Bowling while Flashing

Yesterday night, I caught up with Alron and Hannee for a game of bowling at the Orchid Country Club where Alron had suggested since they were heading there to throw a few.

Since Uncle Tony had previously passed me his 580EX II flash to use, I thought I'd give it a try, and brought it down that evening to test it out.

Since young, I've appreciated the sport of bowling, not so much the technique and what not, but honestly because it's the one sport where you can sit down in an air conditioned space, take your time with your game, and when you're hungry, buy some deep fried snacks and sugared beverages. Best part is that bowling alleys can some times run late into the night so it's a great hangout!

While most of us were just monkeying around the alley, Al on the other hand was working on his technique. There's a lot of science into the sport as we later found out after the game.

With regards to the flash, it's awesome...if a flash costs above $500 and wasn't awesome, there wouldn't be a point in buying one right??? This is one of the few instances where flash definitely is ideal as compared to purely shutter.

Take the photo below for example, which was shot back in 2010 at iso1,600 and cleaned using Noise Ninja. The color is more natural but the subject (in this case, Mr Wan) does not pop. You also notice that the end of the alley is over exposed to compensate for the foreground. On the other hand, the photo of Sharon is well lit, and the background is still well exposed.

At times though, where there is a direct light source, there really isn't a need for flash, like this stage shot of Jayson at WCC 2011 which had ample stage light focusing on the subject.

At the end of the day, I think having a flash is great, but if you don't use it that often, it's still alright to do without it. If you generally take photos in places where you do not require a flash, then owning a flash becomes more of a luxury than necessity.

But of course, not everything has to be a "need", if you intend to pamper yourself with a flash, you won't regret the purchase either. =)

Awesome bowling activity by the way, we should do this more often!