Student Fashion Designer parade help!?

Hi, i'm new to this forum, but feel that its going to be my new home

I come from a graphic design background and a video production background and whilst i've always been interested in photography I only really did the rare photoshoot.

I'm keen to get into fashion photography and whilst i'm getting more confident with doing the portraits in control situations but i'm having troubles with models on a catwalk at night or under dark conditions.

After reading the stuff here about flash photography I think i've kinda worked out that i need to be shooting in manual mode and not Aperture priority, i'm not actually too sure why was using that at night... But i was on this occasion (which I'm about to ask all of your help on).

Are there any hints or tips about shooting models on a catwalk, also should I be using a flash at all? or should i just go to extreme iso settings? I'm currently geared up with a canon 20d, 50mm 1.8 II lens, 28-135 IS USM lens and a 550EX flash unit.

The pictures here at http://christianbowman​.com …g2_itemId=45551​&g2_page=3 show the shots i took.

Most of the photos taken at this parade came out blurry, due to the slower shutter speeds, If i had have read the FAQ's on flash photography here i would have known that in Av mode the flash doesn't affect the shutter speed. But i'm keen on learning this all, i'm looking forward to having my work scrutinized.

Could you give me some key advice about what i should or shouldn't have been doing? I had the flash on, was using Av mode at f2-4 mostly. ISO400 in RAW in some important collections and JPEG L and M for the rest.

Thanks in advance

Welcome!

Those shots look pretty good, but yes, manual is the way forward. I think the background on those shots could do with being a couple of stops underexposed, they are nice but the bright backgrounds distract from the subject. A good starting point would probably be M mode, f5.6, 1/30-1/60 sec, ISO 800... then let ettl do the rest. did you try bouncing the flash? shooting at f5.6 or above might hopefully reduce some DOF errors, the 50 1.8 isn't renowned for accurate autofocus. Anyway having said all that I'm just guessing really and its all down to you to judge lighting at the location

take a look at Curtis N's flash bible and other resources - https://photography-on-the.net/forum/member.p​hp?u=28729 click the blue links.

Thanks heaps stupot, this was my first parade shooting in manual focus mode, i find that following the eyes around the models too hard with the 9 focus points in previous parade's i've done. Is that what I should be focusing on? the eyes?

by manual i mean manual exposure, not focus

if you find AF isn't working for you (not surprising if you're using the 50 1.8) then you could try putting the lens in MF and prefocusing on a point you know the model will be at. then take photos when the model walks into that area.

you're gonna find focusing on the eyes very difficult in that light and with that lens, so try picking an aperture small enough keep your keeper ratio up so you're not getting too many missed shots.