Back to basics....

I have had my 550EX for a long time. Used it with my 10d...shot mostly with the flash mounted on the camera in the Program mode.
Now I have the 40d, a bracket, Lumiquest, etc. and I'm trying to improve my flash shots. I believe I have read here that it is advisable to shoot in AV or TV mode, so I played around a lot tonight with those settings.
Simple question...when I set up in shutter mode in a generally dark room, I end up with the aperture wide open. If I shoot in aperture mode, I end up with a very slow shutter speed unless I choose a wide open aperture. In Program mode, it's always a 60th at f4. All at ISO 200.
What am I doing wrong....or is that the way it's supposed to be? I must be missing something! How should I be setting things up so that I can use a decent shutter speed and a moderate f stop along with the flash?
Thanks much...

Set your camera to Manual, ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/125.
Flash to ETTL, bouncef at approx. 75 degrees.
You should get something decent, to begin with.
To fine tune ambient light, play with aperture and shutter speed (stay below sync speed, 1/250s on 40D).
For the subject, play with FEC.

I use similar settings to Hermeto except I use ISO 400, 1/250, and vary the aperture between 2.8 and 11 depending on how much DOF I want. Also, when bouncing I point the flash straight up, never angled forwards as that just results in the light source being straight above people's heads which is not nice IMO. Finally, I always pull out the white card - if your flash doesn't have one then any piece of white card and a rubber band would do, too. This creates nice catchlights in people's eyes.

Best regards,

Anton

Using ISO200 the thing lit by the flash will be fine if it's direct, if it's bounced and the room is large anything near you will be lit but anything out of flash range will be dark. In a dark room use ISO 800 or 1600 if you'd like some of the background light to show. Use the slowest shutter you're comfortable with. Or just shoot in P with high ISO, it does it quite well.

I gel the flash to approximately match ambient temp too.

Av and Tv measure ambient light and set the camera for a proper exposure without the flash. They should only be used when you want ambient light to be the major influence in the picture with the flash providing a little fill. Personally, I am almost never in a position to use these settings. If you are using flash because there isn't enough ambient light to produce a suitable image without it, then don't set the camera to a mode that will use ambient light for the image. Virtually all my flash shots are made with the camera set to M mode. That allows me to select the aperture and shutter speed I want to use and with the flash set to E-TTL, the flash provides the proper amount of light (except for a few conditions which is a whole other topic).

I use Av or Tv with flash only when I am outdoors and want to use the flash as fill.

When you're bouncing off the ceiling, let's say, vertically straight up, do you set the flash to "M" or "E-TTL"? How does the flash know how much light output it needs when bouncing technique is used if "E-TTL" is selected?

WOW--I've been way off track for a long time! I've NEVER used manual for the flash! Thanks for the pointers.

Just wondering...if I pick an arbitrary shutter speed/aperture setting in Manual, the E-TTL will adjust to give the proper burst?

Again...thanks!!

sml wrote in post #5452583
WOW--I've been way off track for a long time! I've NEVER used manual for the flash! Thanks for the pointers.

Just wondering...if I pick an arbitrary shutter speed/aperture setting in Manual, the E-TTL will adjust to give the proper burst?

Again...thanks!!

Within the power of your flash, yes. I use M on camera, ETTL on flash and meter the ambient light to get what I would like, adjusting the flash with FEC.

Thanks again for straightening me out!

I've obviously been experimenting, trying to get used to shooting in M mode. Working fine!
However, I thought I'd use FEB to help nail the flash exposure, but it won't configure! That is, the 40d will allow it, but not for the 550EX. And the 550EX allows it, but not when it's being triggered by the ST-E2. Is that something worth bothering about, or does one end up with a general "preference" eventually...for example, shooting one shot with no adjustment and then overexposing by 2/3 or a stop or so.
(I still can't believe I've had a digital camera for a LONG TIME along with the flash and have NEVER shot flash in M mode! Nor with the A2 prior to that. Thanks again for the direction!)

SYS wrote in post #5452373
When you're bouncing off the ceiling, let's say, vertically straight up, do you set the flash to "M" or "E-TTL"? How does the flash know how much light output it needs when bouncing technique is used if "E-TTL" is selected?

Use ETTL, unless you really know what you are doing. The flash emits a pre-flash and the camera reads it, setting the flash exposure (not exactly, but this is basically what happens). It senses this whether you are bouncing the flash or shooting straight on.

Here is a great site on using on-camera ETTL flash.
http://planetneil.com …h-photography-techniques/

DDCSD wrote in post #5458857
Here is a great site on using on-camera ETTL flash.
http://planetneil.com …h-photography-techniques/

Great resource....I just spent a few minutes going through a few of the pages. Fantastic...I've bookmarked it.
Thanks.

sml wrote in post #5459006
Great resource....I just spent a few minutes going through a few of the pages. Fantastic...I've bookmarked it.
Thanks.

The first time I went through it it did not make a whole lot of sense. But as I was using the flash it started to make sense. The I went through the site again and it started clicking. I bet I've read it 4-5 times now, and every time I do, I pick up something that I missed before because I had no idea what he was talking about.

You can thank CurtisN for the link to it though. He has it in his sig, which is where I found it.

Nice find....I'll watch for CurtisN.

It's funny, I JUST got a flash bracket to get my flash "off camera" a bit...and now I read where he is generally avoiding them!
But, I've been quite happy with my results so far with the bracket. And I'm gonna add in the Lumiquest Pro and shooting in M mode to see if that makes it even better. And...of course, some of the interesting techniques on the "neil" page.

A bracket is useful for certain situations, but can be avoided in many cases. I got one a few weeks ago and haven't even put my camera in it yet. Or is that put it on my camera?

It is really a personal preference thing. Some swear by them, and some have ditched them. The biggest thing in using a bracket is to be able to keep the flash above the lens when using direct flash to avoid ugly shadows behind the subject. On that website, the only time he uses direct flash is generally for outdoor fill, where it doesn't matter where the shadow from the flash will fall.

I forgot to say I always also use +1/3 FEC and I have all my settings saved on the C1 custom setting so I know I just need to turn the mode dial to C1, turn on the 580EX II, and I can fire away and get great results most of the time.

Best regards,

Anton