Canon G3 Owners - Please help

Cheers-
I'm new to the list. I'm looking for advice on proper settings for taking baby photos with our G3. Sorry if this is long winded, but want to give you enough information.

I work for a non-profit Healthcare system in Maine. We recently purchased a Canon G3 to take baby photos for our hospital website's online nursery. The nurses take the photos and I post them.

I've selected the "Auto" mode for taking the photos. I wanted to make it as easy as possible for our nurses.

Unfortunately I've run into some problems. Sometimes the flash fires, sometimes it doesn't. Pictures can be to dark or overexposed. When the flash doesn't fire, the photos can be the wrong color due to the lighting in the nursery. I try to repair many of the photos in Photoshop, but I would prefer to have them come out "as good" as possible as I have other websites to maintain.

Recently, one of the nurses was advised to try and shoot without the flash. This worked great with plenty of light, but in low light, the photos are blurred.

Could someone make a recommendation on the best setting for the camera for my situation.

Here are some links of good and bad photos.

You can find the photos on this page http://emmc.org/Online+Nursery/default.htm

Good
Gage- April 3

Out of Focus - no flash
Nathan - June 19

Yellow
Makenzie April 6

Over exposed (not sure why this happened, but I believe subject was too close)
Hannah- April 7
Juliet- March 30
Brook - June 1

I've suggested to the nurses to stand 4-6ft away and use the zoom.

Again, any suggestions are must appreciated. I'm at a loss.

Steve

Quote:

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Originally Posted by swidmann

I've selected the "Auto" mode for taking the photos. I wanted to make it as easy as possible for our nurses.

Unfortunately I've run into some problems. Sometimes the flash fires, sometimes it doesn't. Pictures can be to dark or overexposed. When the flash doesn't fire, the photos can be the wrong color due to the lighting in the nursery. I try to repair many of the photos in Photoshop, but I would prefer to have them come out "as good" as possible as I have other websites to maintain.

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First, get the camera off automatic. You'll have to learn how to set the shutter speed for the best results.

The flash goes on and off in auto because the camera is making the decisions when to use it. I'm not sure, but I think I read that flash is a very bad thing for babies eyes. Use no flash and a higher ISO. These can be set in one of the non-auto modes.

Make sure that the G3 is set to "auto" mode for white balance or, better yet, create a custom WB setting each time (quick and easy).

Hope these few hints help!