Strange photography behaviour

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Jon
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I have spotted some strange photography behaviour, and been guilty of some myself. I spotted my neighbour taking photos in the evening, with the camera pointing up at the sky, and the pop up flash going off. She was trying to get some photos of the moon. She said the moon looked a bit dark, so she thought she would use the pop up flash. :eek:
 
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Did it work? or does she need a OCF to get a bit closer?
 
Did it work? or does she need a OCF to get a bit closer?
She'd probably have much better success if she'd used radio controlled flash instead of the old fashioned optically controlled OCF units, particularly if she'd gone for a cheap as chips third party version that's obviously going to be much better than the OEM flash for 1/10000000th of the price. (y)

And yes, I am gently taking the proverbial out of flash forum posts in general. ;) :D Oh, and don't forget to use bounce off the back wall of the house to avoid causing harsh shadows on the craters!
 
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She was using a bridge camera with a massive zoom on full power flash, so might brighten the moon up a bit. Not my words. :rolleyes:
So the actual question is, did you manage to stand there and look all interested, or did that little smirk/smile get the better of you ?
 
Does she get the ladder out when she wants to do some moon macro? :LOL:

I see people take shots of the moon with their phones and wonder why it's only a teensy white blob without detail, even funnier when they hand the phone to me "You do photography, you take it for me will you?"
 
I do have to admit, when I got my first DSLR a good few years ago. I could not understand why the pop up flash kept popping up, until I realised I was in auto mode. :eek:
 
You can also see the above photographic technique at most large music gigs, with flashes going off from the third row of seats from the back up in the 'gods'. It's amazing how many people seem to want to take photos of the back of everyone's heads in the next 12 rows instead of the tiny little band in the distance.
 
I do have to admit, when I got my first DSLR a good few years ago. I could not understand why the pop up flash kept popping up, until I realised I was in auto mode. :eek:
Not even 'P' mode? :eek: Go and stand in the corner and think about what you did! ;)
 
You can also see the above photographic technique at most large music gigs, with flashes going off from the third row of seats from the back up in the 'gods'. It's amazing how many people seem to want to take photos of the back of everyone's heads in the next 12 rows instead of the tiny little band in the distance.
I think I have been guilty of that too, in my very very younger days. :oops: :$
 
You can also see the above photographic technique at most large music gigs, with flashes going off from the third row of seats from the back up in the 'gods'. It's amazing how many people seem to want to take photos of the back of everyone's heads in the next 12 rows instead of the tiny little band in the distance.


This was really irritating back when I used to shoot gigs - the performers would get p***ed off with photographers in general because of the few clowns who thought they required an SB900 on top of their D3 from the pit! This is much worse than people who simply don't understand, these were supposed photographers with pricey gear for that time at least
 
This was really irritating back when I used to shoot gigs - the performers would get p***ed off with photographers in general because of the few clowns who thought they required an SB900 on top of their D3 from the pit! This is much worse than people who simply don't understand, these were supposed photographers with pricey gear for that time at least
Tell me about it! A lot of the festivals I used to photograph used to specify 'no flash photography' due to the inconsiderate few wanting to blast away with high-powered flashes all night, and a lot of the performers didn't appreciate this behaviour. This was back in the film days, which meant using 1000 ISO film on shutter priority and a wing and a prayer that the lighting crew would crank it up enough for me to grab a shot or two occasionally. The results usually looked much better than those taken using flash though, as the 'atmosphere' of the lighting was retained. I never used flash for on-stage performances, so was usually welcome to take photos all night if I wanted to. These days I imagine it's so much easier with the right DSLR, as you can crank it up to 6400 ISO or higher without the results looking like a snowstorm.
 
Tell me about it! A lot of the festivals I used to photograph used to specify 'no flash photography' due to the inconsiderate few wanting to blast away with high-powered flashes all night, and a lot of the performers didn't appreciate this behaviour. This was back in the film days, which meant using 1000 ISO film on shutter priority and a wing and a prayer that the lighting crew would crank it up enough for me to grab a shot or two occasionally. The results usually looked much better than those taken using flash though, as the 'atmosphere' of the lighting was retained. I never used flash for on-stage performances, so was usually welcome to take photos all night if I wanted to. These days I imagine it's so much easier with the right DSLR, as you can crank it up to 6400 ISO or higher without the results looking like a snowstorm.


