need a little advice with slave flash

[ib2loud]

I am not trying to be a pro, but I would like to take better pictures of the babies (my wife's cats). I have a S3 right now and all of the pictures i took indoors had really bad eye glare from the flash, so I got a small slave flash. The pictures do look better, but they seem to come out really dark (opposite of what I would have thought). The eyes still have a glare, but it's nowhere near as bad as it was.

do i need to crank up the exposure when using the slave or is there a setting somewhere that i have wrong?

thanks for any help!


the attached photo is one of the better ones

[Curtis N]

How are you triggering the slave? Withe the built-in flash on the S3?

[FlashZebra]

I see two distinct catchlights in each cat's eye, so it looks like the slave flash is triggering at the right time (along with the in camera flash?).

Is this accurate?

Does the Canon S3 have the ability to set the the camera manually (ISO, shutter speed, and aperture)?

Enjoy! Lon

[ib2loud]

seems to be firing at the same time
i can adjust all that, I just haven't messed with it, thought I would get some advice first

[FlashZebra]

seems to be firing at the same time
i can adjust all that, I just haven't messed with it, thought I would get some advice first
I know no specifics about your camera, the Canon S3. But, I will take a stab.

Set your camera to manual:

ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/125 sec
Aperture F/5.6
Configure the camera so the on camera flash will fireMove the off camera flash to one side of your subject at about 45 degrees.

Put a thin white cloth or piece of white tissue paper over each flash to diffuse the output (you can also cut a piece out of a translucent gallon milk jug also to use as a flash diffuser. Just cut a flat section and put it over the flash units using rubber bands, or other ad hoc attachment methods).

Take an exposure.

Check to see if have two distinct catchlights in each of the cats eyes to confirm both flash units fired when the shutter was open.

If the image is overexposed, change to a narrower lens opening (aperture) like F/8.

If the image is underexposed, change to a wider lens opening (aperture) like F/4.

Keep working with the aperture until you get a good exposure.

Check to see if the exposure is even. If the slave flash side is too bright, move it back from the cat. If the slave flash side is too dark, move it in closer to the cat.

After you get close with the exposure using the LCD panel, start using the cameras histogram feature (if it has one) to make more precise exposure settings.

Lastly, I have taken a bit of time to post this info, please report back with your results, good or bad.

Closure is a good thing.

Enjoy! Lon

[PacAce]

What setting are you using to take the picture, the basic (picture) mode or one of the creative (P, Av, Tv, etc.) modes ?

[PacAce]

I know no specifics about your camera, the Canon S3. But, I will take a stab.

Set your camera to manual:

ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/125 sec
Aperture F/5.6
Configure the camera so the on camera flash will fireMove the off camera flash to one side of your subject at about 45 degrees.

Put a thin white cloth or piece of white tissue paper over each flash to diffuse the output (you can also cut a piece out of a translucent gallon milk jug also to use as a flash diffuser. Just cut a flat section and put it over the flash units using rubber bands, or other ad hoc attachment methods).

Take an exposure.

Check to see if have two distinct catchlights in each of the cats eyes to confirm both flash units fired when the shutter was open.

If the image is overexposed, change to a narrower lens opening (aperture) like F/8.

If the image is underexposed, change to a wider lens opening (aperture) like F/4.

Keep working with the aperture until you get a good exposure.

Check to see if the exposure is even. If the slave flash side is too bright, move it back from the cat. If the slave flash side is too light, move it in closer to the cat.

After you get close with the exposure using the LCD panel, start using the cameras histogram feature (if it has one) to make more precise exposure settings.

Lastly, I have taken a bit of time to post this info, please report back with your results, good or bad.

Closure is a good thing.

Enjoy! Lon

Unlike the EOS cameras which operates the flash in auto mode (if the flash is in ETTL Mode) even when the camera is in manual mode, the S3 (and the other Canon P&S cameras), operates the flash in manual mode when the camera is in manual mode. (Go figure, you'd think it'd be the reverse with the EOS cameras allowing manual operation of the flash (for those flashes that don't have the manual mode feature) instead of the P&S camera. :confused:

Anyway, so what that means is that if the camera is going to be operated in manual mode, the flash output(s) has to be determined manually, too.

Or, the camera can be operated in one of the other creative modes (P, Av, Tv, etc.) and the flash output adjusted via FEC which is accessible by pressing the Function button. If the slave is a Canon slave flash, I imagine that it would be adjusted similarly although I'm just guessing since I've never used one of those slaves before. If it's not a Canon slave flash, then the output would need to be adjusted manually unless there's a built-in sensor for auto operation.

[ib2loud]

I know no specifics about your camera, the Canon S3. But, I will take a stab.

Set your camera to manual:
ISO 100
Shutter speed 1/125 sec
Aperture F/5.6
Configure the camera so the on camera flash will fireMove the off camera flash to one side of your subject at about 45 degrees.

Put a thin white cloth or piece of white tissue paper over each flash to diffuse the output (you can also cut a piece out of a translucent gallon milk jug also to use as a flash diffuser. Just cut a flat section and put it over the flash units using rubber bands, or other ad hoc attachment methods).

Take an exposure.

Check to see if have two distinct catchlights in each of the cats eyes to confirm both flash units fired when the shutter was open.

If the image is overexposed, change to a narrower lens opening (aperture) like F/8.

If the image is underexposed, change to a wider lens opening (aperture) like F/4.

Keep working with the aperture until you get a good exposure.

Check to see if the exposure is even. If the slave flash side is too bright, move it back from the cat. If the slave flash side is too dark, move it in closer to the cat.

After you get close with the exposure using the LCD panel, start using the cameras histogram feature (if it has one) to make more precise exposure settings.

Lastly, I have taken a bit of time to post this info, please report back with your results, good or bad.

Closure is a good thing.

Enjoy! Lon

thank you so much for the advice. I will play around with it thursday since we're supposed to get some bad weather and I'll be stuck in the house.