5D MKII + 580EX Speedlite

[TMCCaptured]

Hi Team, I have been given 24 hours notice that I am being called in to shoot and indoor rock climbing event...thing is I have been handed a 580EX speedlite to use and well, I have never used one before...any tips about setup would be great, I am reading thru the manual now to help but real life exp. means a whole lot more.


Thanks in Advance

[Mark Vuleta]

Nigel

How large is the indoor venue?

Shooting straight on with the flash would probably create huge shadow problems.

Best to bounce it of walls to the side/rear or even the ceiling.

What I would do, set up 1 or more speedlites in fixed locations & triggered by RF & possibly onboard flash for fill

Use the speedlites to up the ambient light levels. You would probably want to use at least the 24-105 (from your sig) but it will be at F4 but you will be able to up your ISO with the Mk2.

Are you in possession of the Holy Grail? if you are, and the reach suits, use it!!

If you want to borrow my gear (battery packs, speedlites, stands, RF triggers) give me a call.

[nik.hisham]

Slap it on your 5D2 now and go take some indoor pics with it to familiarize yourself with it. You can set the flash in ettl mode to let it handle how much light it needs to output but be prepared to use the FEL button in case you want to reduce or increase the flash by a stop or two.

Also, one useful rule of thumb is that shutter speed influences ambient light. If you use flash and you're finding your subject is well lit but your background is dark, shoot in manual and reduce the shutter a bit. That should brighten the pic - but of course there is a balance. What aperture? What ISO? Is my shutter fast enough to stop motion? As a start, and depending on the current ambient light, you might want to try starting with f2.8, ISO400, 1/125 sec and adjust from there to get the desired effect.

(I should qualify tho that this is just from what I normally do - I think the experts around here will soon respond. :) )

[Mark Vuleta]

General rule of thumb is aperture/iso have more influence on ambient light, flash is generally for the foreground/subject. Rock climbing may not have the fastest pace but better to have a slightly underexposed image than a blurred image caused either by camera shake or subject movement.