Settings?? Help Needed!

[butcha27]

Hi all,

I have never shot with a speedlight flash, I now have a 380EX to use with my 400D and have been asked to shoot some social pics and pics of artists at an art show tonight. The room will be dimly lit. The thing is I have pretty much no idea what settings I should be using. Can anyone help me? Everything from ISO, apeture, shutter any help will be greatly appreciated, Thanks in advance! :)

[Jim M]

I used a 380EX for many years. It is hard to mess up because it doesn't give you many choices – on and off and high speed flash if your camera will do it. When the pilot light comes on, it is charged and ready to flash. If the green light comes on after the shot, you had enough light to make a proper exposure, at least in your camera's opinion. If your only option is to use it in the hot shoe, then so be it. Stick it on the hot shoe. For the simplest operation, set the camera mode to "P" with an ISO of, let's say 200, and shoot away. The camera will automatically select 1/60 sec at f/4. That shutter speed is fine. If you are pretty good at focusing and don't need any more depth of field, then the f/stop is fine, too. If you want to use a smaller f/stop for more depth of field, then set the camera on "Manual" and adjust the shutter speed to 1/60 or whatever you want up to the maximum flash synchronization speed for the camera. You can then set the f/stop to whatever you want to use and the flash will be metered to give a proper exposure. However, you can't go nuts with this. If you are in a large room with dark walls and you are shooting from some distance away, then don't expect to have enough light to shoot at f/22 with an ISO of 100. I personally like to shoot at f/5.6 and adjust my ISO until I am getting enough sensor sensitivity to properly record the image (the green light comes on). Too much information, I suppose.

So if you are unsure of yourself, set the camera to "P" and shoot away.

[Curtis N]

Art show.
I'm going to assume big room, high ceiling.

Point the flash straight ahead.
Camera in manual mode, 1/200, f/8, ISO 200.
Flash exposure compensation at +2/3.
Use one-shot AF mode so the AF assist light will work.
Drive mode single shot, watch for the flash ready light in the viewfinder.
Adjust your LCD brightness to its lowest setting.
Use the 18-55 and stay reasonably close. You'll get redeye if you're too far away from your subjects.
Keep the camera horizontal. If you rotate it to vertical you'll get side shadows. For vertical compositions, zoom out and crop the sides off later.
E-TTL flash tends to cause blinking in dark environments. Chimp often so if you get people with their eyes closed you can take another shot.
Beware shooting from the end of a long table. The near subjects will be blown out and the far subjects will be underexposed. For pictures of two or more people, try to position yourself to everyone is approximately the same distance from you.
Take an extra set of batteries.

Nothin' to it.

Good luck!

[PhotosGuy]

Good advice above! IF you chose to shoot on full "M" settings with a prime lens, here's an easy way to calculate the exposure compensation as a function of the distance to the subject.
Shoot & chimp to get the best exposure at a midrange distance for the flash, like 8' or 11'.
Let's say that the right exposure for 8' is f/11. It's crowded & the next shot you take is at 5.6', so you change the f-stop to f/16. Why? Look here for details:
Fill light at sunset (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=66353)

With a zoom lens it's easier. Just stand at that fixed distance from the subject, & crop using the zoom.

[SilverOnemi]

will the AI focus mode work with AF assist light ?

[Curtis N]

will the AI focus mode work with AF assist light ?The AF assist light will work in either one shot or AI Focus AF mode (not AI Servo).

In AI Focus mode, the AF assist light will work only until the camera achieves initial focus lock. If your subject moves and and the AF system begins to track it, the AF assist light won't come back on.

[TheShootist]

I did read your excellent Flash 101, but I was hoping to get some clarification on some of these points.

Art show.
Camera in manual mode, 1/200, f/8, ISO 200.

Would this be 1/250 for a 20D (i.e. its max. sync speed)?


Art show.
Flash exposure compensation at +2/3.

Why is this often necessary?



Adjust your LCD brightness to its lowest setting.

How does this help?



Keep the camera horizontal. If you rotate it to vertical you'll get side shadows. For vertical compositions, zoom out and crop the sides off later.

