If I could only give a few tips.

Hi All,
You've all seen the camera flashes from folks in stadiums,
and many of us know these photos will produce good results
of the back of people's heads in the rows in front of you.
This observation was recently enforced at a wedding where
a friend took many flash photos of the ceremony from about
the 10th pew with his Canon digital Elph. I didn't want to
tell him that he just took dozens of photos that even
PhotoShop with divine intervention can't fix. This has
always been a problem, but especially now, with digital
and film P/S cameras with zoom lenses. Yup, you can zoom in
but the flash may not be very effective. I guess
these things will become obvious to the photographer when
he/she downloads or gets the film processed.

Just musings from an old-fashioned guy who holds a camera
with both hands. :-)
Dick R.

Dick R. wrote:

...I guess
these things will become obvious to the photographer when
he/she downloads or gets the film processed.

It shouldn't take that long. By looking at the preview on the LCD
screen, I knew things were not working, but had no idea what to do. The
flash just popped up and fired! Give us some time. We are still on our
learning curve!

Dick R. wrote:
Hi All,
You've all seen the camera flashes from folks in stadiums,
and many of us know these photos will produce good results
of the back of people's heads in the rows in front of you.
This observation was recently enforced at a wedding where
a friend took many flash photos of the ceremony from about
the 10th pew with his Canon digital Elph. I didn't want to
tell him that he just took dozens of photos that even
PhotoShop with divine intervention can't fix. This has
always been a problem, but especially now, with digital
and film P/S cameras with zoom lenses. Yup, you can zoom in
but the flash may not be very effective. I guess
these things will become obvious to the photographer when
he/she downloads or gets the film processed.

Just musings from an old-fashioned guy who holds a camera
with both hands. :-)
Dick R.

This reminds me of my wife...

-Who was at the top of a high-rise building in NY City at night with a
friend.
My wife was took a shot through the glass without flash of the night scene
below...only to have her friend INSIST that she turn the flash on to "make
the scene show up better!" Even my wife...who knows very little about
photography...knew this was silly, but she finally snapped one picture with
flash, just to get her friend to shut up about it. Later she showed the
big bright white glare picture to her friend...who then (amazingly) INSISTED
that my wife must have goofed somehow!!!

Some people are just plain stupid...and a lot of people who are NOT stupid
simply refuse to THINK.

I can give stupid people a pass, since it's not their fault.
-But the rest of the intelligent world simply has no excuse.

My D70 battery died and I had to borrow my mom's HP P&S digital to
capture a once in a lifetime lunar eclipse with digital zoom (and of
course flash) while visiting her way out in the desert. It worked g. I
couldn't figure out how to turn off the durn flash. I'm not sure that's
even possible g.

Dick R. wrote:

Hi All,
You've all seen the camera flashes from folks in stadiums,
and many of us know these photos will produce good results
of the back of people's heads in the rows in front of you.
This observation was recently enforced at a wedding where
a friend took many flash photos of the ceremony from about
the 10th pew with his Canon digital Elph. I didn't want to
tell him that he just took dozens of photos that even
PhotoShop with divine intervention can't fix. This has
always been a problem, but especially now, with digital
and film P/S cameras with zoom lenses. Yup, you can zoom in
but the flash may not be very effective. I guess
these things will become obvious to the photographer when
he/she downloads or gets the film processed.

Just musings from an old-fashioned guy who holds a camera
with both hands. :-)
Dick R.

P&S eclipse with flash & digital zoom:
http://www.edgehill.net/1/?SC=go.php&DIR=Southwest/2004-10-27-eclipse

Paul Furman wrote:

My D70 battery died and I had to borrow my mom's HP P&S digital to
capture a once in a lifetime lunar eclipse with digital zoom (and of
course flash) while visiting her way out in the desert. It worked g. I
couldn't figure out how to turn off the durn flash. I'm not sure that's
even possible g.

Dick R. wrote:

Hi All,
You've all seen the camera flashes from folks in stadiums,
and many of us know these photos will produce good results
of the back of people's heads in the rows in front of you.
This observation was recently enforced at a wedding where
a friend took many flash photos of the ceremony from about
the 10th pew with his Canon digital Elph. I didn't want to
tell him that he just took dozens of photos that even
PhotoShop with divine intervention can't fix. This has
always been a problem, but especially now, with digital
and film P/S cameras with zoom lenses. Yup, you can zoom in
but the flash may not be very effective. I guess
these things will become obvious to the photographer when
he/she downloads or gets the film processed.

