Any gods of flash here?

[fuzzybabybunny]

So I suck with the flash. I want to get really nice pictures out in the field (ie. no studio) and think my flash shots are always so blah. I also sometimes have problems with the flash being too powerful and overexposing my image.

Sigma 500 Pro
Canon 580EX
Off-camera cord
foam bounce cards on each
I sometimes shoot the Sigma as the slave.

Any good tutorials for in the field flash photography?

 

[Jawo]

I have played around some....but would love if someone would create a tutorial!

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Well, I guess http://strobist.com works.

 

[spikespiegal]

A - use fill when outdoors and don't try to over power natural light.

B - get the flash *OVER* the lens as much as possible. Bounce cards and other gizmos are worthless unless the flash gets about 12" over the lens.

 

[tdawg]

Originally posted by: spikespiegal
A - use fill when outdoors and don't try to over power natural light.

B - get the flash *OVER* the lens as much as possible. Bounce cards and other gizmos are worthless unless the flash gets about 12" over the lens.

Regarding A, I've seen some very impressive promotional shots where the flash was used to overpower the natural light, so this shouldn't be a hard rule.

Actually, there really aren't that many hard rules you have to maintain. The best part of a dSLR is the fact that we can experiment with flash as much as we want without spending the money to develop the film.

Strobist seems to be a very good source for creative ideas and use of flash.

 

[xchangx]

Here's a good tutorial:

http://planetneil.com/tangents...hotography-techniques/

I havn't had a chance to mess around with it too much, but during daylight you want to meter for the sky/background and dial down your flash to fill in the light. Everytime I've tried, I usually overpower it. (Fill flash)

Slower shuttter speeds will give you more ambient light.

Once again, I havn't had too much experience on this.

 

[pennylane]

Originally posted by: xchangx
Here's a good tutorial:

http://planetneil.com/tangents...hotography-techniques/

I havn't had a chance to mess around with it too much, but during daylight you want to meter for the sky/background and dial down your flash to fill in the light. Everytime I've tried, I usually overpower it. (Fill flash)

Slower shuttter speeds will give you more ambient light.

Once again, I havn't had too much experience on this.

That seems like good advice. I need to play around with that. Thanks!

Gosh. He really takes advantage of low shutter speeds and stabilized lenses. I don't exactly have that many stabilized lenses

 

[spikespiegal]

I've seen some very impressive promotional shots where the flash was used to overpower the natural light, so this shouldn't be a hard rule.

Sure, if I have a 60" Umbrella or 5' softbox. Otherwise, typical on camera flash outdoors at full power looks dorky and specular.

 

[angry hampster]

Originally posted by: spikespiegal

I've seen some very impressive promotional shots where the flash was used to overpower the natural light, so this shouldn't be a hard rule.

Sure, if I have a 60" Umbrella or 5' softbox. Otherwise, typical on camera flash outdoors at full power looks dorky and specular.

Tell that to Nathaniel Welch.
http://towleroad.typepad.com/p...categorized/welch1.jpg

-- Google "Spring Broke" for more.

Anyway, you don't need stabilized lenses. Keep your shutter around 1/50-1/60 @ ISO400 -- this will let in a ton of ambient light. Adjust flash power accordingly. Tighter aperture blocks out more flash, so stop down if you want more ambient and less flash.

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: spikespiegal

I've seen some very impressive promotional shots where the flash was used to overpower the natural light, so this shouldn't be a hard rule.

Sure, if I have a 60" Umbrella or 5' softbox. Otherwise, typical on camera flash outdoors at full power looks dorky and specular.

Looks good to me.

1 speedlight + 1 umbrella

 

[virtuamike]

Originally posted by: spikespiegal

I've seen some very impressive promotional shots where the flash was used to overpower the natural light, so this shouldn't be a hard rule.

Sure, if I have a 60" Umbrella or 5' softbox. Otherwise, typical on camera flash outdoors at full power looks dorky and specular.

Getting the flash off camera definitely helps, but modifiers have their time and place - there's plenty you can do with unmodified flash.

#1
#2
#3
#4

 

[virtuamike]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
Well, I guess http://strobist.com works.

Strobist is great, plenty of material to get through. These are good too -
Light: Science & Magic
Matters of Light & Depth

 

[pennylane]

Originally posted by: virtuamike

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
Well, I guess http://strobist.com works.

Strobist is great, plenty of material to get through. These are good too -
Light: Science & Magic
Matters of Light & Depth

I have Light: Science & Magic (you've pimped it around these forums a bit) and it's really really good. So far (as far as I've gotten) it's examples have been still life type stuff but the principles are really laid out well. I've learned quite a bit about process and being conscious of light and that stuff (not that I have any clue what I'm doing...). It's very helpful.

