Proud Photography Blog

Do you remember being fascinated by the pictures you took at your vacation? The action of the waterfall in motion seemed real. The colorful beetle that drank a dew drop from a bright green leaf made an array of emotions run through your heart. The dolphins caught in their flight made you leap with joy. The photograph of your friend in mid-air was made you crack up with laughter. You even managed to sneak in and catch your friends unawares. Hey! Maybe you have the knack for photography. But wait a minute! Why does Bill look so ghastly? Why are his eye sockets, looking so deep? And when did Jim grow a toothbrush mustache? Or is that the shadow of his nose? You need to pay just a little attention to lighting and your photographs will look great.

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So you’ve just seen the most wonderful photo opportunity jump right out in front of you and scream to have it’s picture taken. The baby is just so cute, and it’s got this HUGE smile, and even has a little grin on it’s face. You grab your trusty camera, flip it on and start to snap away happily, getting in nice and close. You hear a sudden CLICK from your camera’s flash, and look to the back of the camera only to see a bleached and almost white outline of what looks like a head.

If you’ve been taking pictures for any length of time, you’ve probably run in to a situation like this. Or perhaps you’ve used flash at a time when it seems like you would need it, only to find that it produced oily-looking highlights on people’s skin, and made them into red-eyed demons from the underworld.

The thing about using a flash is you have to know when and how to use it! For any photograph you have a few options to choose between when it comes to light. Mind you, there are a large variety of options within these, but these are the main place to start from when choosing a type of lighting. Read the rest of this entry »

The Olympus company now makes it possible for the SP-560UZ superzoom digital camera to gain a wireless flash thanks its release of the firmware version 3.1.
The update  allows the camera to wirelessly control multiple Olympus flash units such as the FL-50R and FL-36R.
The firmware version is now available to download via Olympus Master 2 software.
Here is the manual for Shooting with the Olympus Wireless RC Flash System:

The wireless flash system enables you to take pictures using multiple wireless flashes.
The built-in flash is used to communicate between the camera and the external flashes.

Here is an illustration along with a step by step guide to using the wireless system :

1. Position the flash while referring to the “Wireless flash setup range”, and turn on the flash.
2. Press the MODE button on the flash to set it to RC mode, and set the channel and group of the
   flash. Set the group to A (the flash will not operate if B or C is selected).
3. Select [RC] from [FLASH] on the camera, and then set [CH1] - [CH4] to the same channel
   as the flash. (SP-560UZ Advanced Manual P.30 “FLASH Setting to use an external flash”)
4. Press [FLASH] button (Flash pop-up) to raise the built-in flash.
5. Select a flash mode. (Red-eye reduction flash is not possible in RC mode).
6. After shooting preparations are completed, take some test shots to check the flash operation
   and images.
7. Begin shooting while checking the charging completed indications of the camera and flash.

   Note:

   * Although there is no limit to the number of wireless flashes you can use, it is recommended that no more than three flashes be used to prevent flash malfunction due to mutual interference.
   * In RC mode, the built-in flash is used to control the wireless flash. The built-in flash cannot be used for flash shooting in this mode.
   * For rear curtain synchronization, set the shutter speed to within 4 seconds. Wireless flash shooting may not operate properly when using a slower shutter speed.

   Click here to update the Olympus SP-560UZ.

   Click here for the complete manual.

If you’re taking a close-up shot, you might find that the flash is simply too powerful. There are a few techniques that you can use to avoid this.

• try standing back and using zoom lens to get closer to your subject, or
• place a piece of tracing paper or white cloth over the flash bulb
• it’s worth to check out if your camera actually allows you to manually adjust the power of the flash

If you’re willing to spend some extra cash and your camera has a hot-shoe, you can buy a separate flash gun that allows you to control the strength of the flash.