Flash Photography Indoors

[Ericana]

Hi All,

just wanted to clear my doubt on taking indoor photos at night using flash.
My equipment : EOS300, 28-105 USM lens & Sigma EF500 DG.

If I put my camera to P mode then the default setting will F4.0 and shutter speed=1/90s.

Would this flash generate enough light to capture good photos.
Secondly if I were to switch t use an F2.8 lens, and put the camera at P mode , the same seeting will appear and therefore NOT making use of the F lower F Stop.
So , if i were to manually set the aperture, and shutter speed, how do i adjust my falsh accordingly?

I hope that i didn't confuse you guys. :think:

Thanx in advance for the answers.

 

[Barrios]

Hi All,

just wanted to clear my doubt on taking indoor photos at night using flash.
My equipment : EOS300, 28-105 USM lens & Sigma EF500 DG.

If I put my camera to P mode then the default setting will F4.0 and shutter speed=1/90s.

Would this flash generate enough light to capture good photos.
Secondly if I were to switch t use an F2.8 lens, and put the camera at P mode , the same seeting will appear and therefore NOT making use of the F lower F Stop.
So , if i were to manually set the aperture, and shutter speed, how do i adjust my falsh accordingly?

I hope that i didn't confuse you guys. :think:

Thanx in advance for the answers.

A major factor is the distance that u've failed to mention. :nono:

 

[linse]

just wanted to clear my doubt on taking indoor photos at night using flash.
My equipment : EOS300, 28-105 USM lens & Sigma EF500 DG.

If I put my camera to P mode then the default setting will F4.0 and shutter speed=1/90s.

Would this flash generate enough light to capture good photos.
Secondly if I were to switch t use an F2.8 lens, and put the camera at P mode , the same seeting will appear and therefore NOT making use of the F lower F Stop.
So , if i were to manually set the aperture, and shutter speed, how do i adjust my falsh accordingly?

Usually at P mode, the shutter speed will default to the X-sync speed which is 1/90s. The flash will fire at full capacity and the camera vary the F-stop according to the subject focus distance to get the correct exposure. Unfortunately, this means the ambient light is often not captured. Any built in-flash should be powerful enough for indoor shots with DIRECT flash. I assume you are not talking about the indoor stadium.

If you use M mode, the flash will still expose correctly by varying the flash output. That's the beauty of TTL flash metering. I'm assuming you are using the built-in flash. More expensive external flash unit have higher flash range and more variable steps (eg, full, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32, 1/64 power) to enable correct exposure no matter what F-stop. Try a slower shutter speed like 1/30 which allow more ambient light but is also fast enough for handheld shots with the largest aperture. You can use slower shutter speeds if you have a tripod. Just remember that if the shutter speed is too low, the subject have to keep very still or you will get motion trails and ghosting.

A major factor is the distance that u've failed to mention.

I don't think distance makes much of a difference with TTL flash metering if your are talking about an average size room.

 

[clive]

just an alternative suggestion (appealing more on the "BSBH"-ness ):

1.use Aperture priority mode. also just turn on the flash
2. 1st thing on your mind concentrate on aperture. let the metering give you the shutter speed. given that u r using the 28-105 lens if i were in your shoes i will use f5.6 all the way
3. constantly monitor the shutter speed and ensure it is in range with (i) your handholding skill (ii) the motion effect u want to obtain. adjust by doing exposure compensation. FWIW, underexposure by up to 1.5 stop actually looks more realistic, since we r in the context of a dark indoors room
4. the distance issue...anything less than 1.5m from subject must take note of potential washout. any subject more than say 20m away your flash will be performing at its limit of firepower.
5. for the flash if its canon EX then for such a scenario i suggest to set it to FP mode, rear sync, slap on an omnibounce, tilt as necessaryand fire at will. if the the background is relatively dark then tilt/bounce can be ignored since the shadow wont be that prominent

 

[Ericana]

just an alternative suggestion (appealing more on the "BSBH"-ness ):

1.use Aperture priority mode. also just turn on the flash
2. 1st thing on your mind concentrate on aperture. let the metering give you the shutter speed. given that u r using the 28-105 lens if i were in your shoes i will use f5.6 all the way
3. constantly monitor the shutter speed and ensure it is in range with (i) your handholding skill (ii) the motion effect u want to obtain. adjust by doing exposure compensation. FWIW, underexposure by up to 1.5 stop actually looks more realistic, since we r in the context of a dark indoors room
4. the distance issue...anything less than 1.5m from subject must take note of potential washout. any subject more than say 20m away your flash will be performing at its limit of firepower.
5. for the flash if its canon EX then for such a scenario i suggest to set it to FP mode, rear sync, slap on an omnibounce, tilt as necessaryand fire at will. if the the background is relatively dark then tilt/bounce can be ignored since the shadow wont be that prominent

Aperture Priority is something to consider.
But why use f5.6 when f4.0 or f3.5 is suppose to give you a better picture.
(bigger aperture that is)

My flash is Sigma EF500 DG equvilant to Canon 550ex (almost.. )

The last advice about FP mode and rear sync looks quite difficult.
But I will try it.

