Party flash

[mscates176]

Hi

ive been trying to use my canon 60d along with my 580exii at parties without much success. Exposures are all over the place, either over or underexposed. Im using ettl on flash. Set camera to manual iso 400, f8 shutter 1/60, using center weighted metering

Im not sure what im doing wrong. Can someone give me any tips?

Thanks
Mark

 

[swordjo]

When you say party, I assume you mean a dimly lit room with disco lights etc? If you are using eTTL and there are flashing lights etc the flash it going to fire for what is coming through the lens at the time,so if a bright disco light hits the lens when you press the shutter the eTLL is going to compensate for the light and possibly over/under expose the shot. I'd say manual flash is the way to go to get a consistent exposure.

 

[mscates176]

Thanks for the resonse. It doesnt seem to matter where i am or whatever the lighting conditions. I tried to photograph plates of food yesterday and they just came out bleached and then if i take another shot it comes out normal. It is just all over the place with no consistency.

I did read about not metering on white or black objects. Would this be causing the problem?

 

[Letsdosomeshots]

For my nightclub work I usually hit up around F9, 1/4-0.4 ISO 100 and maybe 2/3rds flash power, use flash on manual instead of ettl then you know 99% of time time you will get a good exposure.


DJ Bobbytron by James E36, on Flickr


DJ by James E36, on Flickr


Jikay DJ by James E36, on Flickr

Shooting in manual you can really play with the lights, so even using like 1-1.5 second shutter speeds you can still get perfectly exposed subjects with cool lighted backgrounds, what I would do is get a stofen or generic ebay flash diffuser to it's not quite so harsh on the faces/subjects. If you've got any more questions let me know!

 

[jimmy83]

For my nightclub work I usually hit up around F9, 1/4-0.4 ISO 100 and maybe 2/3rds flash power, use flash on manual instead of ettl then you know 99% of time time you will get a good exposure.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/letsdosomeshots/7471992708/
DJ Bobbytron by James E36, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/letsdosomeshots/7471992090/
DJ by James E36, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/letsdosomeshots/7012639019/
Jikay DJ by James E36, on Flickr

Shooting in manual you can really play with the lights, so even using like 1-1.5 second shutter speeds you can still get perfectly exposed subjects with cool lighted backgrounds, what I would do is get a stofen or generic ebay flash diffuser to it's not quite so harsh on the faces/subjects. If you've got any more questions let me know!

1-1.5 seconds shutter would that not cause the person to be OOF? Especially as people will be dancing at the time...

 

[jimmy83]

Great shots btw, love the last one

 

[rjbell]

Thanks for the resonse. It doesnt seem to matter where i am or whatever the lighting conditions. I tried to photograph plates of food yesterday and they just came out bleached and then if i take another shot it comes out normal. It is just all over the place with no consistency.

I did read about not metering on white or black objects. Would this be causing the problem?

I would personally use the matrix metering if shooting in ttl. As for shooting a plate of food did you bounce the light? Shooting a plate straight on could easily give you burned out spots. Try bouncing of the wall or ceiling. When i take product shots for my ebay store i like to bounce the light off the wall behind me.

 

[Letsdosomeshots]

1-1.5 seconds shutter would that not cause the person to be OOF? Especially as people will be dancing at the time...

Aslong as you were focused when the flash fired you will have no issues, honestly go in a dark room tonight and photograph an object in there like a lamp or something fairly person sized, have like a 4 second shutter speed and then move around the room when the photo is taking, you will see your subject (whatever the flash hit) is pretty bang on.