need more help with flash

[Jm Photography]

P mode is really ticking me off so I am jumping the gun and going straight to manual on the camera and ettl on flash. I am reading the articles Curtis put together and it's coming to me slowly but wanted to see if i should first measure for ambient light then use the flash for the fill?
I try to bounce whenever possible like off a wall but if i am at a distance and using the flash do i need to shoot head on or?

[Austin.Manny]

Strobist.com.

Get those lights off camera, you'll be a lot happier. ;)

[Jm Photography]

that doesnt help me much lol

[Titus213]

It depends....(how often have you heard that?)

When I shoot flash I put the camera in manual, flash in ETTL. I meter for the amount of ambient light I want/can get and then let the flash do its thing. If there are walls, ceilings, anything that I can bounce light off I'll try it. If not I shoot straight on.

I do prefer the Lumiquest ProMax 80/20 with an insert if necessary. And that all works much better with a camera rotating bracket.

[Jm Photography]

I plan on getting that or a softbox for my flash eventually, do you you ever step down the compensation?

[Naturalist]

I sometimes step down the compensation when I want to throw less light - just fill in the shadows a bit.

[bobbyz]

P mode is really ticking me off so I am jumping the gun and going straight to manual on the camera and ettl on flash. I am reading the articles Curtis put together and it's coming to me slowly but wanted to see if i should first measure for ambient light then use the flash for the fill?
I try to bounce whenever possible like off a wall but if i am at a distance and using the flash do i need to shoot head on or?


I assume you are indoors? How is the ambient light? If bounce surface is far and ambient is low, I would bump up the ISO and use wider apertures so that flash can be effective at larger distances even when bounced.

[Jm Photography]

here is something bounced off the wall where you can clearly see
settings were
1/60
f3.5
flash on ettl

wow uploading here degraded the quality, on my screen its more orangeish due to the tint in the walls.

[bobbyz]

Problem is that you are at ISO100 in that shot. Don't be afraid of high ISO particularly when using flash. Proper exposure is the key. Don't bounce from the wall or ceiling just for bounce sake. Bounce based on where you would like the light from the flash to come from. Using high ISO will also add ambient into the shot and make it more interesting.

Here I bounced from upper left corner (from behind camera position).

http://www.bobbyzphotography.com/img/v7/p73685191-4.jpg

[vincent_su]

Bouncing flash is best with white walls and ceilings. Also, you can take test shots for exposure adjustment. That takes practice.
As for the pix you posted, here are mho--
1) It looks under exposed to me. You'll need slower ss for more ambient light. A quick fix will be to shoot raw and adjust exposure.
2) The issue with tint, you'll need to use a WB card for the correcting light temperature.
3) Or, you can use a level layer and reset the shadow, highlight and mid tone.
If you use DPP, option 1 is the only solution.
Hope that helps.

[Jm Photography]

so lets say i am near a brick wall i can't bounce that, i will be out and about in the city saturday so i got a few days to get this down but what if i am in a situation where i don't have anything to bounce from?

[vincent_su]

Since you have "edit ok" turned on. Here is my take for fixing the tint and exposure.
The light fall off rapidly, that means you need to put the flash farther away from the wall. Unless that's the effect you're looking for.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3421/3815919491_e2e0bd2b6f_o.jpg

[Jm Photography]

i will remember that next time, i just did what you said and got a similar edit

[gonzogolf]

You can always use the flash straight ahead. Dont be afraid of it, just know that it will have harder edged shadows and a tendency to have hot spots on shiny skin. Thats why a lot of us use a bounce reflector style of diffuser. The good news is you can build this style of diffuser with about 66cents worth of craft foam from walmart. http://super.nova.org/DPR/DIY01/ These work by bouncing the light forward off of a bigger surface give it a try.

[Jm Photography]

i can use the pull down diffuser too built in if i have to and thank you for that link i lost it

[gonzogolf]

Happy to help, if you practice and you still dont get it, I'm only an hour and half from stl, we can meet and do a bit of tutorial work.

[Jm Photography]

that actually may help more i will get back to you on that!