Fill flash outdoors - flash sync speed?

[gwc1023]

I get to practice at an outdoor wedding this weekend, and have been planning on using fill flash basically all the time to avoid face shadows, etc as it is forecast to be sunny on Saturday.

I've been looking over all of my notes and for some reason it just stuck out to me now that I'm going to have problems with the flash sync speed, I'm just using the built-in flash. I don't think on a sunny day even at ISO 100 there's a chance my shutter speed will be below 1/200 is there?

What would you advise to deal with this? I can reduce my aperture for some shots but had hoped to be able to blur the background with a wider aperture for some of the bride & groom shots.

Thanks!

[picturecrazy]

greets from another albertan! What part?

anyhow, if it is really sunny out and you want to keep your shutter low, the only thing you can do is crank up your aperture. I find 13-16 usually works on a really sunny day. Either that or use a neutral density filter. And bring lots of batteries too. I find I am filling shadows on really sunny days with the slave flash (430EX) set around 1/4 to 1/2, which drains batteries like crazy.

If you really zoom in using your 100-300, you may be able to achieve a shallow enough depth of field using even high aperture values. Especially on head and shoulders shots, and even 3/4 length. Just find an angle where you can capture the couple with the background really far away from them.

[bpuppy]

I don't think you want to crank up you aperture ... DOF is a major weapon against cluttered backgrounds ... I try not to go above f/4 because I want the background blurred.

And MOST weddings I've shot have not had the luxery of space so you can get less DOF ... so you can't rely on that.

You need a flash that can use High-Speed Sync ... turn that on and your shutter speed can get into the 1/thousands ... but beware that it eats batteries and can sometimes add ghosting. That said, I use it all the time.

Other option is to get ND filters or use a polarizer, which will knock 1-2 stops of light off so you can open up the lens a bit more.

[Curtis N]

I'm just using the built-in flash.The pop-up flash doesn't have enough power to compete with the sun at a reasonable distance.

At 1/200 shutter you'll be around f/11 and ISO 100 on a sunny day. The guide number of the built-in flash is 43 feet, which would give you an effective range of only about 4 feet at f/11.

[newgenphoto]

Does the XT have FEC?? If it does then I would suggest kicking it down a stop or two outdoors.

[Wilt]

The pop-up flash doesn't have enough power to compete with the sun at a reasonable distance.

At 1/200 shutter you'll be around f/11 and ISO 100 on a sunny day. The guide number of the built-in flash is 43 feet, which would give you an effective range of only about 4 feet at f/11.

And with the flash as fill at -1EV, it still only reaches 8.5' !

Now you see why so many of us wedding shooters LOVE the leaf shutters of Hasselblad and Bronica and Rollei...fill flash at any shutter speed without the power robbing HSS!

[litwinphotography]

hey Im in sunny SOUTHERN alberta! :) We are having some amazingly sunny weekends here too and personally I like to also keep my apertures small to blur the bg. It really adds the drama and unclutters the picture so you can focus on whats really important, the b&G

[sapearl]

Amen to that Wilt! My life got "recomplicated" all over again when I moved into digital with the Canon fill-flash system. That leaf shutter is a wonderful little mechanism ;) . - Stu

And with the flash as full at -1EV, it still only reaches 8.5' !

Now you see why so many of us wedding shooters LOVE the leaf shutters of Hasselblad and Bronica and Rollei...fill flash at any shutter speed without the power robbing HSS!