portrait setting for canon 7d

[javierz0509]

hi everyone, i would like to know what would be the best setting for portrait photos, i currently have a canon 7d and the lens that came with it 28-135mm i also have an orbis flash ring that was given to me as a gift. Also when i have my flash wireless the 430exii
the flash zoom is always set to manual how can i set it to auto? or is this feature only on when the flash is on the hotshoe?

[alexcaro]

There is no "best setting"; a bright lit area will have a far different "setting" for a dark lit area. Throw your lens on take a couple shots and adjust your settings according to what preference is. I generally use M or AP for portraits.

For the flash, you can use ETTL.

Good luck and have fun.

[javierz0509]

can someone tell if there is a lost in feature by having the external flash wirelessly?

[drmaxx]

I don't think that there are any features lost - at least not ETTL.

You might want to check out this site:
http://neilvn.com/tangents/flash-pho...tography-tips/

Has some very useful tips how to use the flash. The big revelation for me was that with ETTL only the flash compensation matters. The other settings (exposure time, aperture, iso) only affect how strong the background shows up in your pic.
(hope that is not overly simplified - but I am sure that somebody will fill in the details ).

[meeko031]

came across this on youtube, it's a beginner video for portraiture lighting presented by B&H

lighting for portraiture

also check these other two videos for off camera flash

off camera flash

lighting and control

[gonzogolf]

You cannot use the flash in HSS mode using the 7D in wireless controller mode. What you need to undestand is that you essentially have 2 different exposure values when you use a flash. The first is the ambient exposure (the area not lit by the flash, the background) and the flash exposure. You can control the ambient by using your camera in M mode and adjust the shutter speed up and down to control how much light you get in the background. The flash power then controls the brightness of the area lit by the flash.

[HughR]

To the op:
I use the pop-up on my 60D with two 430EXs to control wireless flash all the time, so here is the answer to your question. When your 430EX is mounted in the hot shoe and the flash head is pointed forward (not bounce position!), auto zoom works perfectly (unless you choose to switch it to manual zoom). If your 430EX is in the hot shoe, but you tilt the head upward or to the side for bounce, zoom defaults to 50mm. This is generally a good setting for bounce, and Canon chose wisely. If you use your 430EX wirelessly, the zoom defaults to 24mm. This is very convenient, as I generally put a softbox on the 430EX when using it wirelessly, and 24mm is ideal for that. In these last two cases, the camera cannot know how far the light is traveling to the subject, so auto zoom makes no sense. In any case, you can manually zoom to whatever focal length you want.

When the 430EX or 430EX II is used wirelessly, the following features are not available:
Auto Zoom as discussed above
Second curtain sync is lost.
High Speed sync is lost.
If you want either HS sync or 2nd curtain, the 430EX must be on camera or connected with the camera by an ETTL cable.

Finally, as drmaxx has said, ETTL works perfectly with off camera wireless flash controlled by the pop-up. I use it all the time.
Hope this helps.

[meeko031]

Originally Posted by HughR

Hope this helps.

i don't know if it helped the OP but it definitely helped me!

thanks