first time using off-camera...help needed

This is my VERY first time using off-camera flash, and needless to say, it's like learning a new language. I took about 15 test shots, but these were the only two deemed worthy of posting (and that's not saying much). please critique, thanks, JOHN

equipment used:
XTi
Tammy 28-75 f2.8
580EX II with off-camera cord
westcott stand on Photoflex 30" umbrella

manual mode

When you do a shot like this having one flash off camera is better than having it at the camera position. But what you really need are TWO flashes. The Main light would be at the 45 degree angle, while the second flash is within 20 degrees of the camera position, and this would be the fill. What you have now is all your light coming from the Main and there's no light in the shadow, which is provided by the fill.

yeah, i realize that i need a second flash. i was wondering if the main light needed more adjustment or whatever.

I'd move the Main farther away so that it created a more even light on the right side of the image. But until you get that second light going this is all going to be moot.

You could always use BULB and use your flash gun many times around the car in one exposure.

This was an experiment I did last year. https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=368910

The flash and ambient light are very close to the same contribution to the image. I can't tell what mode the camera was in from the EXIF data, but 1/13 sec at f/2.8 is an odd number for a flash picture where the cameera isn't also metering ambient light. Also, the front license tag and flash reflections look reasonably well exposed with everything else underexposed, and that often happens when the flash is used in ETTL. Perhaps you were adjusting your manual exposure based on the way the license tag was rendered.

The paint on this car is, in my experience, very difficult to light with direct flash.

see, that's the thing. i am reasonably pleased with how the plate turned out, but i don't understand the flash functions. shooting from an XTi, how do i more effectively meter, using off-camera flash?

like martinsmith mentioned, set it on bulb mode and walk around the car and triggering your flash manually .. you can even use an umbrella if you like (shoot-thru, that is). might take quite a few shots to get the lights right.

or, you could also take mutiple shots with the flash in different location .. then in photoshop (or similar programs) and merge/blend the photos together.

The 2 photos are both underexposed because there wasn't enough flash power. The licence plate probably looks OK only because it is a reflective type.

The only way to meter when using a flash is to buy an expensive flash meter.

What kind of "off-camera cord" are you using? I assume it is a PC cord because the Canon Off Camera Shoe Cord or OC-E3 is very short and would not be able to reach to a stand.

If you are using a PC cord, then you will not be able to use ETTL or TTL. I have never used a PC cord with my 580EX II, but I suspect that may be your problem.

When using a PC cord, you can only use manual mode on the flash. If this is what you did, then what power setting did you use? (1/1, 1/2, 1/4.....)

Or, you could go into the flash menu and enable "External Flash Metering" (page 30 of the manual) In this mode, the flash uses a sensor right on the flash unit to control output just like the old Vivitar and Sunpak's.

OK, here's my responses:

how do you manually trigger the flash? i've read about this on the forums, but i am lost as to how to do that.

i'm using a canon off-camera cord, about 3 feet in length.

i'm gonna go try this again, see if i get better results, before i invest in another strobist setup.

You can trigger the flash to fire "manually'" by simply pressing the little "pilot lamp" that turns red when the flash is ready to fire. But that was mentioned only so that you could set up your camera on a tripod, with a long exposure, and then walk around the car firing the flash numerous times to get the whole car illuminated. You have to experiment, but something like f/8 and a 10-30 second exposure might work.

In my post I was talking about putting the flash into "Manual Mode", But that was only because I thought you were using a long PC cord to fire your flash off camera. A PC cord will not let you use ETTL and you must use the flash in manual mode. But now that I know you are using an off-camera cord, you can disregard that.

3 feet is not very long, but you should be able to get a much brighter flash exposure with some more experimentation. When using the off-camera cord, the flash behaves exactly as though it was still attached to the camera. You should have no problem using ETTL mode and getting the flash to fire a properly exposed photo.

In both you photos you used 1/13 and f/2.8 at ISO 400. That is a long, wide open exposure that will allow a lot of ambient light and it looks like the flash didn't add as much light as it could have. At your shooting distance, and at full power, the flash should have easily overexposed most of the car.

Did you use ETTL mode on the flash? That is good, but maybe the Flash Exposure Compensation (FEC) was set to something like -1 or -2? That would make the flash fire less light to let the ambient light be more dominant. Try it again, but make sure the FEC is at zero or a + factor. This is on page 14 of your manual.

If you used manual mode on the flash, you just need to use it at a higher power setting or at full power.

Good luck and let us know how the next shoot goes.

Mike

thanks a lot, that actually clarified a lot of missing info i needed. i'm going to give it another attempt this weekend.

next time ask the lady to duck. haha

mackidbrendan wrote in post #5968153
next time ask the lady to duck. haha

lol thats hilarious. i didnt notice it till you mentioned it

hahahahaha, i know, i forgot to ask her to duck, LOL