birthday party flash pics....soooo hard to do!

[macobee]

wish to get some comments and ideas on how to improve, i have found that it makes a huge difference in between bouncing of the ceiling and direct flash, however i have not figured out when to use which.....so ended up taking each picture 2 times......once with direct, once with bouncxed flash, and the results are not at all consistent.
ok given it was alarge room i did expoect i run into problems, but this is a bit too weird.

also if i shoot in av mode or tv mode it seems the camera doesnt recognize the flash very well. for example i tried an ISO 800 and open the lens fully, however even the flash fired the shutter stayed open for a long time and thus created a shaken image.

i went then back to automatic after playing around and trying to get my way with it.

here below some pictures, pls enlighten me

[macobee]

don know why i can only attach 1 pic......so here is the rest:
http://www.hongkong-chefs.com/Privateimages/private.html

the last five taken at home in a considerable "small" room

[Redbird_xo]

Tv and Av meters ambient light. In your situation, ambient was rather low, therefore, the camera used a longer shutter speed in an attempt to properly expose for ambient light.

Try using M mode next time in similar situation. I would choose a handholdable shutter speed (1/40 sec for me if my subject doesn't move, I use 1/125 sec for shooting kids in low ambient light) and desirable aperture with ISO 400 (increase if needed).

Regarding the choice of direct flash or bounce flash, I would start with bounce flash (if there is a fairly low ceiling) with a white bounce card attached to the flash head to direct some light to your subject and to produce a catchlight. There are many choices for bounce card. If the pictures are too dark for your taste when bouncing the flash, you will need to do direct flash. Hope it helps.

Edit: Also consider shooting RAW to correct white balance in post processing.

BTW, are you a cook in HK?

[macobee]

redbird, thanks, ill play around with M mode a bit now, and yes im a Chef in Hong Kong

a bounce card...good idea i guess, will look around for that

[macobee]

had another try juts now redbird, your tip helped a lot! thanks for that! wished i could turn back time now and do the birthday party again :)

[Redbird_xo]

Wish we could turn back timeee...

Yeah, I had that exact same feeling after finding out how many mistakes I had made over the past few years with a number of digital cameras...live and learn. Glad it helped you.

[John Sims]

The first time I used flash at an event I found it very frustrating as the camera seemed to frequently ignor the flash. I noticed that periodicaly it didn't show the flash symbol in the view finder. I removed the flash from the camera and cleaned the contacts; after this it seemed to work far better . I will try manual myself next time.

[gryphonslair99]

You might take a look as something like the Lumaquest bounce flash attachment. Works wonders for bounce flash without having to deal with the celing height or color. Several styles for most needs.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=Search&A=details&Q=&sku=32576&is=REG&addedTroughType=search