[slideshow] I came home Saturday a little frustrated from a shoot with my knowledge of lighting with flash. I think I've got the shot visualized, do the math about the light in my head, and bam...something was too strong or too weak. Back the books!

I came home to find the kids and their friends having a blast making Gingerbread Houses and role playing their favorite adventure shows. I look up and the light is pretty nice. I visualize happy child, good light...and what if I slipped on my favorite lens...a Pentax 77mm Limited Prime. I knew I could catch these shots and make a golden memory.

If you want to succeed in flash photography you have to keep working. Learn, relearn, practice and then practice some more. When you get frustrated stop for a minute and breathe.

The moral of the story is that light is light. There is good light and rotten light to photographers. If you find yourself making bad light and getting frustrated, take a minute to shoot what you can see. Shoot the seen well, and enjoy the moment you caught something beautiful. Then start to learn again how to capture that magic when the God given light is not there by using the tools he gave us brains to make (or buy).

Oh and for the record...a lovely prime makes feeling better a lot easier too!

ehw