I was only looking at old gig photography images from the 70's recently, film shots taken with ISO 400 film - they relied on decent DR for the time, to push details through the grain, and the images were often fantastic :)
 
Not even 'P' mode? :eek: Go and stand in the corner and think about what you did! ;)
When I got my first DSLR, as I already said, many many years ago. I had the camera in manual mode, and tried taking a photo. The shutter opened but did not close, I thought the camera had broken, and seized in the open position. That was the day, I discovered what bulb mode was. :eek:
 
When I got my first DSLR, as I already said, many many years ago. I had the camera in manual mode, and tried taking a photo. The shutter opened but did not close, I thought the camera had broken, and seized in the open position. That was the day, I discovered what bulb mode was. :eek:

Things like this still happen to me! I often think I've experienced every possible hiccup until the next occurs. Not long back I was doing a family shoot for friends, and the off cam flash was refusing to fire - trying to keep my cool and look like I knew what I was at, I changed the batteries, double checked the trigger/receiver, checked the settings, ensured the flash was in S1 where it always fires, repeated all of this again while making distracting small talk, adjusting the soft-box, changing the angles etc while my mind was racing to figure out why this was happening .... then it clicked [pun intended :D ] , the cam was set to electronic shutter! I even have a function button configured to switch back from this to mechanical as I use OCF frequent enough! such a simple over-sight. It's the kind of situation that would see a beginner to OCF panic and get stressed during a shoot. If push came to shove I was moving their asses to better natural light, but would have had to make some excuses :D
 
Did you help her and explain things?
 
Did you help her and explain things?

This is normally what I tend to do, unless it's some wagon I don't like :D In general though, I would give some quick tips - unless it's a phone they're using, then they are on their own
 
I took a lot of pictures of gigs and once even a video too. I had a Nikon SLR and a zoom so I could manage f4 :D but with ISO 1,600 film the shutter speeds were never enough to stop motion blur, flash was only used very sparingly and carefully. No one ever complained about the noisy pictures with motion blur though, not once. I suppose it did help that the prints were small by todays standards and no one ever looked at them at 100% on screen.
 
I once tried to photograph wildlife using a compact camera, pointed through a DSLR lens. Before I laugh at others, I should own up to my own silly behaviour first. :D
 
Using a flash, that's wrong. She should've used a reflector.

I used to find a newspaper worked quite well an an impromptu reflector. For lunar photography, I'd recommend using the Sun
 
I see a supprising number of competent pro photographers using "bounce" flash outside. I mean with the flash firing but pointing up (no diffuser bounce-board or modifier) I keep meaning to do the maths on the guide number required to reflect from even a stratus clouds that are mostly below 4000 feet and still give say F4.... I doubt an SB900 or 430ex will cut it.
 
I see a supprising number of competent pro photographers using "bounce" flash outside. I mean with the flash firing but pointing up (no diffuser bounce-board or modifier) I keep meaning to do the maths on the guide number required to reflect from even a stratus clouds that are mostly below 4000 feet and still give say F4.... I doubt an SB900 or 430ex will cut it.
Could always be bouncing off a passing plane. :)
 
When I got my first DSLR, as I already said, many many years ago. I had the camera in manual mode, and tried taking a photo. The shutter opened but did not close, I thought the camera had broken, and seized in the open position. That was the day, I discovered what bulb mode was. :eek:
I've done the classic forgetting to turn the self-timer off before putting the camera away (after using it on a tripod to avoid shake when pressing the shutter release button), then wondering why the shutter wasn't firing the next time I used it. I nearly missed getting some photos of waxwings which had suddenly arrived in the garden for the first time, so the air was blue for a moment until I'd worked out what I'd done!

I now make a point of always resetting the camera before I put it away, and leave it set on 'P' and the lens on IS and autofocus. It doesn't take a moment to change the settings from this when I come to use the camera, but if I leave it set like that at least I can do a grab shot as soon as I pick the camera up if I need to. Making mistakes like that might be a bit daft, but not leaning from them is insanity! :)
 
I've done the classic forgetting to turn the self-timer off before putting the camera away (after using it on a tripod to avoid shake when pressing the shutter release button), then wondering why the shutter wasn't firing the next time I used it. I nearly missed getting some photos of waxwings which had suddenly arrived in the garden for the first time, so the air was blue for a moment until I'd worked out what I'd done!

I now make a point of always resetting the camera before I put it away, and leave it set on 'P' and the lens on IS and autofocus. It doesn't take a moment to change the settings from this when I come to use the camera, but if I leave it set like that at least I can do a grab shot as soon as I pick the camera up if I need to. Making mistakes like that might be a bit daft, but not leaning from them is insanity! :)
I don't have that problem, as my cameras do not save the self timer mode, when the cameras are turned off.
 
I walked past Sheffield City Hall this afternoon and saw a ‘photographer’ with his flash head pointing straight up and just the bounce card to kick light forward towards a couple of graduates in their gowns.

It was a little overcast but I’m quite sure he wouldn’t have been able to bounce off the clouds. .
 
A few years ago I was selling my DSLR and a zoom lens. A friend wanted to buy the camera off me, but to save money he did not want the lens. A day or so later, he said the camera did not work. I went to his to see what the problem was. Turns out he was simply removing the body cap and trying to take a photo. He thought you only put a lens on, to zoom in. Another true story. :)
 
I walked past Sheffield City Hall this afternoon and saw a ‘photographer’ with his flash head pointing straight up and just the bounce card to kick light forward towards a couple of graduates in their gowns.

It was a little overcast but I’m quite sure he wouldn’t have been able to bounce off the clouds. .
Perhaps a passing herring gull had stolen his Fong dome after mistaking it for a fast food container? ;)
 
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