on Flash techniques

[mpenza]

Originally posted by reignman77
"flash extender", How often do u use?? is there a need to get it??
for my photography... NOPE... waste of money... too far, don't shoot... if not wait.... be patient...

I don't have it either but there're people, e.g. wildlife photographers, who find it useful. They might not be able to get close to the subjects of interest.

Originally posted by reignman77

when u use manual setting on the flash, 1/10s will increase in the background light and WILL not affect the POWER of flash.... if using TTL and Auto, it may be... for HIGHER end flashes, do the setting avaliable... for lower end, use the flash compensation to control... if not why is there a flash compensation??

erm.... slightly wrong here. shutter speed doesn't affect the flash output for both manual and auto flash mode. for TTL, it could (there're too many varieties of TTL modes, e.g. balanced fill-flash, 3D matrix, etc now for discussion here).

Originally posted by reignman77

ISO do play apart... IF U REMEMBER the basic... ;p

ISO do play a part in exposure. You said that you don't need a monopod when you use high ISO, which does not sound (amended) right when shutter speed is slow. Understand the context in which the comment was given.

 

[reignman77]

Originally posted by mpenza
ISO do play a part in exposure. You said that you don't need a monopod when you use high ISO, which is not right when shutter speed is slow. Understand the context in which the comment was given.

there are lots of question to ALL these topic... its still up to photographer to handle... no point talking ALL day on these kind of issue... it depends on how u use it... when to use this when to use that... its still up to individual... human brains are alive...

for me, so long as my bag is light, i don't care... i can just leave home for a shoot with a 17mm lens and a 50mm lens... with my velvia and tripod... will be enough... to far, don't shoot lor... if not plan for your shoot... what for bring a "white elephant of the day", in the end didn't use... i prefer sharp pictures than sharp grains....

unless its assignment, then will bring more...

for the picture u post, i can use a f2.8 long lens with high iso media and tripod, cable release... no need flash... meter the surrounding... anything below 1/60, will give u montion... if too dim, don't shoot... highest iso i'll go will be 800... negatives nothing more... i don't like too grainy pictures...

if u want FREEZE montion, go close with flash( flash extender??) and iso 1/10s... estimate the distance, do a flash setting... the back ground is nice... if there is a restriction in distance... don't shoot or take it as it is....

final issue, USE your own work to tell people how u present the picture... not thru theory and explain how your pictures are like...

 

[ellery]

Yo bro you need to work on your composition - its terrible if this meant to more than snap shots. On a personal note if this is your version of editorial fashion croping - its way off base.

Your are overflashing and what's worse there is enought light fall out and ambient to show all that irrelevant background.

Guys chill out. Everyone has a valid viewpoint - question always is can the image support it when viewed by others who do work in the same area.

 

[Prismatic]

Hmmm seriously, I've lost track of what Reignman and mpenza are really discussing about....

Maybe you guys should keep your posts short and to the point.
I think there's quite a lot of sidetracking here. Guys, we are talking about a bridal shoot here, not panning, or F1 cars or whatever.

 

[Prismatic]

I agree with Zerstorer. Actually, if you really want to capture ambience light, the option is not to use flash at all. There are many circumstances for fashion and stage performances when flash photography is not allowed at all.

Freezing the subject with a flash, then slowing the exposure to capture ambience light is a well-known technique. But it is efficient only when the exposure of the subject under flash is considerably higher then it without flash. If the exposure for the subject with and without flash is only about 1 stop, you will expect to see the blurring of movement.

 

[Prismatic]

For example, in the case of mpenza's picture, flash wun be able to freeze the subject at all. The subjects are already brightly lit from spotlights in several direction. Even if you push your flash compensation to +2, if you use a shutter speed of 1/20 there will still be considerable motion blur. On top of that, if you increase the power of your flash, the subjects will start to turn out white.

 

[imaginary_number]

Originally posted by reignman77
its depends of what shoot u talking about...

the above is more for flash photography...

if shooting with f22, u must have enough light... then u can hand held... if not, your speed will be very low...

panning shot usually use small f stop... its to create low shuttle speed and MORE sharp point...

Sorry, not sure which you're referring to. You are saying that we should use f22, 1/10 for panning shots or bridal shots? :dunno:

 

[ellery]

Chenwei

Amendment to my comments - relooking at them again - your 1st and 3rd are flashed ok - the 2nd is a little overflashed - on the subjects. Light on subject for 1 and 3 is good. Compo is not so good for all of them.

The seems to be some flash light spill over into the background. Increase exposure to capture ambient may work in other situations but is not needed here - if you can see the background now mean there is enought light alreaddy lah. There is too much light in the background now - this is being overflashed from the spillage. You need to have consider shooting from a different angle to see how it is.

What are you shooting with fix on camera flash ? Can your flash be used off camera ?

 

[Zerstorer]

Originally posted by ellery
The seems to be some flash light spill over into the background. Increase exposure to capture ambient may work in other situations but is not needed here - if you can see the background now mean there is enought light alreaddy lah. There is too much light in the background now - this is being overflashed from the spillage. You need to have consider shooting from a different angle to see how it is.

Will agree with this. If it's not possible to capture a good background with nice ambient lighting, one can consider removing it entirely. That would mean using 1/1000 or higher shutter speeds, resulting in a totally black background.

