A very quick setup

Sometimes you know straight away that you're not going to get the perfect shot. But you have to go for it anyway.

This particular shot is the final one of three taken in under a minute.

Picture the scene. We were just going to join my son's birthday party after Victoria had finished her afternoon nap. I'm in a hurry because I don't want to miss the cake.

Vic puts on the hat. I just have to take this picture. .

I pick up my camera, turn the flash to the wall and shoot. This is in "P" automatic mode. Naturally, it's too dark on one side. Ok, I pick up a super-cheap YN460 flash off the mantelpiece and set it to slave mode at 1/8 power. I stick it on the floor firing up under the hat on vicky's left.......Too bright. Two clicks down on the YN460 (1/32 power), and I shoot again. Not great, but it will do.

That's almost a minute of potential cake-eating time used up. Time to grab everything (daughter included) and run.

My grateful thanks must go to Victoria. It's not every supermodel who will consent to being shot when she has just got out of bed and has a cold. She let me mess around with my camera for a whole minute without complaint. What a trouper!

The more perceptive among you will have noticed that I already had a flash sitting on my camera. yes, I admit I keep it there just in case. Even if it's not the perfect solution, I believe it's better to have it instantly available than in my bag. This paid off here because the ambient light was so low that the camera was struggling to autofocus, and the shutter speed would have been about a week. Luckily for me, most of the walls in our house are white(ish) so I can point a flash pretty well anywhere and get diffused light. As for the YN460 on the floor; yes it was aimed direct, but I think I got away with it.

Neither time nor toddler ever stands still. You can't afford to kill one when you shoot the other.