Just musings from an old-fashioned guy who holds a camera
with both hands. :-)
Dick R.

--
Paul Furman
http://www.edgehill.net/1
Bay Natives
http://www.baynatives.com

Paul Furman wrote:
My D70 battery died and I had to borrow my mom's HP P&S digital to
capture a once in a lifetime lunar eclipse with digital zoom (and of
course flash) while visiting her way out in the desert. It worked g. I
couldn't figure out how to turn off the durn flash. I'm not sure that's
even possible g.

That probably has more to do with it being an HP rather than P&S.
With the Canon P&S I have you can even go into manual speed and
apperture with the manual adjustment of the flsh output.

Dick R. wrote:
Hi All,
You've all seen the camera flashes from folks in stadiums,
and many of us know these photos will produce good results
of the back of people's heads in the rows in front of you.
This observation was recently enforced at a wedding where
a friend took many flash photos of the ceremony from about
the 10th pew with his Canon digital Elph. I didn't want to
tell him that he just took dozens of photos that even
PhotoShop with divine intervention can't fix. This has
always been a problem, but especially now, with digital
and film P/S cameras with zoom lenses. Yup, you can zoom in
but the flash may not be very effective. I guess
these things will become obvious to the photographer when
he/she downloads or gets the film processed.

Just musings from an old-fashioned guy who holds a camera
with both hands. :-)
Dick R.
And as That_Rich wrote:
On Mon, 17 Oct 2005 15:12:51 -0500, "Dick R." wrote:
snip
And I'll bet it's not with both arms extended as far forward as
possible.
And that person balancing on a chair and taking a shot while holding
the camera with one hand.
And as Cachua Bun wrote:
snip

It shouldn't take that long. By looking at the preview on the LCD
screen, I knew things were not working, but had no idea what to do. The
flash just popped up and fired! Give us some time. We are still on our
learning curve!
Hey, even some of us older folks are still learning. The main thought is
to not take photos across the room, but rather to get up close and
personal to the subject. Hold the camera steady with both hands and
take the shot.
And as Mark² wrote:
snip
Some people are just plain stupid...and a lot of people who are NOT stupid
simply refuse to THINK.

I can give stupid people a pass, since it's not their fault.
-But the rest of the intelligent world simply has no excuse.

Uninformed maybe?

Take care all,
Dick R.

"Dick R." writes:

You've all seen the camera flashes from folks in stadiums,
and many of us know these photos will produce good results
of the back of people's heads in the rows in front of you.
This observation was recently enforced at a wedding where
a friend took many flash photos of the ceremony from about
the 10th pew with his Canon digital Elph. I didn't want to
tell him that he just took dozens of photos that even
PhotoShop with divine intervention can't fix. This has
always been a problem, but especially now, with digital
and film P/S cameras with zoom lenses. Yup, you can zoom in
but the flash may not be very effective. I guess
these things will become obvious to the photographer when
he/she downloads or gets the film processed.

I'm hoping that digital will help. If people review the results
immediately, they have a better chance of associating the bad results
with what they did -- don't they?

Just musings from an old-fashioned guy who holds a camera
with both hands. :-)

Or puts it on a stand, or a clamp. Or two hands and a stick. Or,
sometimes, hangs it over a bridge on a stick, just over the water.
--
David Dyer-Bennet, , http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/
RKBA: http://noguns-nomoney.com/ http://www.dd-b.net/carry/
Pics: http://dd-b.lighthunters.net/ http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/
Dragaera/Steven Brust: http://dragaera.info/

That_Rich writes:

On Mon, 17 Oct 2005 15:12:51 -0500, "Dick R." wrote:

Just musings from an old-fashioned guy who holds a camera
with both hands. :-)

And I'll bet it's not with both arms extended as far forward as
possible.

Put the camera strap around your neck. Pull your elbows into your
stomach. Now push the camera out against the strap until it's tight.
Now check how low a shutter speed you can handhold compared to pulling
the camera up to your face. I find I can get an extra stop pretty
reliably.

Of course, very few people are doing that! But the issue isn't IMHO
holding the camera to your face vs. holding it away from you, it's
paying attention to holding it steadily vs. *not* paying attention.
--
David Dyer-Bennet, , http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/
RKBA: http://noguns-nomoney.com/ http://www.dd-b.net/carry/
Pics: http://dd-b.lighthunters.net/ http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/
Dragaera/Steven Brust: http://dragaera.info/