Is it me or my camera/flash causing the problem?

[fatmarley]

My kit is Canon 450d, Canon 17-55mm f2.8 lens, Canon 430EX ii flash.

When taking photos of my son running around the house in the evening, I set the camera to Manual, shutter speed 1/160, aperture f4, ISO 400 and I let the flash work out the correct exposure.

Photos are perfectly exposed at 55mm but when I set the camera to 17mm they are overexposed, with too much flash (my sons face is over exposed, not the background).
I have to have the flash set at +2/3 to get the correct exposure at 55mm (Not sure if it's because I use a Sto-Fen Omni bounce on my flash - thinking about it, I need to check that)

Is it something i'm doing wrong and if so, what?

 

[Phil V]

Is it that you're using 17mm when you're really close, auto flash does struggle closer more than at normal shooting distances.
Have you set the ETTL metering to CWA? On the older Canons the eval flash metering is a bit unpredictable. Some disagree but in my experience I find the CWA to be more predictable.

Look up 'dragging the shutter' you'll find nicer results by allowing more input from the ambient light.

 

[fatmarley]

Is it that you're using 17mm when you're really close, auto flash does struggle closer more than at normal shooting distances.
Have you set the ETTL metering to CWA? On the older Canons the eval flash metering is a bit unpredictable. Some disagree but in my experience I find the CWA to be more predictable.

Look up 'dragging the shutter' you'll find nicer results by allowing more input from the ambient light.

Thanks for the reply Phil (What would I do without you?). I'll have a play with the flash metering later and report back...

Found a good tutorial on 'Dragging the shutter'

 

[HoppyUK]

If you're using the Stofen with the flash pointing directly forwards, that will throw the exposure for sure. You shouldn't be though - Stofen is primarily designed to point at the ceiling and when you do that, tilting the head disables the distance data that could be upsetting things.

Flash exposure is often difficult for the camera, far more complex and variable than normal ambient light. Get used to adjusting the compensation controls and as Phil says, dropping the shutter speed to pull in some ambient light usually looks better.

Easy way to do that is to shoot on Av, that will automatically set the shutter speed for ambient while the flash outputs adjusts to aperture (and ISO). In that mode, using compensation on the camera will change the brightness of the background, while compensation on the gun changes the flash output. You have a lot of control that way, and it's fast and easy.

Just watch the shutter speed if the light is really low, or you can end up with something far too long that will create blurring from the ambient light. You then have to decide if that can be fixed by dropping the f/number and/or pushing the ISO to get the shutter speed back up, or resigning yourself to a darker background and switch to manual to fix the shutter speed.

 

[Durbs]

With the 430 II - You also have the wide-angle adapter built into the flash which I think you're meant to use <20mm from memory (without the Sto-Fen attached).

Just pulls-out and flips down over the flash-glass... The over-exposure is probably just too directional at close range perhaps?

 

[B16 VAS]

With the 430 II - You also have the wide-angle adapter built into the flash which I think you're meant to use <20mm from memory (without the Sto-Fen attached).

Just pulls-out and flips down over the flash-glass... The over-exposure is probably just too directional at close range perhaps?

This.

http://youtu.be/f2x-riRKapE

2:05!

 

[GlynT]

Hi Matt,

It seems like when you are using the wide angle the camera is metering the whole scene and therefore correctly exposing the background. Try using spot metering on your son's face instead - you might have to use the flash lock function to lock in the meter reading before re-composing your shot...