flash newbie help

[blinkerz]

I've only used flash a couple of times and so dont have much experience. I cant seem to work out how to properly expose for the ambient light so the background is not in the shadows. If i use iso 400 or 800 then the ambient light comes through properly, but i thought with flash i wouldnt need to use high iso settings. Can someone please explain how i would do this, the manual shutter speed had been set roughly * 125/sec, but i dont know how slow to go without blur/camera shake.

 

[Steep]

If you're using a tripod then you can go much slower if your subjects will stay still.

 

[blinkerz]

what about a event thats held indoors just taking random pictures, what would be the ideal way..

 

[Steep]

There is no other way than to use a slow enough shutter speed to correctly expose the background, if that's too slow for the action then you simply have to compromise m8.

 

[pxl8]

If the background is out of focus you can afford some camera shake - the main subject will still be sharp as the flash duration is what counts there.

 

[LeeP]

I've only used flash a couple of times and so dont have much experience. I cant seem to work out how to properly expose for the ambient light so the background is not in the shadows. If i use iso 400 or 800 then the ambient light comes through properly, but i thought with flash i wouldnt need to use high iso settings. Can someone please explain how i would do this, the manual shutter speed had been set roughly * 125/sec, but i dont know how slow to go without blur/camera shake.

Do you have an example shot? Or how bright / colour is the ambient light?

 

[leoedin]

you haven't mentioned aperture at all.

If you opened up the aperture a little (assuming you're not already wide open) and then (again assuming that you're using some sort of TTL) let the flash use less power to compensate, then the ambient would hopefully be exposed. If you're in a dark room, then the ambient exposure will be what your light meter tells you without flash. If you would use ISO 800 without flash, you'll have to use it with flash as well.

The alternative is to create your own ambient by completely overpowering everything, bouncing the flash off the ceiling (assuming the ambient is ceiling light) and using a bounce card to send some light forward.

 

[blinkerz]

thanks for the information, the hardest situation seems to be outside in the dark, cause its hard to bounce the light off surfaces.. also even wide open aperture its hard to record enough ambient light for the background. The backgrounds also tend to be really out of focus as a result as well, increasing the iso at night creates noise nightmare. So how do people take street photography at night?

 

[trooper30]

The backgrounds also tend to be really out of focus as a result as well, increasing the iso at night creates noise nightmare. So how do people take street photography at night?

Good question, just getting into the camera thing myself, and has asked myself the same question

 

[leoedin]

thanks for the information, the hardest situation seems to be outside in the dark, cause its hard to bounce the light off surfaces.. also even wide open aperture its hard to record enough ambient light for the background. The backgrounds also tend to be really out of focus as a result as well, increasing the iso at night creates noise nightmare. So how do people take street photography at night?

You use a tripod! Seriously, it seems you have reached the limitations of on-camera flash.The fact is, you either need to light everything in the scene with strobes, have parts of your picture underexposed or have a noisy picture.