Quick Speedlight Question

[Tdes]

Hi All,

I have a gig coming up at an awards ceremony. I need to take pics of the winners on stage receiving their award, so speed light on the camera.

The venue has a very high ceiling so definitely not able to bounce, no side walls within reasonable distance either.

I have a couple of 'popup' diffusers (about 12" circular), a folding reflector (lumiquest pocket bouncer) that Velcros on or one of those clear plastic (Gary Fong) style diffuser (with white or orange top).

Would you consider using one of those modifiers or pointing flash straight forwards and set to ETTL?

It is going to be fast paced as the presenter is in shot with them and needs to move on to the next award, so very little time for photos.

Canon R6 and yongnuo YN685 flash (I have two of these speed lights)

Thank you for any advice, T

 

[CharleyL]

If you set ISO to Auto with a limit about 3 stops from maximum, there might be enough light on the stage so you don't need flash at all. Stage lighting is usually quite bright. You will need to see what works, based on the situation, and a few test shots. Once a test shot is good, if you will be shooting in the same direction and same lighting, it would be best to then switch to Manual, using the settings achieved in ETTL. This will provide more evenly lighted shots than ETTL for every shot, since ETTL recalculates for every shot and will end up with different results each time, based on the Average Light Level in the shots. Anything changing shot to shot, like a lighter or darker garment in the shot from one shot to the next will change the ETTL calculation. The audience will likely appreciate the lack of flash firing too. ISO in film days and ISO of modern digital cameras isn't really the same. Back then, I almost never used ISO film with a number higher than 200, because the result was too grainy. Today's cameras can handle very high ISO for low light conditions, and only when near the camera's limit do you begin having grainy results.

Arrive early, so you can do some test shots. Talk someone into "posing in the desired position and wearing similar clothing" to what you will be shooting during the ceremony. Get your camera, and if necessary your flash, set for the best result. If the stage lighting is what I'm thinking, you will be better off without flash by just raising the ISO.

Charley

 

[realspeed]

First thought is the speedlight overheating if used in rapid succession ,may be worth considering something like this instead a CN -160 LED light. No worries about a flash not firng at the critical time either.




I suggest this as an alternative as the NP -f970/f960 battery lasts for ages ( both bought from Amazon)

how bright is ?
taken distance to front door in complete darkness 17 ft away so plenty light enough I would have thought






bought mine in 2013

Neewer Dimmable Ultra High Power Panel Digital Camera / Camcorder Video Light, LED Light cost at the time £28​

battery

NP-F970,NP-F960, £37​

colour temp 5400k with white diffuser 3200k

also comes with 3 different filters




Anyway just an idea

 

[juggler]

Hi All,

I have a gig coming up at an awards ceremony. I need to take pics of the winners on stage receiving their award, so speed light on the camera.

The venue has a very high ceiling so definitely not able to bounce, no side walls within reasonable distance either.

I have a couple of 'popup' diffusers (about 12" circular), a folding reflector (lumiquest pocket bouncer) that Velcros on or one of those clear plastic (Gary Fong) style diffuser (with white or orange top).

Would you consider using one of those modifiers or pointing flash straight forwards and set to ETTL?

It is going to be fast paced as the presenter is in shot with them and needs to move on to the next award, so very little time for photos.

Canon R6 and yongnuo YN685 flash (I have two of these speed lights)

Thank you for any advice, T

If you can't bounce off the walls or ceiling then the Fong diffuser will do nothing except eat light - they work by bouncing light off the walls.

A 12" diffuser might be useful if it's no more than a couple of feet from the subject, otherwise I wouldn't bother.

If you actually need lighting then it sounds like a job for something with a bit more stamina than a speedlite - and if everyone is going to be in the same place for the shot you could easily set up a decent head & softbox on a stand.

All that said - is there any reason to suppose the stage lighting will be too dim for your R6?

 

[Pound Coin]

Good shout on getting there early and doing test shots. Beware artefacts from the lighting with faster shutter speeds. Also if there is a front projection screen beware light from the bottom of the projected image on tops of heads.

If you need sponsors logos etc in, you'll need to place the winners in the right place. Some tape marks on the stage floor would help. But in my experience hosts/judges quickly forget where they are supposed to stand.

 

[CharleyL]

That's why you also need a sign to remind them, even if they were all told ahead of time. Just something that says TAPE ? maybe & with an arrow pointing down. 8 X 10 will likely be big enough. When they take the position, or forget, or it isn't quite right, just hold up the sign. Then, when they move to the correct position you can take the shot. If the sign is only pointed toward them, only you and they will know what the sign says. Keep it face down on the table when not using it.

Charley

 

[wiltw]

Canon ETTL flash does not work well with any softbox-like attachment, in spite of the fact that ETTL works well with un-modified head ceiling bounce!

Left shot is eTTL speedlight in small softbox (5" x 7" Wescott), center shot is ambient-only exposure, right shot is speedlight with no modifier.

The softbox shot is slightly underexposed, compared to the other two shots. FEC might help, but I have not tried in sufficient number of different circumstances to dtermine if eTTL flash has consistency of error.