Photo Shoot this saturday

I was wondering if there is a way to use the flash so it doesn't kill the ambient light!
There must be a way, like shooting a band, if we use the flash it will kill all the light around.
Got any cues?
I'm shooting people on a stage with not bad lighting, but got to use the flash to enhance the face, specially the eyes.


By the way, the new forum looks cool!

I think this question should be in the "Performing Arts" section, because you'll find a lot more experts in that forum section than here. I'm a commercial photographer and usually try to cut out as much ambient as possible so every light in the shot is created by me. But I'll answer it for you real quick.

You want to throw diffusers on the flash head. I use a sto-fen diffuser that fits over the head. If you point it directly at the subject and you have your power set to 1/128, it'll cut the light hitting the subject by about a stop, so it'll be equivalent to 1/256 power. If you point the flash head up into the air, it cuts it by about 2 stops, so you'll be hitting the subject with a light equivalent of 1/512 power if your flash head is set to 1/128 power output. And if you point the flash head behind you but at a 45° angle, you're looking at even less power output. Just aim your flash head in different directions to throw less or more light onto your subject with the sto-fen on your flash. This advice is assuming that there is no ceiling in the venue you're photographing.

But, I'd still ask this same question in the Performing Arts forum section, because there will be guys there that deal with this problem every week.

Funny you should ask... I just discovered, yesterday, that Sekonic has and entire section of their website devoted to how-to's and such; this topic is one of them.

Ok,
Thanks a lot for these infos.

Are you using an ETTL flash? What gear do you hsve available?

Yes i am using the 580 ex2 in ettl, got to shoot straight at people, kids with santa.
I did it last year, but when you shoot without a flash, the eyes are not as well expose.
So i turned the flash on, but would like this year to get a little of the stage lights.
I have the 6d, will shoot with the 50 1.4 or the 24-105

Underexpose the background, so the flash doesn't blow it out.

Meter or chimp for the the exposure you want for the background while shooting in manual. Dial in FEC on the flash to get proper exposure on the faces (most daylight conditions I'm in the -1 to -2 range but that will change for your indoor lights). If you want to get really smart, gel the flash to match the ambient so that it doesn't look like flash.

expose for ambient then fill in with speedlight.

As others have said use manual mode on your camera to dial in your base exposure so that you like it. For a balanced look rsise your iso and shoot as if you are not depending on the flash to do the hesvy lifting. Then add either direct or bounce flash and use the flash exposure compensation control to dial in the strength of flash.

I will, thx for all the tips

I will take a stab at it although I don't know how many people are in the band and how they are grouped?

Are you shooting hand held or are you using a tripod? Is your flash on camera or off camera

So without having this information I can offer a general sense of directives.

Find your base exposure with after choosing your f-stop/iso/shutter speed. And now considering that I do not know how you are using your flash, is it bare or diffused, on or off camera, ettl or manual, I would simply offer general suggestions:

If you using ettl, allow the camera and flash to determine the flash exposure and now use the Flash Exposure Compensation to either increase or decrease the flash exposure to taste.

If you are shooting a manual flash or ettl is not working to your satisfaction set your flash to manual and put your power settings at 1/8 power, why 1/8 because it is basically in the middle of the power scale and depending on your vision you can easily determine if you need to lower or increase the power to taste.

Now if you find that if you like your flash exposure but need more or less ambient, ride your exposure compensation if shooting in AV mode or if your shooting in manual change your shutter speed.

PhilF wrote in post #17303669
expose for ambient then fill in with speedlight.

Shutter speed will affect the ambient while your aperture will affect the flash. If the flash is too bright (or dark) use FEC to adjust.

I will shoot on a Tripod.

If you are shooting on a tripod then you can shoot at greater depth of fields and have more flexibility or control of your ambient light levels without fear of camera shake. Good move.