If the ceilings were low enough for a bounce, could you effectively use the vertical orientation if you rotated the flash towards the ceiling? or would you still get strange shadows?


and two other questions:
When using a ceiling bounce, should the angle be 90 degrees to the camera, or aiming at a point on the ceiling somewhere inbetween you and the subject.

In the case of the above mentioned art show, would you use a diffuser on the flash if available?

Thanks for all the helpful info.

[Curtis N]

Shootist,

Keep in mind that the recommendations I gave in the above post are specific to the OP's equipment, his description of the situation and his experience level.

1) If I want to eliminate the ambient light and use only flash to illuminate the images, I'll recommend flash sync speed, which would be 1/250 on a 20D.

2) A "default" setting of +2/3 or +1 is common with E-TTL when flash is the main light source. My opinion (shared by many) is that Canon's system is improperly calibrated.

3) It's a common novice mistake to judge exposure by looking at the image replay on the LCD. Lowering the brightness setting in relatively dark indoor environments makes the replay image more realistic in terms of exposure. It's still no substitute for learning to interpret the histogram.

4) You can bounce the flash off the ceiling by swiveling the flash head with the camera in vertical orientation. Side shadows can be a problem if the subject receives some light directly from the flash, or from a flash diffuser.

5) When using ceiling bounce, I most often try to light up the ceiling directly above me. This isn't always the best approach, but in my opinion it tends to produce the most pleasing light in most situations.

6) Flash diffusers are a whole subject unto themselves. Generally when bouncing flash, you want to throw most of the light at the ceiling, while directing some of it toward your subject. Sometimes the tupperware style diffusers work well for this. Without a low ceiling or nearby walls to bounce off, Sto-Fen type diffusers have no benefit. Sending the light in all directions is pointless unless it has a chance to bounce off something and back into the field of view.

[TheShootist]

Thanks for the help.
Jeff

[TheShootist]

Shootist,

1) If I want to eliminate the ambient light and use only flash to illuminate the images, I'll recommend flash sync speed, which would be 1/250 on a 20D.



Sorry, one more question:
What about high-speed sync flash? I know it pulses the light at a lower intensity but relatively high frequency to spread the illumination period out over the entire movement of the shutter. If you really wanted to eliminate ambient light, would there be any advantages (or disadvantages) to using it?

Thanks again.

[jackies35]

:lol: Art show.
I'm going to assume big room, high ceiling.

Point the flash straight ahead.
Camera in manual mode, 1/200, f/8, ISO 200.
Flash exposure compensation at +2/3.
Use one-shot AF mode so the AF assist light will work.
Drive mode single shot, watch for the flash ready light in the viewfinder.
Adjust your LCD brightness to its lowest setting.
Use the 18-55 and stay reasonably close. You'll get redeye if you're too far away from your subjects.
Keep the camera horizontal. If you rotate it to vertical you'll get side shadows. For vertical compositions, zoom out and crop the sides off later.
E-TTL flash tends to cause blinking in dark environments. Chimp often so if you get people with their eyes closed you can take another shot.
Beware shooting from the end of a long table. The near subjects will be blown out and the far subjects will be underexposed. For pictures of two or more people, try to position yourself to everyone is approximately the same distance from you.
Take an extra set of batteries.

Nothin' to it.

Good luck!

:lol: Awesome information! I am typing this on a small 2x3 business card.... Everywhere I go, I will take this card...
Good info Curtis N!!

[Curtis N]

Jackie,

Keep in mind those recommendations were fairly specific for a novice user with no flash bracket, in a dark environment with high ceilings. Change any one of those variables, and I would use a different approach.

[Curtis N]

Sorry, one more question:
What about high-speed sync flash? I know it pulses the light at a lower intensity but relatively high frequency to spread the illumination period out over the entire movement of the shutter. If you really wanted to eliminate ambient light, would there be any advantages (or disadvantages) to using it?Since HSS reduces your flash range, you would need to open the aperture to compensate for this, letting in more ambient light.

The best way to minimize ambient exposure is to use flash sync speed and stop down the lens as far as possible while maintaining adequate flash range.