newbie :outdoor flash photography exposing corectly using an off camery flash

Hi Guys .

I just want to make something sure.

Im normally shooting outdoors with like one 550 ex with a st-e2 trigger using ettl.
Ussually im using a 50 f1.8 II prime on a crop 60 d in manual mode.

So my question is.

do you guys you guse use the Exposure level indicator at the bottom of your viewfinder.
Because i shoot at say 1/250 s the speed at which the speedlite sync,and then i use the aperature to sort of correct the exposure from underexposed to more correct ly exposed or other way around by looking at the lcd monitor, or sometimes i move the lightstand closer or further away,

Is this the correct way? it feels like im a complete idiot and making a huge mistake?
is this correct ?

And the i assume in midday when you are shooting correctly exposed at f5.6 you can use a ND filter to stop dow the light to shoot at a wider aperature?


please help me and tell, me *what i should rather be doing?


shoukd i rather be using manual flash exposure?*
Please help.

thank you

please anyone? be hard on me, rather that than to miss something greats...

delko wrote in post #14851270
Im normally shooting outdoors with like one 550 ex with a st-e2 trigger using ettl.
Ussually im using a 50 f1.8 II prime on a crop 60 d in manual mode.

This can work. Youll get better results in the early or late times of day when the sun isnt so bright. If you have to use this setup midday, find a shady area.

delko wrote in post #14851270
do you guys you guse use the Exposure level indicator at the bottom of your viewfinder.

What you need to keep in mind is that there are two seperate exposures happening. There is the ambient light, which is controlled with the aperture, shutter speed and ISO. Then there is the flash exposure which is controlled by the flash power, aperture and ISO. The meter at the bottom of your viewfinder will only show you the ambient reading. See below.

delko wrote in post #14851270
Because i shoot at say 1/250 s the speed at which the speedlite sync,and then i use the aperature to sort of correct the exposure from underexposed to more correct ly exposed or other way around by looking at the lcd monitor, or sometimes i move the lightstand closer or further away,

When you are outdoors in bright light, starting with the max sync speed is a good idea. This will get you maximum effeciency from your small speedlight. Now is when you get freedom to be creative! Set your aperture so that you get the background exposure that you want, not turning on your speedlight. Try backlighting your subject so that the front of them is underexposed now. Then, turn on your speedlight (ETTL or manaul) and take a shot. Now, the speedlight is lighting the front of your subject! If its underexposed, either turn up the speedlight power or flash exposure compensation depending on if youre in manual or ETTL so that you get good exposure on your subject.

If youre at maximum speedlight power and the subject is still underexposed, youll need to do one of two things. If you can get your light closer and not have it be in the shot, GREAT! If not, youre going to have to make a sacrifice due to you not having enough light power. Open up your aperture (smaller F number). This will allow more light into the camera. The downside/sacrifice to this is that now the background exposure has changed from how you wanted it.

delko wrote in post #14851270
And the i assume in midday when you are shooting correctly exposed at f5.6 you can use a ND filter to stop dow the light to shoot at a wider aperature?


shoukd i rather be using manual flash exposure?*

This is correct.

And don't be scared to work with composite images if you are already doing tripod work. Expose for a foreground subject with flashes to get them looking as you like, then take a second exposure for your background. Merge in post production.

No matter what some people will tell you, this is not cheating.

You can even get more power from your lights by moving them into the sides of your frame, as long as they are not interfering with your lit subject then there is no drawback to having them in the shot. They're being replaced with data from a second shot anyway.

You just have to be careful of what things will change between the two shots at the boundary layers where the two will join. Getting ambient without a human model can be a good idea, as you will avoid edge traces from if they accidentally move.

Don't forget about high speed sync. You can shoot well above sync speed if you need a wider aperture.

The past few weeks I've been reading a lot about flash (Light, Science, & Magic; Speedliters Handbook), and watching lots of videos (Mark Wallace, Scott Kelby, etc), so I think I have this correct. Wilt will hopefully be along and set me straight if I'm not.

The exposure meter is simply telling you what the exposure should be to capture the ambient light correctly. It doesn't know squat about the exposure with the flash, until the preflash (aka Ninja flash) fires, and it then calculates an exposure based on the preflash. The camera then decides what settings it and the flash needs, and tells the flash what to do. This is the e-ttl part. You may or may not like what the camera decided was best.

So, let's say you didn't, and you want more ambient light. You'll slow your shutter down. Just because the fastest sync speed is 1/250, doesn't mean you can't go slower (or fast if your flash supports HSS). Going slower will increase the amount of ambient light that gets to the sensor.

"But I can do that with aperture" you say. Yes, but you're choosing your aperture primarily for the DOF you want, not for additional light. Changing your aperture will alter your DOF, and change the overall look of your image.

Changing shutter or aperture settings when using a flash and e-ttl, will only have an effect on your background (the ambient lit areas). When you lower your shutter, the camera will stop down the aperture, and vice-verse. Stop down your aperture, it'll slow down the shutter speed, and vice-verse. In any of those cases, the e-ttl will still expose the subject the same (or pretty close), but your DOF will noticeably change. So when you want more ambient, you need to slow down the shutter to achieve that without changing your DOF.

How am I doing so far, Wilt?

As for moving your lighting, that is akin to increasing or reducing the power output of the flash. Move a softbox 6", and you may have changed the flash exposure by 1/3 stop, or possibly more. The camera will then change it's chosen settings based on that 1/3 stop change, again altering only what's happening to the ambient, not the subject, because the camera's goal is to expose the subject correctly. It will expose for the light coming back to it off the scene (subject) from the Ninja flash. Your camera doesn't care about the background, it just wants the scene to be 18% grey when all the colors in the scene are mixed together.

Typically, you'll want to expose for the desired ambient affect, then adjust accordingly for the final shot. My procedure is to choose my DOF (aperture), and then pick my shutter speed for the ambient light levels I want, then bring the flash in and either +/-EC, or +/-FEC as needed. A light meter would help, but....


So, in answer to your question, no, I don't use the meter in my camera, but I also shoot pretty much in either full manual or AV.

KirkS518 wrote in post #14853166
How am I doing so far, Wilt?

As for moving your lighting, that is akin to increasing or reducing the power output of the flash. Move a softbox 6", and you may have changed the flash exposure by 1/3 stop, or possibly more. The camera will then change it's chosen settings based on that 1/3 stop change, again altering only what's happening to the ambient, not the subject, because the camera's goal is to expose the subject correctly. It will expose for the light coming back to it off the scene (subject) from the Ninja flash. Your camera doesn't care about the background, it just wants the scene to be 18% grey when all the colors in the scene are mixed together.

You did great, to this point, Kirk. The OP mentions using "550 ex with a st-e2 trigger using ettl". For that reason, altering the location of the flash (off camera) will not alter its brightness on the subject -- because ETTL will read the preflash and tell the flash to output less light, after it is moved closer!

Moving the light would make it more/less bright, only when it is in Manual output controll.

Ah, I think I didn't register when I initially read it that the triggers were ettl.

Thanks for verifying what I wrote, I feel better now!

I would. This should help: Fill light at sunset