Looking for a really, REALLY basic intro to flash photography

D.S.

D.S.

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I have a D60 & SB-400 and am heading off on holiday soon, will be camping and taking pictures in the evenings. So far my attempts at manual (camera) settings have been very poor with flash :'(

I really don't want to just stick it in auto and be done with it.

Looking for a real dummy guide, can anyone point me towards a good one please?
 
Don't take this the wrong way, but out of all things photographic, flash is probably one of the most difficult things to explain and for the newcomer to grasp. Using flash manually is great, but it does involve a good knowledge of some basic techniques and staying within shutter sync limitations. If you want to enjoy your holiday and be sure of coming back with some decent shots, put the flash on ETTL and the camera on (shock horror!) 'P':eek:

Seriously, there's nothing wrong with 'P' and it will give a good balance of flash and ambient light in most outside situations. In indoor situations where light levels are low the system will play safe and set the minimum safe hand holding flash sync speed and certainly do no worse than a point and shoot camera with flash.

Obviously, there's a lot more to flash if you want to expand your horizons, and a Google search should throw up lots of reading for you, but just before you go on holiday probably isn't the best time to try and assimilate it all.

'P' and ETTL will do a pretty good job without too much interference from you - even on those evenings where you've had a few dry sherries. ;)
 
Excellent, thanks very much for the pointers!

Never used P before, so I shall give it a go!

:thumbs:
 
Hi DS, I think CTs advice is spot on. I find that if I dont use flash very often it's far easier to just switch to P and ETTL.
I keep my camera at P when it is idle in case I need to take a quick shot. What I like about it is that adjusts the balance between speed and aperture based on what focal length the zoom is at. Makes life easy for a quick snap.
By the way I thought you were unfairly treated about giving those pictures to the local rag, I do the same.

Gordon
 
I read up on it a bit last night and it seems to behave the way I try to work in manual, adjust one for desired effect, then adjust the other to balance the exposure. Didnt actually get a chance to go out and try last night but I will get some in before my trip in a weeks time.

Thanks very much for your thoughts! I actually found that thread pretty funny, it really seemed to get on some peoples nerves. I could see their point, to a point but the horse has well and truly bolted!
 
the advice given is great, auto works well and especially just before going on holiday not the best time to learn.

But, here are a few basic tips/dummy guide

Situation - taking portrait from about 6 feet away, with campsite in the bg, at about 8pm.

First thing to remember. Your flash will only light your subject, not the entire campsite.

You can control the 3 things (forget iso) by having the camera and flash in manual mode, that will change how the pic looks.
These 3 are, flash power, shutter speed and aperture.

The flash power will control how bright your subject is.
The shutter speed will control how bright the bg(campsite) is.
Aperture will control the brightness of both together.

try f8, 1/125th and flash at 1/4 power. take a pic, then change one thing at a time and see what changes.

but if you want it to just work, then auto should work well too.
 
Is the flash power controled in camera? As the SB400 dosent have any adjustments on the unit itself.
 
D.S. said:
Is the flash power controled in camera? As the SB400 dosent have any adjustments on the unit itself.
Click to expand...

The camera has a flash sensor inside. What happens is the light from the flash hits the subject and bounces back to the camera, enters the lens and the flash sensor deems when the flash exposure is correct and quenches the flash. Try this (on ETTL) - take a flash shot from the full length of your room and note what a large whack of flash you get. Now move in really close to something - just a few inches and you'll get just the tiniest blip of flash. It works pretty well and you'll get good results in most situations. You may just need to adjust the power output up or down (probably the latter) based on your initial exposure for the best results.
 
ianmarsh said:
A nice walk through of flash here:

http://www.planetneil.com/tangents/flash-photography-techniques/

It always seems so straightforward when I go through it but my flash photos still suck.
Click to expand...

Wicked, just got through all of that (quiet day in the office:suspect:) lots of useful tips... My only issue with some of them was lot of talk of bouncing over shoulder, not an option with my little flash as the head only angles upwards... Unless of course I could mount it backwards (never tried that) or use it off camera with a cable which would be a bit of a pita on a motorcycling holiday.

Will dig into the KR guide for the SB400 now :rules:
 
not sure what all the info in the above links say, but with the d40 and sb400 you can put the flash in manual from the menu on camera and control the output power that way.
just select between iTTL and manual, when you select manual, you'll see a list of power outputs.
HTH
 
D.S. said:
lot of talk of bouncing over shoulder
Click to expand...

Got to agree with the excessive bouncing over the shoulder. I thought he must always shoot in small rooms but in some of his videos you'll see he has an assistant behind him who holds a reflector up.

Off camera flash is (usually) a mile better than keeping it on camera. Well worth looking for a cable or trigger.

And of course, there is always strobist.com - look through the Strobist 101 pages for the basics of manual, off camera flash (which strikes me as anything but basic, tbut there you go).
 
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