My First Indoor Shoot

[dredwings3119]

I guess this would apply to this forum as I was using a 580II speedlight and umbrella.. So I was doing my first indoor shoot today using a tamron 28-75 2.8 lens..

The light wasn't very good so my shutter speeds were very low 1/40 and lower iso was between 400-1000 depending on lighting.. is there anyway to get better shutter speeds and use an aperature of atleast 4 or 5 in low light??

Thanks

[GenuineRolla]

You do know that when using off camera flash, The shutter speed determines the ambient exposure and the f/stop determines the flash exposure. Were you trying to have some ambient in with the shot? Otherwise, you should have been able to get at least f/5.6 using a speedlight and a umbrella at ISO 100.

[dredwings3119]

You do know that when using off camera flash, The shutter speed determines the ambient exposure and the f/stop determines the flash exposure. Were you trying to have some ambient in with the shot? Otherwise, you should have been able to get at least f/5.6 using a speedlight and a umbrella at ISO 100.

Umm no I didn't know that :S.. howeever yea I was trying to use ambient light as well.. I mean thats what I've been doing so far is looking at how much ambient light there is and then adjust the flash to expose until I get the result I like.... But today I was getting blurry and grainy pictures.. Obviously I know why.. but I thought it was all I could do in that low of light.. Maybe not :S lol

[dredwings3119]

So what is the trick to getting an iso of a hundred and an f stop of 5.6 with the picture still being properly exposed?? :S

[gonzogolf]

More power :) How are you triggering your flash? are you using ettl or manual settings?

[dredwings3119]

manual settings, triggered by ebay triggers... The pictures im talking about are in my flickr account btw

[partsman]

Don't use AV mode for off camera flash. AV tries to expose for the existing light ignoring flash-therefore the low shutter speed. Put the camera in manual mode, set the aperature you want and then set a safe shutter to avoid blur. The camera will indicate an underexposure but set your flash power and take a picture and then adjust to get the effect you want. Lowering your shutter speed will allow more ambient light in, opening up your aperature will allow more ambient and flash light in. And of course changeing your flash power will help you get the balance you want.

Just play around with the settings a bit and you'll get the effect you want with a little experimentation.

[dredwings3119]

Don't use AV mode for off camera flash. AV tries to expose for the existing light ignoring flash-therefore the low shutter speed. Put the camera in manual mode, set the aperature you want and then set a safe shutter to avoid blur. The camera will indicate an underexposure but set your flash power and take a picture and then adjust to get the effect you want. Lowering your shutter speed will allow more ambient light in, opening up your aperature will allow more ambient and flash light in. And of course changeing your flash power will help you get the balance you want.

Just play around with the settings a bit and you'll get the effect you want with a little experimentation.


Ahhh that makes sense... that was the mistake I was making using AV mode.. I should have used Manual and leave the AV mode to Outdoor shoots.. I'll definately try more tinkering around with settings next time .. Thanks so much for the help :)