Originally posted by Astronomersmith And I get fussed at because I am "supposed to be the family photographer"....a title I didn't ask for, btw.
Any suggestions or quick, easy fixes? Any reference or website or something that could help me take better flash photography?
Or...could there be an adjustment on my Ds that I need to make? It almost seems to me, that the flash is too strong, so to speak?
Lucky you, I try to be a family photographer, but the family is not really crazy about that idea. Only cats have no objection
Have you tried no flash shooting?
Practice first, shoot the room subjects in similar lightning conditions as for the party. What's that, evening with electrical light, or day time with natural light?
Set your camera in manual, set the ISO 400 first, and open aperture wide, I believe it will be f3.5-5.6 for you. Not the brightest, but it's what you have. If it's not sharp enough close aperture down a bit. Now you need to set appropriate speed. To avoid hand held shake, your X in speed 1/X number should be bigger than your focal lens distance number. For example, if you set the distance to 18mm, your speed should be no slower than 1/20. If it's 55mm, the speed is no slower than 1/60. You get an idea. Does not work for me all the time, but that rule helps.
When you test around those numbers, and find out that ISO400 is not enough, try 800. Or if you move above 400 to 200, would be even better. Try to light up the room (turn more lights, open curtains or so)
The less ISO number, the better.
Now metering. You play with that too, to find out what metering method will be the best for your indoor condition and subjects and see the difference.
Anyway, the key is here - practice. It's also fun
Disclaimer: I'm not a photo pro, so if I said something wrong, please correct. It's just how I test indoor shooting.