Using flash with young baby

Galokin

Galokin

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Craig Smith
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Howdy,

Just a quick one to which there is probably no right or wrong answer.

My mate has asked me to take a few snaps of his 4 week old son and the happy parents and i was just wondering if anyone knew if its safe to use a flash (430EX II) to help with the lighting conditions.
Will probably end up bouncing it of a ceiling or wall, but just wondered if its safe to do so?

I heard it may be damaging to the eyes or something, or more just an annoyance to the little blighter!

all help more then welcome :)

Cheers!
 
DiddyDave said:
It's not more of a problem than flashing an adult's eyes - so bouncing it off walls etc will be fine :)

There's another Old photographer's wives tail going on here :lol:

DD
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haha yeah, more then likely the ol' chinese whispers kinda scenario!
Cheers for the reply, just thought "better safe then sorry". :)
 
No problem - Just be careful you don't blast straight in the eyes at full power - won't damage but isn't very comfortable for anyone!

If there was a problem, there would be a lot of studios (with more powerful lights than a 430) out of business!

If you can get the 430 off camera, you will open up many more opportunities for lighting. You could bounce off a reflector too. Lighting from above (bounced) isn't always the most attractive. Think too about the background you are shooting against.
 
Oh - and just to add too...

The 'shock' of a flash firing is minimised if the room is already bright, so turn on all the lights you can; don't worry about ambient exposure as even a well lit room is unlikely to be anywhere near the flash exposure and so it won't record anyway

DD
 
DiddyDave said:
Oh - and just to add too...

The 'shock' of a flash firing is minimised if the room is already bright, so turn on all the lights you can; don't worry about ambient exposure as even a well lit room is unlikely to be anywhere near the flash exposure and so it won't record anyway

DD
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One should add the caveate that that will only be the case if he's shooting at fullish synce speed. If he's balancing ambient and flash it will make a difference.

Also it'll be worth adding a 1/4 CTO gel to balance skin tones.
 
The flash might even get their eyes to point at you, bonus :thumbs:
 
thanks for all your comments, all very useful!
I assume it will be in my mates living room so will make sure its as bright as possible in there.
Might look into getting an ETTL hotshoe cable or something so i can play around with the flash.
 
DiddyDave said:
Oh - and just to add too...

The 'shock' of a flash firing is minimised if the room is already bright, so turn on all the lights you can; don't worry about ambient exposure as even a well lit room is unlikely to be anywhere near the flash exposure and so it won't record anyway

DD
Click to expand...

downside of this is that their pupils will be less dilated then if it's a darker room, so you'll get less of the 'disney eyes' effect
 
Sneak up on them in the dark :)

fitp does a decent enough cable and also a softbox which might be useful
 
itsdavedotnet said:
downside of this is that their pupils will be less dilated then if it's a darker room, so you'll get less of the 'disney eyes' effect
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lol never really thought of going for the "disney effect"...could just 'shop the eyes :p

Im just gonna play it by ear with the equipment i currently have and see what the results are like. Should be able to get some decent enough shots...my mate does realise they wont be professional standards :p
 
I always try to distract babies and make them look away from the light. Better still, use natural light.
 
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