 

[reignman77]

Originally posted by imaginary_number
Sorry, not sure which you're referring to. You are saying that we should use f22, 1/10 for panning shots or bridal shots? :dunno:

it depends on what u are shooting... its difficult to tell EVERY DETAIL of these shoot.... understand your metering and know what u want for your picture...

there are TOO many kind of photography... its up to photographers to uses any different types of methods to various photography...

SO, which or what type of photography do u want more explanation? fellow photographers around may sound out and share...

 

[canturn]

Regarding the 1/10s issue...

Personally, I would never use 1/10s for weddings, not even for group shots. Even though I've been using the 16 or 14mm most of the time, it's just too high a risk and would be difficult to explain to your clients after that.

If I'm shooting a wedding for friend and there's another photographer around, I don't mind being more adventurous. But in an assignment, I would rather use ISO 1000 and filter the images with noise removal software.

With regards to f22, I rarely touch that F-stop...for macro/close-up, I would use f22 for the DOF, and that's it. If I really want DOF with my wide angle lenses, f8 is more than enough and in fact, images are not as sharp at f22 compared to f8.

Don't know if you guys buy it or not - your flash would have to work slightly harder at smaller apertures.

 

[reignman77]

canturn,

are u using Digital camera???
iso 1000.... using noice removal software... wah... i personally don't have the time to sit infront of the P.C just to correct 1 picture and not to mention 8 to 10 rolls of neg... i will look like a panda if i have to do that...

u can try ALL kind of exposure when every u are free... its not a MUST to try out on wedding.... use it in street photography... no need to explain to client... use your most confident way to show your work to client....

if u have understand more of nature photography, u may need to use f2.8 to f22, depend on which kind of subject u shooting at....

if using MANUAL setting of flash, i don't see BIG or small f stop will affect anything... more to D.O.F....

 

[canturn]

Originally posted by reignman77
canturn,

are u using Digital camera???
iso 1000.... using noice removal software... wah... i personally don't have the time to sit infront of the P.C just to correct 1 picture and not to mention 8 to 10 rolls of neg... i will look like a panda if i have to do that...

u can try ALL kind of exposure when every u are free... its not a MUST to try out on wedding.... use it in street photography... no need to explain to client... use your most confident way to show your work to client....

if u have understand more of nature photography, u may need to use f2.8 to f22, depend on which kind of subject u shooting at....

if using MANUAL setting of flash, i don't see BIG or small f stop will affect anything... more to D.O.F....

ISO 1000 - Well, some DC does have relatively clean ISO 1600, not to mention ISO 1000. Noise removal software such as Neat Image runs the batch processes, so not a prob with me. Time is not an issue there, coz I get paid for the job....if not, I do pay some folks to do the post processing for me

Explaining to client - First question is, have you dealt with clients for their wedding photos? Maybe I'm not a good salesman, but some things are just hard to explain and not all are opened to those arty-farty kind of motion blur pictures. If you ever have a chance to shoot a wedding, try shooting at 1/10s and let me know what are the clients' reaction when they see the photos.

 

[reignman77]

canturn

Cut down cost and maintain high standard is always main factor in photography

cater your shoot for client... not client for your art photography...
unless they WANT your style of photography...

1/10s is NOT A ALL ROUND useable speed... use at the right time...

 

[hyun]

i notice many type A body users still use ATTL flashes like 540EZ. So it'll be used at TTL mode?

Any noticeable difference between TTL and ETTL exposures?

 

[YSLee]

I had to drop a line.. this thread has been most entertaining! :bsmilie:

 

[reignman77]

Originally posted by YSLee
I had to drop a line.. this thread has been most entertaining! :bsmilie:

if there are more photographers around sharing, it will be more entertaning and fruitful threat

 

[hyun]

Originally posted by reignman77
if there are more photographers around sharing, it will be more entertaning and fruitful threat

i see your sentiment. i find photography, like most other artforms, is closely guarded by jealousy and competition. less so than hardcore artforms since we're not so much artists but hobbyists, but still a palpable undercurrent.

going off-topic here ...

 

[reignman77]

Originally posted by hyun
i see your sentiment. i find photography, like most other artforms, is closely guarded by jealousy and competition. less so than hardcore artforms since we're not so much artists but hobbyists, but still a palpable undercurrent.

going off-topic here ...

don't forget about people who love to "show off"... but never relise that they SHOWING it the wrong way... ;p

anyway, when question comes, i'm more than willing to share... there are lots of new comer here who need proper guidance...

 

[ellery]

Guidence by mere words is seldom enough for newbies. This is a visual artform you need to be shown. Magic formulae like most contained in this thread are fully usefull if you already understand, if you do not and look reall close it will point the way but not tell you all the details.

Again like all artforms there is not real correct or not - if you can do the concept well enough it would work, do it incompletely or inappropriately the visual result do not work. A lot depends on the "truthfulness" of your vision. Even a record shot can bear the imprint of the person capturing it - the camera is a lens for the vision in your mind if the mind is blank then the result is bland at best, messy at worse.

Shooting in this situation requires more than just mixing ambiant and flash , it also about where to meter, how to adjust on the fly when the lighting changes, it about going with the flow of the event. It is definitely not just about taking a photo.