Basic flash tips anyone??

Prize78

Prize78

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Nick
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Hi all.
Just bought myself my first flash for my Canon 550d. I got the Jessops 360 afd which seems perfect for my needs. Basically I become frustrated trying to take pictures, especially portraits, in low light, but can't get the shutter speed or aperture combination to give me a sharp shot, because of the poor light available.

However, what with manuals etc being sketchy to say the least, I thought i'd ask my fellow talkphotographer's for some tips.

Is there a basic rule of thumb on roughly how to set up camera/flash for a typical low light portrait shot?? By that, I mean, what mode does the camera need to be in, what sort of shutter speed do I need to be looking at etc etc. And also, i'm guessing i'd need to be bouncing the flash off the ceiling or wall, so not to have the lighting on the subject's face appear harsh??

Apologies if this is a trivial question folks.
Thanks in advance.
 
Hi Nick, got the same flash yesterday. You're right about the sketchy manual for the flash!
I'd be really grateful for any advice too, please, if anyone's able to help.
 
LOL

I've got a magazine with the DSLR boot camp lesson on flash, I'll have a look at that and forward it on to you if you like.
 
Big question! Very broard answer:

For general social portraits, put camera on Av, pull out flash bounce card, point it straight up to ceiling, shoot.

If it's more formal portraits you'll need a brolly on a stand and a few other bits. Good book is Speedliter's Handbook by Syl Arena.
 
You're welcome guys :)

Here's a bit more. The idea with the little bounce card is that most of the light goes to the ceiling, which is where you want it for a big spread of soft light. But coming from above, it casts shadows under eyes and chins, so the card reflects a dash of light directly forward to fill them in and add a nice sparkle to the eyes. Try a bigger card attached with a rubber band to put more/softer light forward. Take a look here www.abetterbouncecard.com

With the camera on Av, it will set the shutter speed to balance the ambient light with the flash. You can adjust that with +/- compensation on the camera. If you have flash compensation on the gun (or via the camera menu) you can also adjust the flash power independently. There is lots of scope there to adjust the relative levels of both the bounce, the direct flash, and the ambient light - you effectively have three exposures going on there simultaneously.

If the ambient light is low, you can get into very long shutter speeds and background blurring. Raise the ISO and/or lower the f/number if it gets much longer than say 1/30sec as a rough guide.

Final trick is to gel the flash with a CTO (light orange) so it matches the colour of the ambient, but that's maybe a bit advanced for now.

I use a Lumiquest Quik Bounce which IMHO is the best flash accessory for this kind of thing - works well, very versatile, packs flat :thumbs: £40. Or get a Stofen-type diffuser cap. Not as good, but they're really cheap like a fiver, small and robust (the press togs' favourite) and they work well in an average room.
 
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As a first step I'd say Richard is spot on - bounce off ceilings with a fill card and use the exposure compensation dial. I feel this approach give pictures that look like there were more ceiling lights in the room, as most of the light is from above.

Once you get the hang of that you might want to try getting fake window light, which means bouncing off walls or similar. I find this guys blog really good and easy to follow. Look for his other posts on using his "black foamie thing":

http://neilvn.com/tangents/2009/11/21/the-black-foamie-thing/

This technique either needs a powerful flash and/or high iso settings as it isn't a very efficient use of the flash. But it is the only way I can get decent looking indoor flash shots.

Ian
 
Excellent. Thanks again. Seems tricky to get your head round. I can't work out that for a given shot at home, no flash results in 1/8 sec exposure ISO 400 and with the flash on, it only goes to 1/13?? I'd have thought it would be quicker than that? Also, some of the shots look washed out? (Yes i know, i really do know nothing about this flash lark!! :bonk:)
 
Prize78 said:
Excellent. Thanks again. Seems tricky to get your head round. I can't work out that for a given shot at home, no flash results in 1/8 sec exposure ISO 400 and with the flash on, it only goes to 1/13?? I'd have thought it would be quicker than that? Also, some of the shots look washed out? (Yes i know, i really do know nothing about this flash lark!! :bonk:)
Click to expand...

That's just how the E-TTL algorithm works. It assumes a small proportion of the flash will contribute to the background exposure so it raises the shutter speed a bit.

Bounce-fill is tricky for the camera to calculate. Subjects vary a lot and the result you want is also subjective. That's why there are compensation controls. Also check using the Flash Exposure Lock FEL* button (see handbook) which helps sort out difficult subjects like off-centre.

Edit: maybe I misunderstood you. On Av, the default is the camera will set the shutter speed for the ambient light level. Shutter speed makes no difference to the flash exposure - you just need to keep it below the max x-sync speed (1/200sec) though the camera usually won't allow you to exceed that anyway. If you want a flash-only exposure, reset the Av default in the menu, or use manual or Tv.
 
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Thanks to everyone for the advice..a lot more to this than buying a flash!!
 
What i'm essentially after is for a low light situation to be made capturable by the flash being able to raise the shutter speed such, that I don't get blur from too slow a shutter speed....if that makes any sense? :bonk:
 
malo50 said:
Thanks to everyone for the advice..a lot more to this than buying a flash!!
Click to expand...

Haha! Yes, I said it was a big question ;) You either do what I suggested in post #5 and hope that it'll be okay (it probably will) or you take control and manage all the different elements yourself.

Once you get the hang of using flash, which is really about how light works (tip: point the gun anywhere except straight at the subject) it can enhance almost every picture you take, indoors and out. And it will also open up a whole new raft of creative 'strobist' options. A decent flash gun is often the last major accessory most folks buy, whereas it should be the first.

Get that book by Syl Arena £18.50 :thumbs: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Speedliters...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1316777638&sr=1-1
 
All you need to know about flash :eek: :D

1) The larger the light source, the softer the shadows. Size is relative to the subject, ie move it closer, it becomes bigger/softer.
2) Inverse square law says that when you double the flash to subject distance, the light is reduced to one quarter, ie brightness falls off very rapidly.
3) Angle of incidence equals angle of reflectance, ie light bounces off a surface at the same angle it strikes, like a snooker ball off the cushion.

Get you head around those three things and you won't go far wrong :)
 
Thanks again Richard, appreciate your time..xx
 
Just got myself another book 'understanding flash photography' by Brian Peterson. So i'll be attempting to wade through that at some point. :)
 
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