Really good! A beautiful time of day and great light for photos. I'm impressed with the balance you've achieved between the sky exposures and your subjects..... In fact I can't understand it at all in one such are No 2! It looks like the face should be deep in shadow, so I'd love to know your secret!

It all looks so fresh and the images convey a sense of freedom and space.

I wonder if you took the chance to zoom right in and take some closer portraits with that lovely backing all blurry?

Hi Barrie. I don't feel that kind of diffuser will be very nice really. It does not increase the effective size of the light source by much, and its still going to be a 'full frontal' assault of light onto the subject (if on camera, although as Peter said can it fit on the camera?) so there will be shadows behind if there are any surfaces behind the subject.

The 'softness' quality of flash light is determined by the relative size of the light source in relation to the subject. This diffuser would create a soft light for a macro shot of a bug (like Derek does very effectively), but not for a baby. Even off-camera it will still be a fairly hard light source for a subject the size of a baby.

You're best to go for a flagged and bounce technique. Here's a link to a thread with some of my examples plus shots of the equipment that I hope might be helpful ....

link

It's a soft delicate light that makes these. You have timed things perfectly to bring out the gentle contours and subtle contrasts. No5 is particularly good in these respects.

It's not an easy area to photograph, because it's so.... Boring! But not here.

Best seasonal wishes to all PentaxUsers! Hope you all have a safe time and get some great photos of events along the way!

I'm just realising that I've left it a bit late to get a bulk delivery of AA batteries .... So you'd better be braced for some K7 high ISO images!

Really beautiful, yes! You caught things at great time with the light, because having the dappled sunshine lighting the woods really brings out the interest and depth. The last le s a n excellent low angle and an impressive effect .....I wonder if it it's a bit too far towards yellow with the colour balance, I find the yellow a bit 'icky'. Perhaps a push towards blue and magenta might help .....?

They sure are, and reassuring to know you could shoot confidently in such dull conditions, and keeping the shadow areas looking nice as well. What sort of "high ISO" are we taking about here?

The preset WB settings is a good idea Algi. Anyone trying this out, remember to check the camera custom setting for "White Balance with Flash" ..... One of the options here will retain a manual setting, but the others will switch to the standard Flash preset, or AWB, every time flash is activated

That is a really good approach to working with the automatic flash. Even though the camera is capable of great IQ at high ISOs, it's asking too much of it's little computer brain to juggle both the flash and ambient light requirements. Inevitably it will look towards getting more ambient light in for a nicer balance (higher ISO, wider aperture), but indoors at close proximity this can he a recipe for flash exposure disasters!

Choosing the settings yourself , as you're doing, to take account of the distances involved, even in an approximate manner, is a great technique that gives the automatics their best chance!

I'm glad you got away from it all! Great last shot, beautiful soft tones, and it makes me wish I could walk straight into the scene and through the gate

I'm afraid that the 'event' photos are hard for me, I just don't really enjoy that sort of thing. I'd probably want to get out of it and onto those hills as quick as I could ....... I'd grab one of those sausages before running though!

The front on angles are unusual in the first two, and all the better for it. The one with the crowded platform has an originality to it that is really appealing .....it's like they're all fighting to get on because the previous train was cancelled (temporary shortage of firestokers) and this one has a short formation due to industrial action in the shunting yard! (Yes, I am travelling home on Southern right now!).