These two images have been shrunk from 1600x1200 pixels to fit this page - and demonstrate the affect of not always using a flash. They were taken about 30 seconds apart about 16:20 BST mid May.

There were no lights on in the church - apart from the side room - relying daylight through narrow slit windows.

The top picture was taken without a flash and it can be seen that there is even lighting over the whole picture. The darker shadows can be easily corrected after downloading.

The bottom picture was taken with the flash by accident. The camera reverts to auto-flash after being switched off. The flash has caused a lighting imbalance and the camera has compensated for the extra brightness by reducing the exposure.

Unfortunately it is a fact of life - that light from a point source reduces by a factor of four every time you double the distance from that source. So the light on something 12 feet away will be a quarter of that 6 feet away. Doubling again to 24 feet there will be a sixteenth of the flash light. Thus demonstrating the unsuitability of a direct flash for deep subjects - or indeed subjects at distance.

Apart from the deliberate blurring of the facial features to preserve anonimity and size reduction - the pictures have not been corrected in any way and are the same as when they were downloaded from the A40.

natural lighting
with flash

 
Original A40 image file Exif headers - time is GMT regardless of where or daylight saving.
Add 1 hour to correct to BST 
Top Image

File Name
    108-0836_IMG.JPG
Camera Model Name
    Canon PowerShot A40
Shooting Date/Time
    18/05/03 14:21:31
Shooting Mode
    Auto
Color Effect Mode
    Off
Tv( Shutter Speed )
    1/8
Av( Aperture Value )
    3.5
Metering Mode
    Evaluative
Exposure Compensation
    0
ISO Speed
    Auto
Lens
    5.4 - 16.2mm
Focal Length
    7.8mm
Digital Zoom
    None
Image Size
    1600x1200
Image Quality
    Superfine
Flash
    Off
White Balance
    Auto
AF Mode
    Single
Active AF Points
    [ Left Center ]
Parameters
    Contrast          Normal
    Sharpness         Normal
    Color saturation  Normal
File Size
    819KB
Serial Number
    108-0836
Drive Mode
    Single-frame shooting
Owner's Name
    James Montague

Bottom Image

File Name
    108-0838_IMG.JPG
Camera Model Name
    Canon PowerShot A40
Shooting Date/Time
    18/05/03 14:22:03
Shooting Mode
    Auto
Color Effect Mode
    Off
Tv( Shutter Speed )
    1/125
Av( Aperture Value )
    2.8
Metering Mode
    Evaluative
Exposure Compensation
    0
ISO Speed
    Auto
Lens
    5.4 - 16.2mm
Focal Length
    5.4mm
Digital Zoom
    None
Image Size
    1600x1200
Image Quality
    Superfine
Flash
    On
Flash Type
    Built-In Flash
Flash Exposure Compensation
    0
Red-eye Reduction
    Off
Shutter curtain sync
    1st-curtain sync
White Balance
    Auto
AF Mode
    Single
Active AF Points
    [ Left Center Right ]
Parameters
    Contrast          Normal
    Sharpness         Normal
    Color saturation  Normal
File Size
    756KB
Serial Number
    108-0838
Drive Mode
    Single-frame shooting
Owner's Name
    James Montague
 
All material and  images presented in these review pages are copyright (C) James Montague 2003, 2004.  . All rights reserved. This site may be freely linked to but not duplicated or presented in any way without my written consent.
correctiondhit` gchit