Dr Evil eat your heart out

I have quite a few nieces and nephews. However as a few of them are now firmly in their teenage years the opportunities to buy "fun stuff" are gradually diminishing as no longer are things like colouring pencils or lego high up on the list. Rather it's now vouchers or money to go towards whatever is the latest technological must have.

Wow, I sound old.

Anyway, I decided that I would still indulge myself this year and rather then getting them vouchers or money, I would see if my "cool uncle" powers still worked and get them something they weren't expecting. In the case of one of my nephews I got him a plasma ball, which not only made sure I retained my title of being "cool" but after watching him play with it for a few moments in a darkened dining room, it also gave me inspiration for a quick set of photos unlike anything I had taken before. 

 I started in AV mode but found I wasn't having much luck. I realised that I would need to switch to TV. However with a darkened room, I had no idea what to start on or the best speed. So I simply followed a sound principle that any photographer will employ at somepoint.

 I guessed.

 I also tried some shots using + exposure compensation but curiously enough it seemed to have very little effect.

 For most of the speed I was set around 1/60-1/80. Any higher then that the picture started getting noticeably darker and I was missing capturing the dance of the lights.

Any slower was getting noticeable camera shake and blurring.

Still for a spur of the moment series of photos, they came out fantastically and are certainly a very different addition to my portfolio.