Closest thing I've had to a real gig

Well, if white shirts were that big a problem you would have an awful lot of brides being very unsatisfied with their wedding images.

Most of the problem with white shirts is that they are metered from the camera, reflectively. If a flash meter was used, assuming there was a need for flash, the meter should give you the settings to expose the scene properly. If no flash is used a good meter will still give you the proper exposure settings.

But you are correct, using a 580EX in ETTL can be a challenge with white clothes.

mckinleypics wrote in post #13236213
I did try the flash but they wanted a blurry background and I don't have dark filters. When I did use the 580, even dialed down, the pictures were blown out

did you try using high-speed sync?

i think they came out nice, good job

Titus213 wrote in post #13236716
Well, if white shirts were that big a problem you would have an awful lot of brides being very unsatisfied with their wedding images.

Most of the problem with white shirts is that they are metered from the camera, reflectively. If a flash meter was used, assuming there was a need for flash, the meter should give you the settings to expose the scene properly. If no flash is used a good meter will still give you the proper exposure settings.

But you are correct, using a 580EX in ETTL can be a challenge with white clothes.

I also have a flash meter. It is in the pile of equipment that I don't understand yet. I think my biggest problem is not practicing often enough. Seems like I'm reinventing the wheel a lot. I also need to break my habit of shooting with the aperture wide open. Looks great when I'm chimping but then I get home and find out the focus isn't nailed.

DreDaze wrote in post #13238708
did you try using high-speed sync?

i think they came out nice, good job

Nope - should have though. Mentally, I was planning on using the reflector but having an assistant didn't happen like I'd hoped.

Lots of good lessons learned here. Glad I wasn't charging them!

Titus213 wrote in post #13236716
Well, if white shirts were that big a problem you would have an awful lot of brides being very unsatisfied with their wedding images.

But white wedding dresses in sunlight are an issue for photography and there are photographers who don't get it right and very over expose the dress.