BOOOOO… for posting late this week!

YAY for discovering a new camera setting!

And no, it’s not setting the aperture, as I had hoped last week. I needed a break from the intimidating process of learning which shutter speeds & apertures go with which lighting conditions. Not to worry – there are lots of easier options.

I bought a new book last week: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT Guide to Digital SLR Photography by David D. Busch. It’s so much friendlier than the camera manual. And it includes lots of example photos to show what can be achieved with each setting.

Last night I used something new that I learned. “Flash off” mode is super simple: Turn the big dial on top (the one with all the pictures) to the square with a line crossing out the lightning bolt.

Yesterday my husband carved a pumpkin with the kids. I missed that photo op, but we made up for it tonight. My son was the one who held the most still, so he got to be in the pictures.

This was my first one, in regular automatic mode. With the automatic flash, you can’t even tell there’s a candle inside the pumpkin, or that the house lights were off. (Notice that lovely shadow behind my son’s face, too.)

turn down the lights - you can see crumbs on my table!

I switched to “Flash off” mode, and the camera adjusted the shutter speed for me. With all the house lights off, it was VERY slow.

This was the picture I got. (By this time, the pumpkin had lost its lid, as it was starting to smell burned.)

SCAAARY!!

Slow shutter speed + active toddler = very blurry picture.

I’m sure there are better ways to solve this problem, but for now we just turned on one of the lights that was several feet away. With the small amount of additional light, the camera chose a shutter speed that was fast enough to capture the shot before my son could blink.

Much better

Frightfully adorable