I got a gigantic used flash yesterday at Camera Co-op. It's a zoom flash! I never even knew such a thing existed. The best part is the pivoting flash head, which lets you aim the light source somewhere besides directly into someone's stunned, blasted-out face.
Let's look at the test roll:
Full-on flash in a nearly dark room. Yuck.
Flash bounced off the ceiling in a nearly dark room. Better.
Flash bounced off the white door directly behind me (it swivels 360 degrees!) in a nearly dark room. This would have been lovely if Eric hadn't been getting just a teeny bit fed up with having his picture taken over and over. As it is, he looks like he's about to bite my throat out.
My favorite shoes in a very dim room, with the flash bounced off the adjacent wall.
Etc. Tonight I played with black and white and the strobe feature, and I'm making my sister come over and play guinea pig for me tomorrow night. This is totally fun.
I just wish film and developing didn't cost so damn much. Digital isn't nearly as interesting to me, but it provides instant gratification and is extremely inexpensive, which in the end makes it a much better medium for my cheap, impatient little soul.