Flash settings ?

My daughter is skating in her first skating show tonight. I have yet to use my flash on camera or in this setting. It will be dimly lit and was wondering what setting on my 580EX II using a 70-200 F4 lens. Thank you.

Probably your best bet is flash in ETTL. Camera in manual, F4 and shutter speed at 1/200 or so. ISO as high as you are comfortable with. F4 simply because you want as much light as you can get and stopping down probably doesn't add anything in terms of sharpness or DOF. 1/200 because you are handholding a long lens. If you get to shoot in her practice skate try with a lower SS. The flash (in regular mode, not HSS) will freeze action so you dont have to worry using 1/500 and HSS. The high ISO, wide open lens, and the slower shutter speed will keep you from having totally black backgrounds.

I would add that you might want to dial in +1 on the flash's exposure compensation if the white ice is a significant amount of the frame, otherwise it'll want to underexpose and force that white to become grey. That's assuming you're close enough for your flash to reach.

mike_d wrote in post #11956192
I would add that you might want to dial in +1 on the flash's exposure compensation if the white ice is a significant amount of the frame, otherwise it'll want to underexpose and force that white to become grey. That's assuming you're close enough for your flash to reach.

Yes I should have added that Flash Exposure Compensation might be necessary. White dresses, spotlights, and a big dark rink are a nightmare for any exposure metering system.