Flash use - Taking a picture of a baby with eyes open

[pikey]

Hello,

I'm having trouble taking pictures of my baby with her eyes open and hoping someone could help.

It seems that an anti-red eye / metering pre-flash makes her close her eyes and not open them until the main flash has gone off (adults in the same pictures are fine)

Are there any tricks to get round this? Either by diffusing the light enough so she doesn't close them or changing the settings on the camera? The camera is a Sony A350 and flash is a Sony HVL-F56 AM. Both seem to have an array of settings but I can't find any that say "red-eye off" or "don't pre-flash".

Shame as the pictures are excellent and the camera and flash have done an very good job in getting everything just right.

Thanks,

Ben

[4Lmike]

just change it to the standard flash setting...or maybe auto. Failing that use PP to remove the red eyes.

[sharpfocus]

Or just stick your finger over the bit that emits the red light?

[pikey]

4Lmike said:

just change it to the standard flash setting...or maybe auto. Failing that use PP to remove the red eyes.

Thanks, but I've used the standard / auto setting and get this result. The problem is that the baby's eyes are closed rather than open and showing red-eye.

[mrmr96]

Can you try not using the flash?

[pikey]

Babies move too fast. Don't like the noise from that ISO.

Of course the proper answer is to take pictures in the daylight, but that's not really an answer

[Phunk]

Make sure your flash is set to 1st curtain

[mrmr96]

pikey said:

Babies move too fast. Don't like the noise from that ISO.

Of course the proper answer is to take pictures in the daylight, but that's not really an answer

Proper answer is to buy a good SLR (which can run high ISO without noise) and get a quality fixed focal length (prime) lens, as these have higher max aperture than zoom lenses, thereby requiring less exposure time for the same amount of light.

Could you light the scene using a more powerful but non-flash light source?

Or could you take two photos in succession, so the first flash causes iris contraction (to reduce redeye in the 2nd photo) but then wait until baby's eyes are open again to take the 2nd pic.

[mrmr96]

Oh, or use an off camera flash, is another good way to avoid red-eye.
Or use a bit of reflective white card or foil to bounce it off the ceiling, so that it will hit the baby from above, and therefore not be reflected back into the camera. (It's the on camera flash going into the eyes and straight out again which causes red eye.)

[Phunk]

From reading the manual here:

http://www.docs.sony.com/release/DSLRA300.pdf


page 81, try slow sync

[Silver Smudger]

If you are indoors then you can tilt the flash head and bounce the light off the ceiling or nearby wall, or get a hot-shoe extension cord and move the flash away from the camera (trickier, need another pair of hands or a tripod for this)

ETA - What mrmr96 said! - You don't even need card or foil with that flash - That is what the hinged head is for.

Light reflected down from a white ceiling looks far more natural than direct light from just above the camera does anyway

Edited by Silver Smudger on Monday 21st February 15:43

[Kudos]

Having the exact same problem!

[ian in lancs]

use off camera flash or bounce of walls / ceilings

[Simpo Two]

TTL flashes emit a metering pre-flash. Some people are sensitive to this and blink - just in time for the proper flash to go off, doh...

Cogniscent subjects can be made aware of this and with effort can overcome it. Perhaps if you (can) set your flash to fully manual it might skip the pre-flash. Mind you I've photographed plenty of babies at weddings and it's never been a problem - in fact they don't even seem aware of the flash.

The cheap option is ambient light; the expensive option is studio flash.

[pernod]

Occasionally you will come across someone who reacts quick enough to blink between the pre-flash and the main flash - babies and kids often have very quick reactions around this.

The best answer is probably to use manual settings and manual flash power so that the pre-flash doesn't fire.

In saying this, be careful of the flash output - for me it's always worth having more noise and not have to use such a bright flash with a baby present.

[pikey]

Thank you all.

• Slow sync - will try that. However as she's a baby and moves rather fast am not so sure it will do what I need.
• Pointing the flash away - have tried that, but the camera still uses it's onboard flash to do the pre-flash (which closes her eyes). (It's also a wireless unit so I can put it a fair way from the subject and away from her eyes altogether.)
• Two photos in succession - baby moves too fast (this example was me on the floor and her holding her head up, learning to crawl)
• Non-flash light source. Possibly / I don't have one, but I was hoping to find a solution using this flash (if there is one!) as it generally produces great results.
• Reflective white card - will try that.
• Better camera / fixed lens - not really an option for me.

[ian in lancs]

I meant bounce with no pre-flash

[Simpo Two]

You need to get the auto element out of the equation, because that's what's making the camera pre-flash. Bouncing diffuses the light but I think the (onboard) pre-flash is still going straight into baby's face.

Your current off-camera flash setup needs the built-in flash to fire it and I just wonder if some level of automation is creeping back in - espcially if it's a Sony flash.

How about getting £10 wireless trigger from eBay and using that to fire the flash on manual? A single flash is so fast nobody can blink.

[Silver Smudger]

pikey said:

* Pointing the flash away - have tried that, but the camera still uses it's onboard flash to do the pre-flash (which closes her eyes).

Does the on-board flash pop up automatically (when flashgun is on the shoe) in modes other than Auto? Have you tried them all? Try Shutter Priority mode to set a reasonable shutter speed - The TTL should still meter for the flash, I think.

[LongQ]

pikey said:

Thank you all.

• Slow sync - will try that. However as she's a baby and moves rather fast am not so sure it will do what I need.
• Pointing the flash away - have tried that, but the camera still uses it's onboard flash to do the pre-flash (which closes her eyes). (It's also a wireless unit so I can put it a fair way from the subject and away from her eyes altogether.)
• Two photos in succession - baby moves too fast (this example was me on the floor and her holding her head up, learning to crawl)
• Non-flash light source. Possibly / I don't have one, but I was hoping to find a solution using this flash (if there is one!) as it generally produces great results.
• Reflective white card - will try that.
• Better camera / fixed lens - not really an option for me.

* superglue.

EFC. Should work a treat. Tiny drop on the top eyelid, get them to look up for a couple of seconds at one of those toy things with dangly bits you hang over the cot and then take a quick shot sequence before they realise what is going on. Tail end of the sequence should provide a somewhat puzzled look as they wonder why their eyes are stuck open and if you are going for the full range of emotions in a single session you should be able to get a set of those really appealing eye watering moments and still have time to get out of the room before the screaming starts.

Alternatively use an off-camera (or swivel headed on-camera flash) bounced off something - probably the ceiling but a combined ceiling/wall bounce can work well. If you get a decent radio trigger you should find it has plenty of range for you to move as far away as possible so that you do not distract the subject. My recommendation would be to hire a longish lense - at least 800mm - and shoot from a couple of houses away. There are many advantages to this strategy of course including the opportunity to talk bks with your male mates who also needed an excuse to escape. One justification for distance shooting is that, having hired an expensive lens, the last thing you wish to risk is having to attempt to clean off sticky finger marks or the after effects of projectile vomiting before returning it.

HTH. Happy to try to answer any other questions that may arise.