Need advice!

[Agetan]

One more question....For indoor shoots like this, do u guys put it on auto white balance or other options? My photos turn out too warm for my liking.

Generally, shoot at 5200K, 5600HS seems to balance at that color temp on my camera if flash is used. Otherwise, will set the WB according to the situation.

Normally, I will shoot at around 1600ISO with 5600HS flash as fill in. at 1600ISO you are probably shooting around 1/20 sec at f4 or f3.5.

If you balance the light correctly, you should have nice background lighting as well as night fill in flash for the subject. Just watch where you point your flash. If there is sufficient time, set 2 5600hs wirelessly and put it around 45 degree angle where the main subject will pass through and pre-focus... this only works if you can use tripod for your 5600HS and also have time to do the set up.

Anyway... there is always post processing.

Hart

 

[zcf]

Generally, shoot at 5200K, 5600HS seems to balance at that color temp on my camera if flash is used. Otherwise, will set the WB according to the situation.

I newbie, so I shoot RAW :embrass:

Normally, I will shoot at around 1600ISO with 5600HS flash as fill in. at 1600ISO you are probably shooting around 1/20 sec at f4 or f3.5.

That must be real dark, just like the one just posted :sweat:

If you balance the light correctly, you should have nice background lighting as well as night fill in flash for the subject. Just watch where you point your flash. If there is sufficient time, set 2 5600hs wirelessly and put it around 45 degree angle where the main subject will pass through and pre-focus... this only works if you can use tripod for your 5600HS and also have time to do the set up.

Anyway... there is always post processing.

Hart

Hart, you always bring 2 set of flashes out during your commercial shoot?

 

[Jacobyeo]

i am not really good at this kind of thing.. just started digital.. but will increasing ur exposure compensation and decreasing ur flash compensation help? i was shooting the xbox 360 launch party and by doing that, i find that the areas illuminated by flash is exposed correctly and the background is not very dark ( the place was rather dark.. party wad:sweat: ) and if the host's white top is overexposed.. i find that decreasing flash compensation helps.. not sure if it is the correct way.. but it works for me!:bsmilie:

 

[iceberg]

sorry vivien.. i hope i can tag along on this thread...
for shooting flash for purpose of fill in.. i.e. subject is in front of bright light, how should i set my camera and flash? i'm using D5D and/or 5600HSD/3600HSD.
Does it matter if my subject is off centre too?
TIA!!

edit: maybe it will help if i mentioned what i tried.
I tried just setting TTL on flash and A mode on camera, the background was washed out. :s

 

[vivientan]

sorry vivien.. i hope i can tag along on this thread...
for shooting flash for purpose of fill in.. i.e. subject is in front of bright light, how should i set my camera and flash? i'm using D5D and/or 5600HSD/3600HSD.
Does it matter if my subject is off centre too?
TIA!!

edit: maybe it will help if i mentioned what i tried.
I tried just setting TTL on flash and A mode on camera, the background was washed out. :s

In such tricky situations, what I do is to first set my camera on A mode to record exposure settings of the background. Take note of settings and put it on AEL. To achieve a fill-in flash effect, do a flash compensation of -1EV to -2EV. The compensation really depends on your distance to subject, ambient lighting etc. You can actually test the flash power on subject's face to have a gauge of how much to compensate.

As long as exposure settings for background, it doesn't matter if your subject is off centre or not. Anyway, purpose of fill-in flash in this case will illuminate subject.

 

[pai]

sorry vivien.. i hope i can tag along on this thread...
for shooting flash for purpose of fill in.. i.e. subject is in front of bright light, how should i set my camera and flash? i'm using D5D and/or 5600HSD/3600HSD.
Does it matter if my subject is off centre too?
TIA!!

edit: maybe it will help if i mentioned what i tried.
I tried just setting TTL on flash and A mode on camera, the background was washed out. :s

the background is really bright, e.g. daylight is it? the camera has a max flash sync speed. it will default to shutter speed of 1/125 (with AS on) or 1/160 (AS off) if you're using A mode. if you're shooting in daylight, shutter speeds this slow will probably blow out your background. maybe you can shoot in manual mode and set a faster shutter speed. you can meter the background in A mode without the flash, that should give you the right shutter speed to use.

 

[iceberg]

Hihi
so i should do either of the following?
1) Take metering of environment. Can be AEL in A mode or use set manually in M mode. After that, use TTL from Flash and set -1 EV or -2 EV in flash?
2) Or just use HSS + M mode? coz the shutter speed in daylight would be pretty fast. In this case, will still need to adjust down the flash exposure?

