QUALITY LIGHTING FOR PHOTOGRAPHY

After our recent family trip to Subic last month I have to admit that I stopped reading about photography tips because I got so busy. But that doesn't mean I am no longer interested in photography. On the contrary, I want to take even more photos but I have to say there's a limit to the things I could take photos of here at home. There are my boys, of course, but I have yet to read more on photographing kids (or photographing active kids or kids on the go) because most of my shots of them are blurred in low lighting or indoors. But when I use the built-in flash of my Nikon D50, the photo looks too washed out and I really don't like it. Anyway, I tried photographing still life instead and I got a few nice shots but most of them were unfortunately, too dark. Of course, the great thing about digital photography is that I could take lots of photos and "correct" my mistakes so in the end, I manage to get some good-enough photos. But still, it doesn't mean that I'm happy when I take 8 shots and end up with only 2 good ones. I want to be more confident with my photography. And I chanced upon this article Finding Quality Light and it was a really insightful read. I already read (previously) about the best times to take photos and how to make use of the aperture, exposure and ISO settings but the article gives some very handy tips on how to manage difficult lighting conditions. I really want to try using filters because I've seen some really wonderful filtered photos, especially photos shot with graduated neutral density filters and polarizing filters. They looked really vibrant, sharp and so professional-looking. I also have been interested in using diffusers especially with my built-in flash. I definitely cannot afford a Nikon Speedlight but a diffuser is within my budget. I'm planning on getting one this month. So I might try that to soften my indoor shots. I actually can't wait to try that out. I suppose the best way to learn photography is really to just practice and take lots and lots of pictures. But I must say that reading and researching and finding handy tips are a really big help.