Flashy Once Again

Hello flash, I know that we've never really been the best of friends, but perhaps we're turning a corner?

I don't care for flash in my photos. I personally feel like the flash on my camera is just way too harsh and it completely changes each and every photograph in a pretty drastic way, so I just usually give up on even taking flash photos. The problem with that sort of attitude is that you wind up really limited in when and where you can use your camera because you are totally dependant upon the lighting conditions. That's fine and all when you're shooting, oh say a bridge or a landscape or a skyline, but when you're photographing children you can't always wait for the right light. Children live in the moment, in the "here and now" if I may, and some of the most beautiful shots are going to happen whether the light agrees or not.

Last night my darling mister presented me with a solution to my flash problem, he gifted me a lightscoop and after a 20 minute test drive it already has me making nice with Mr. flashy pants.

Anyone know what Nuala's holding in her hand here?

And while I am head over heels in love with this nifty piece of equipment, I will note that there is at least one drawback, especially for shooting spontaneous moments, and it's that you can only take one shot at a time. I'm really big on continuous shooting mode, it makes taking pictures of people much easier. But since the flash needs time to reset between frames, you will have to wait a bit before you can snap again.

Now, don't get me wrong here, I still prefer natural light. I still think that some of these photos would have been better without the flash. But....

But, I just can't believe that these were all taken with a flash (ok, except for the one of the cat). I didn't have a lot of time to tinker around with it on account of all our typical Saturday morning hustle and bustle, but I can't wait to take some more.

I did a team relay marathon today, indoors of course, and it was a lot of fun. The kids came along and went ice skating while I ran my 6.6 miles for the team. Maija was so sweet and skated along side of me for the last mile or so (the track was on the outside of the rink) while Sidhe and Micah cheered me on from the outside of the track. What awesome cheerleaders they are!

It made me painfully aware of just how much work I need to get done between here and the Golden Gate, it's really time to start getting serious about that little old July marathon I signed up for.

For now I'll just be happy that I made it the full 24 laps today. One day at a time, right?

After writing this post and uploading the photos, I sat Ruari down in the sun room to take a few shots now that the sun has set, and I am sort of speechless all over again.

So there you have it ladies and gentlemen, if you suffer from flash panic like I do (or should I say, did?) then you should really take a closer look at what the lightscoop can do for you.