 

[pai]

ok, may be wrong, but i think if you're using flash in A mode in bright sunlight, AEL is not going to help, since the camera will still lock the shutter at 1/125 or 1/160.

i don't have a 3600 or 5600, so i'm not sure if it works exactly the same as my sigma, but if you want shutter speeds above flash sync speed, you will have to use HSS, and you will have to set the shutter speed in either Manual mode or Shutter priority mode.

since you are using A-mode, i guess that means you want to control the aperture. in that case, i'd suggest you use the camera in M-mode, set the aperture you want, use the camera to meter the background to get the correct shutter speed, and set it at that (the flash should go into HSS mode automatically)

if you want automation, you can try just using S mode. set a high shutter speed and let the camera choose the aperture. but you'll lose control of your aperture setting...

as for whether or not to use FEC (-EV on the flash), maybe it's best if you try it yourself. if the flash is too harsh, or if your subject becomes over-exposed, then change the flash compensation lor. try it on a few test subjects and see what sort of base setting looks good to you. in future can start from there and then adjust up or down.

eh, i'm really still learning about flash also, just testing out my understanding. if i made any mistake, gurus pls feel free to correct. thx.

 

[iceberg]

hi pai
the idea of using S mode sounds workable leh.. will try that when i've the chance next time.. thanx!

 

[iceberg]

In such tricky situations, what I do is to first set my camera on A mode to record exposure settings of the background. Take note of settings and put it on AEL. To achieve a fill-in flash effect, do a flash compensation of -1EV to -2EV. The compensation really depends on your distance to subject, ambient lighting etc. You can actually test the flash power on subject's face to have a gauge of how much to compensate.

As long as exposure settings for background, it doesn't matter if your subject is off centre or not. Anyway, purpose of fill-in flash in this case will illuminate subject.

thanx for your input vivien.. i was hoping to reach the stage where i dun have to test.. maybe need more experiments and practise :S..

 

[TME]

Actually iceberg, pros also test shoot... just that they reach the ideal exposure faster...

As for the bright background and flash issue, a number of things u want to watch:

1) If u are on HSS watch for the flash coverage distance... if your subject is too far away, the whole shot is going to be severely underexposed. That is why I always recommend that new users go for the 5600HS.

2) AEL won't help. Either S mode or M mode. I prefer M mode without HSS.
Switch to A mode, check the correct exposure settings for the background. If the shutter speed is about the max sync speed, stop down until you get it below the sync speed. Remember the settings. Switch to M mode and just shoot. U will get almost perfectly balanced shots if u keep the subject inside the flash coverage area. To alter the exposure of the subject, use FEC to tune the flash exposure or move backwards or forwards.

 

[TME]

I just started digital and am having such a hard time balancing flash and exposure!:sweat:

How can I improve the photo below to get a correct exposure? Have this problem of over-exposing the white outfit, while faces and background are badly underexposed.

Photo taken with 5D + 3600HS. F5.6; 1/30; ISO400; Focal Length 28mm

Some questions :
1. What camera exposure to use for such a situation?
2. What angle should I tilt my flash? Flash compensation?
3. Is it better to go on M or A mode?

In your case, there isn't any formula to follow... I have great difficulty get the exposure and white balance right as well cos the light is darn tricky... it doesn't help these days that restaurants and hotels like to mix tungsten bulbs and warm fluorescent tubes as well...

I usually bracket my shots lor... or reduce the flash exposure... I usually also test shoot before the actual situation... in dinner events, the shot matters more than the composition and finer details of exposure... so that shot is already pretty good...

If the difference between the background and the subject is more than 3 stops, then short of a camera on tripod, u can't get the background light captured when handheld... cos your shutter speed has to be very slow even at high ISO of 1600...

 

[iceberg]

Actually iceberg, pros also test shoot... just that they reach the ideal exposure faster...

As for the bright background and flash issue, a number of things u want to watch:

1) If u are on HSS watch for the flash coverage distance... if your subject is too far away, the whole shot is going to be severely underexposed. That is why I always recommend that new users go for the 5600HS.

2) AEL won't help. Either S mode or M mode. I prefer M mode without HSS.
Switch to A mode, check the correct exposure settings for the background. If the shutter speed is about the max sync speed, stop down until you get it below the sync speed. Remember the settings. Switch to M mode and just shoot. U will get almost perfectly balanced shots if u keep the subject inside the flash coverage area. To alter the exposure of the subject, use FEC to tune the flash exposure or move backwards or forwards.

thanks for ur input TME...

i don't know how pros work.. never follow them around before anyway... was hoping to reach a stage where i know my equipment so well that i can just wack.. lol...

 

[TME]

I dun know how they work in studio although I have seen a few at work at events and dinners, they come early to test shoot and when the event starts, they already have their setting correct... I think they also shoot RAW and bracket a lot, so that gives them some leeway...