus, background out of focus). The smaller the aperture (higher numbers), the crisper the image will be.

Your best bet, if you are learning, is to shoot in your pre programed modes. The picture of the face, the mountain range the running guy etc. This will give you a feel of what your camera can accomplish. Once you are familiar with that, move to the manual settings. Play around first with shutter priority (S or T), to see what the different shutter speeds can do. Don't worry, in shutter priority, the aperture will automatically adjust to your shutter speeds. Do the same with Aperture Priority (A). then move to fully manual.

A good resource to check out is the New Youk Institute of Photography I've learned a lot from this site.

Another site I visit is the Photography Review Forum. These people know their stuff, but a word of caution is the site is very "Cliquey". So don't be surprised if they don't give you the time of day. But you can learn a lot from just reading.

Or you could always check out the Photography thread here, or post a question. Someone will always help here.
 
#5 ·
Well, as usual MaxPower has given a very useful explanation.

Have a look at this site too

Short Courses

Take some time to go through the list of courses available. I have the one for the Canon Digital Rebel. It's really very good. These are inexpensive, simple guides and what they do is explain their subject in a clear, concise manner.
 
#6 ·
Pelao said:
Well, as usual MaxPower has given a very useful explanation.
Thanks Pelao. I appreciate the complement. :)
 
#7 ·
you need a tripod, and some lessons in manual settings. you'd be surprised from reading some simple webpages at how much you can improve your pictures by using manual mode. i use manual mode about 95% of the time now. and if your outside, its manual all the way.
 
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