 

[GoingUp]

I suxors with teh Flash too. I need more practice.

 

[Stiganator]

When inside, always bounce it off the ceiling. If you can't aim your flash make a paper redirector thingy.

 

[virtuamike]

Originally posted by: Stiganator
When inside, always bounce it off the ceiling. If you can't aim your flash make a paper redirector thingy.

It depends. Sometimes the ceiling is too far away to be effective. Sometimes the distance won't give the right look that you're going after. Sometimes the ceiling will cause a color shift. And sometimes you want more control over your coverage. Better to know when and where to apply than to generalize technique (which is a huge point made in the books I linked above).

 

[virtuamike]

Originally posted by: fanerman91

Originally posted by: virtuamike

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
Well, I guess http://strobist.com works.

Strobist is great, plenty of material to get through. These are good too -
Light: Science & Magic
Matters of Light & Depth

I have Light: Science & Magic (you've pimped it around these forums a bit) and it's really really good. So far (as far as I've gotten) it's examples have been still life type stuff but the principles are really laid out well. I've learned quite a bit about process and being conscious of light and that stuff (not that I have any clue what I'm doing...). It's very helpful.

Yah, I pimp it a lot

Great books to get people to think about and understand light - they really help to light consciously and effectively.

 

[OdiN]

Originally posted by: spikespiegal

I've seen some very impressive promotional shots where the flash was used to overpower the natural light, so this shouldn't be a hard rule.

Sure, if I have a 60" Umbrella or 5' softbox. Otherwise, typical on camera flash outdoors at full power looks dorky and specular.

Then you're doing it wrong.

Flash should only just fill in shadows. It should not be the main light source. A flash plus a reflector can do wonders.

 

[OdiN]

I did a wedding this weekend. I was taking photos starting at about 4PM and it was mostly cloudless. When I get some done, I can post to show examples of fill flash.

 

[virtuamike]

Originally posted by: OdiN

Originally posted by: spikespiegal

I've seen some very impressive promotional shots where the flash was used to overpower the natural light, so this shouldn't be a hard rule.

Sure, if I have a 60" Umbrella or 5' softbox. Otherwise, typical on camera flash outdoors at full power looks dorky and specular.

Then you're doing it wrong.

Flash should only just fill in shadows. It should not be the main light source. A flash plus a reflector can do wonders.

Again, it depends on what you're going after. Sometimes it's more effective allowing ambient to be your main light and your flash as fill, sometimes you'll want it the other way around, and sometimes you'll want flash output to match ambient. Can't generalize lighting.

 

[ghostman]

I've always had a problem with fill flash. Although it does what it's supposed to do and fills in shadows, it lights everything from the front and looks rather unnatural to me. For example, I find it odd when there is absolutely no shadow on the neck right beneath the chin. I doubt a stofen or other tupperware diffuser can help here. I have a PC cord to trigger the flash off-camera, but I'm not a professional and don't have planned photo shoots. Any way for an amateur to get good, natural-looking back-lit shots without blown backgrounds with a minimal set of equipment?

I've been meaning to get the Light: Science and Magic book. I've heard nothing but praises about it so far.

 

[OdiN]

Off camera is best if possible - but if you don't use an off-camera shoe cord, or a wireless transmitter for the flash, you will lose E-TTL and it will be harder to adjust quickly for the desired affect.

You can get Radio Poppers which enable wireless E-TTL without needeing line-of-sight to the flash.

If you can position the light from the sun or also use a reflector - on camera flash can work quite well - e.g. aim the flash at the reflector and bounce it back onto subjects.

 

[virtuamike]

Originally posted by: ghostman
I've always had a problem with fill flash. Although it does what it's supposed to do and fills in shadows, it lights everything from the front and looks rather unnatural to me. For example, I find it odd when there is absolutely no shadow on the neck right beneath the chin. I doubt a stofen or other tupperware diffuser can help here. I have a PC cord to trigger the flash off-camera, but I'm not a professional and don't have planned photo shoots. Any way for an amateur to get good, natural-looking back-lit shots without blown backgrounds with a minimal set of equipment?

I've been meaning to get the Light: Science and Magic book. I've heard nothing but praises about it so far.

Strobist is great if you want to see what's being done with minimal setups. Can't say enough good things about LSM - get it. Once you understand theory, then it's pretty easy figuring out what type of light different sources produce and how to manipulate it to get what you want.