Engagement Shoot in 2 Days, Need Help...

Hi everyone,

I have an engagement shoot this Saturday (Manila time) and I need help from you guys. I do not have much equipments compared to some of you so your advices and sample photos (if you dont mind) would be of great help...

My gadgets are:
70D
24-105 lens; 70-300 non L
430 EXII (will be mounted in 50cm X 70cm softbox)
A pair of trigger and receiver
A couple of HOYA ND filter (ND8 and ND64)

Now here is the catch, ITS MY 1ST TIME TO SHOOT OFF CAMERA FLASH. I did some practice outdoors and I cant get what I see on some threads using single flash... also watched some youtube videos but I still cant get it (purely human error).

According to some videos I watched, get the exposure you want for the background first and expose the subject through lighting. There is also another video I watched which said that you can control the background exposure through the shutter speed and it will not affect the subject. Are these true? I tried both of them and I can say that the first mentioned is a bit easy compared to the second statement I stated, the subject is getting dark too when I increase the shutter speed. I know there is something Im doing wrong and I cant figure it out.

I am thanking you in advance.

Jigs

EDIT: By the way, the location will be at the beach and we will be there from sunrise to sunset. thanks.

Your biggest limitation is the speedlite.
Its not very powerful for fill or key lighting outside unless the sun if low and not too bright.
Sunset and sunrise are good times.

Here is how I'd practice;
Indoors, set the camera to 1/250th, F5.6, ISO 200.
Set the 430EXII to 1/2 power and place it in the modifier.
Now place the light on a stand and about 5 feet from your test subject.
Take a shot and check the exposure on the back of the camera. Too bright reduce power on the light, move light farther away or stop down the lens. Too dark, move light closer or open lens, or increase power.

Once you have the light and camera settings so the subject is properly exposed, you know what the light will deliver. The next step is to determine what ambient lighting will permit using those settings.
The nice think is that as the sunset gets darker in the evening you can keep slowing the shutter to keep the ambient where you want it without affecting the flash exposure.

dmward wrote in post #17093358
Your biggest limitation is the speedlite.
Its not very powerful for fill or key lighting outside unless the sun if low and not too bright.
Sunset and sunrise are good times.

Here is how I'd practice;
Indoors, set the camera to 1/250th, F5.6, ISO 200.
Set the 430EXII to 1/2 power and place it in the modifier.
Now place the light on a stand and about 5 feet from your test subject.
Take a shot and check the exposure on the back of the camera. Too bright reduce power on the light, move light farther away or stop down the lens. Too dark, move light closer or open lens, or increase power.

Once you have the light and camera settings so the subject is properly exposed, you know what the light will deliver. The next step is to determine what ambient lighting will permit using those settings.
The nice think is that as the sunset gets darker in the evening you can keep slowing the shutter to keep the ambient where you want it without affecting the flash exposure.

Will the 600EX be enough? Yongnou (I do not know any models from this brand actually)? I have studio stobes but my problem is they are all AC powered. Any suggestion on these? Thanks.

You have an engagement shoot and it's your first time to use OCF ? What are you thinking?

You really need to practice this before you try it on an engagement session. You do not want to be bumbling around with settings or trying to figure out what is going wrong.

Keep the flash on the camera.. use it as fill and worry about how you are going to pose the couple.

Hey guys. Quick - I need help. I just got my drivers license and bought a Ferrari. I'm racing a Lamborghini and the winner takes the losers car. Any tips?

You do realize, this is what it sounds like, right?

Aressem wrote in post #17094247
Hey guys. Quick - I need help. I just got my drivers license and bought a Ferrari. I'm racing a Lamborghini and the winner takes the losers car. Any tips?

You do realize, this is what it sounds like, right?

HAHAHA No worries on that, I have thought of that before and I hired a friend to back me up on the shooting day. This will give me some focus and confidence with what I will attempt to do. I really just like to jump out of my comfort zone and take things differently. If anything goes wrong, my back up will patch it up (with my supervision and concern of course) or even give me some stuff from his ideas. Already planned that, being sued is not what I am thinking.

scorpio_e wrote in post #17093744
You have an engagement shoot and it's your first time to use OCF ? What are you thinking?

You really need to practice this before you try it on an engagement session. You do not want to be bumbling around with settings or trying to figure out what is going wrong.

Keep the flash on the camera.. use it as fill and worry about how you are going to pose the couple.

Thanks for the concern scorpio, I have been practicing for quite a while for the past week and I think the first comment (not sure) answered my concern about exposing the background... Low speedlite power. Will the 600EX RT be powerful enough for OCF on daylight? Or do I have to think of a way on how to use my studio flashes outdoors?

Using strobes and strong ambient light is a simple math problem.
It depends on whether you want to use the strobe or the sun as the main light and the other as the fill or kicker.

First task is to decide on a lighting design using the two light sources, then determine how to use the secondary light as a compliment to the primary light.

If you don't understand those statements its going to be a long and difficult road to a successful shoot.

dmward wrote in post #17094955
Using strobes and strong ambient light is a simple math problem.
It depends on whether you want to use the strobe or the sun as the main light and the other as the fill or kicker.

First task is to decide on a lighting design using the two light sources, then determine how to use the secondary light as a compliment to the primary light.

If you don't understand those statements its going to be a long and difficult road to a successful shoot.

Thanks David. Yes, I do understand these concepts. With the 430 EXII, maybe Ill just use my reflective or shoot through umbrella to lessen the diffusion of light.

Jiggo0109 wrote in post #17093327
Hi everyone,

I have an engagement shoot this Saturday (Manila time) and I need help from you guys. I do not have much equipments compared to some of you so your advices and sample photos (if you dont mind) would be of great help...

My gadgets are:
70D
24-105 lens; 70-300 non L
430 EXII (will be mounted in 50cm X 70cm softbox)
A pair of trigger and receiver
A couple of HOYA ND filter (ND8 and ND64)

Now here is the catch, ITS MY 1ST TIME TO SHOOT OFF CAMERA FLASH. I did some practice outdoors and I cant get what I see on some threads using single flash... also watched some youtube videos but I still cant get it (purely human error).

According to some videos I watched, get the exposure you want for the background first and expose the subject through lighting. There is also another video I watched which said that you can control the background exposure through the shutter speed and it will not affect the subject. Are these true? I tried both of them and I can say that the first mentioned is a bit easy compared to the second statement I stated, the subject is getting dark too when I increase the shutter speed. I know there is something Im doing wrong and I cant figure it out.

I am thanking you in advance.

Jigs

EDIT: By the way, the location will be at the beach and we will be there from sunrise to sunset. thanks.

Heya,

Set your shutter based on stopping motion, but also for ambient light. Stopping down aperture will also kill off a lot of light, both flash and ambient, depending on what you're trying to do. ISO can help get ambient light back, or empower flash a bit more. You can mix all this stuff.

You're bound to F4 with your 24-105. I like to start my flash power around 1/4th power. Sync your shutter around 1/200, or drop down to 1/160 if you want more ambient light. Adjust ISO based on ambient light too. Shoot right after sunrise, or right before the last moment of sunset.

Very best,

If you only have a 430ex look for open shade or use the sun directly behind and flash fill.