I may be shooting an engagement party at my Aunt's house(HDB Flat)
So wanted to know how to make the best out of the lens and equipments I have to get the best picture.

Thanx

 

[Ericana]

Usually at P mode, the shutter speed will default to the X-sync speed which is 1/90s. The flash will fire at full capacity and the camera vary the F-stop according to the subject focus distance to get the correct exposure. Unfortunately, this means the ambient light is often not captured. Any built in-flash should be powerful enough for indoor shots with DIRECT flash. I assume you are not talking about the indoor stadium.

If you use M mode, the flash will still expose correctly by varying the flash output. That's the beauty of TTL flash metering. I'm assuming you are using the built-in flash. More expensive external flash unit have higher flash range and more variable steps (eg, full, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32, 1/64 power) to enable correct exposure no matter what F-stop. Try a slower shutter speed like 1/30 which allow more ambient light but is also fast enough for handheld shots with the largest aperture. You can use slower shutter speeds if you have a tripod. Just remember that if the shutter speed is too low, the subject have to keep very still or you will get motion trails and ghosting.



I don't think distance makes much of a difference with TTL flash metering if your are talking about an average size room.

<Try a slower shutter speed like 1/30 which allow more ambient light but is also fast enough for handheld shots with the largest aperture. >

If I were to put the speed to 1/30, would the flash still fire off at full capacity
or it will measure accordingly.

It's an engagement party that I may to shoot at HDB flat.
So lighting will be normal florescent.

How would you go about shooting for this kind of occasion.?
Please share.


Thanx for the reply.

 

[coke21]

Hi All,

just wanted to clear my doubt on taking indoor photos at night using flash.
My equipment : EOS300, 28-105 USM lens & Sigma EF500 DG.

If I put my camera to P mode then the default setting will F4.0 and shutter speed=1/90s.

Would this flash generate enough light to capture good photos.
Secondly if I were to switch t use an F2.8 lens, and put the camera at P mode , the same seeting will appear and therefore NOT making use of the F lower F Stop.
So , if i were to manually set the aperture, and shutter speed, how do i adjust my falsh accordingly?

I hope that i didn't confuse you guys. :think:

Thanx in advance for the answers.

I'll assume that you flash has TTL. If you put your camera in P mode, the camera will choose the aperature and the shutter speed for you. So if you want to over-ride those settings, you either need to shoot in manual or aperature mode. Depending on which you prefer. Choose the desired aperature that you want and fire away. You flash should conpensate for whatever underexposure your meter shows. And from what you have described. You should have good exposures for your shots using the external flash

I don't think distance makes much of a difference with TTL flash metering if your are talking about an average size room.

While that is true, still better to check the distance on your flash unit. It should indicate how far the flash can reach. No harm double checking.

 

[linse]

If I were to put the speed to 1/30, would the flash still fire off at full capacity or it will measure accordingly.

It will still measure accordingly if your Sigma flash is fully compatible with the EOS300 TTL metering. I use 1/30 as it is a speed I can comfortably use handheld without too much camera shake. I don't like to use the night scene mode as the shutter can drop to as low as 1 second which is too long without a tripod.

It's an engagement party that I may to shoot at HDB flat.
So lighting will be normal florescent.

Try using bounce flash. If the ceiling is white, your Sigma flash should be more than powerful enough for indoor shoots (provided you use larger apertures). Your flash and camera should indicate if the flash is not powerful enough. Not sure about your camera, but in mine, the flash icon in the camera will blink. The red flash ready button on the flash will also blink if it need to fire fully.

Aperture Priority is something to consider.
But why use f5.6 when f4.0 or f3.5 is suppose to give you a better picture.
(bigger aperture that is)

It depends on your composition, sometimes you may want greater depth of field. It's a trade off between DOF or more light.

How would you go about shooting for this kind of occasion?
Please share.

For film, I would use ISO200. I would use bounce flash with a small bounce flash card to lighten the shadows. I prefer larger apertures to isolate the subject. Set a shutter speed of 1/30 or 1/60 to capture some ambient lighting. And let the TTL metering control the flash exposure. Just check the camera's warning's for underexposure.