Question about natural light vs off camera

The nice thing about garden of the gods is if you go later in the day the mountain block direct sun and you get a huge field indirect sunlight. Still sufficient for whatever you might want to achieve but consistent enough that you can get saturated backgrounds. If you try to shoot there before that the sun is so bright and hard its hard to achieve good results. I shot some senior pics there last august and shot them using ocf with a small softbox on a stick, ettl with exposure comp dialed down to give a bit of fill, and eye twinkle. http://kevin-jones.smugmug.com/Othe​r/Tiffany/43924852_cmv​wsH

Gonzo! Nice to see you! So that's the senior shoot you did, I like the colors! and yeah, I think ill have to bring the softbox and my strobe and go from there, especially when the sun dips behind the rocks. Natural light would be nice, but like you said, I also need that sparkle in the eye Especially with two people, my Apollo style soft box should be sufficient.

What time are you doing this? Do you need a moderately experienced assistant?

gonzogolf wrote in post #17552308
Do you need a moderately experienced assistant?

LOL

great set, gonzo.

exactly what i was saying earlier about almost always giving a little umph with a flash, even if it is bare on camera.

edit: damn, i said "almost always".

Probably around 4-5 (im going to watch this week and see what the light looks like) If i was using reflector only that would be great to have help, but ill have a sturdy stand with weights and then will only need to life that and go to next location so should be manageable. Thank you for the potential offer though! Would still be fund to go back there another time with the fam and practice...

Okay, if you change your mind let me know. I'm amazingly unscheduled at this point.

Gonzo, or anyone.. since i know the look im going for for this shoot, i had a question regarding exposure modes.. I know that i want the colors and deep, rich saturation (without overdoing it) that the rocks can provide, so ill have a slightly higher ISO however, since I will have to shoot in either TV or AV in order to use Exposure Comp... I know I can achieve this simply by being in M mode, but what would an ideal situation be where im trying to simply stay in M mode and really not have to add any exp comp?

On the other hand, since ill be using ttl I suppose it may be easier to simply be in AV for some shots and then determine what exp adjustments I need rather than M..

Thanks!

digitalduck wrote in post #17554999
Gonzo, or anyone.. since i know the look im going for for this shoot, i had a question regarding exposure modes.. I know that i want the colors and deep, rich saturation (without overdoing it) that the rocks can provide, so ill have a slightly higher ISO however, since I will have to shoot in either TV or AV in order to use Exposure Comp... I know I can achieve this simply by being in M mode, but what would an ideal situation be where im trying to simply stay in M mode and really not have to add any exp comp?

On the other hand, since ill be using ttl I suppose it may be easier to simply be in AV for some shots and then determine what exp adjustments I need rather than M..

Thanks!

Here are the ideal settings for M: ISO 252 (maybe 253) SS 1/1250 and F/1.2.

M or AV. It basically comes down to how much you want to pay attention to the details. I usually shoot that stuff in M, not out of any purity but because I can make sure that I'm not accidentally running my SS too high or low by not paying attention. Obviously if you go with manual flash you need manual camera.

Gonzo and everyone, thanks for the feedback..I did the shoot and put a thread with pics in the wedding section (sorry, could have put them here)

https://photography-on-the.net …showthread.php?​p=17587971

Kind of funny because I forgot a 622c, but still made the best of it I think....