Was flash the only way to save this picture?

You have the 420EX, you are a photographer for a newspaper. I think you need to learn how to take a shot like this, I really wouldn't call this challenging in the least.

Set the ambient exposure for the background (does the 420 do HSS, hopefully it does), point flash at ceiling, put flash in E-TTL, shoot (and hopefully score )
Background won't be blown out, and flash will output just enough power to light up the subjects inside.

And ALWAYS keep that flash on the camera. You'll find yourself in this situation alot if you are doing photojournalism/event photography.

I'm not making excuses, but consider these factors -

• I got the kit listed in my signature less than two months ago;
  
• I work for a campus newspaper that publishes once a week in the summertime;
  
• There's not a lot of news or events to cover in the summertime;
  
• The most I've usually pushed my camera for this summer is scampering around campus for construction ($250 million of construction this summer) shots and student portraits;
  
• I'm so weak that I consider the 20D+grip to be very heavy already (I keep telling myself that I'll get used to it soon);
  
• I've assiduously avoided flash, because for the past three years I exclusively used three point-and-shoot models and the little on-board flash was horrifyingly bad;
  

mrklaw wrote in post #6084866
Would it have helped though? I took a similar shot (very bright background behind my son) and wanted some fill flash. But popping up the flash just massively over exposed the whole scene - presumably because it maxes out at 1/250 and doesn't support hss? Didn't check my aperture (it was wide for a previous portrait shot) but don't know if i could have brought the shutter speed down enough.

There's a custom function, I think it's called Aperture Safety Shift, that will automatically adjust your aperture to allow 1/250 if you attach a flash.

Not quite, that locks the SHUTTER speed at 1/250s when using flash in Av mode, but if you're outside, you will still most likely blow out the background at 1/250s (even at ISO100). For decent fill results, you really need an external speedlight with HSS.

bieber wrote in post #6086880
There's a custom function, I think it's called Aperture Safety Shift, that will automatically adjust your aperture to allow 1/250 if you attach a flash.

Anyway, that custom function is a waste because you can just as easily achieve 1/250s by going into manual mode and setting the shutter speed there. Indoors you should generally be in M mode anyway as Av will most likely give you too slow of a shutter speed which will result in blurring.

That's a great way to learn! You take a crummy photo in a new environment and you figure out what what wrong and how to prevent it in the future

hbdragon88 wrote in post #6086855
But I'm learning and today I'll get my sister outside and play with the 420EX and make sure that I won't get caught dead like this again.

I think you'll find you can do some really neat things with flash, both outside and inside!

Good luck!

Manual mode is best. Use direct flash outdoors and bounce it or use a diffuser indoors. I highly recommend the Lumiquest Pro Max system. When indoors, you will want to use a flash bracket to avoid weird shadows. The camera flip type is the best. If you can't get one now, just shoot in landscape mode and crop as desired. Watch your histogram and use + or - fec to adjust .

egordon99 wrote in post #6087130
Not quite, that locks the SHUTTER speed at 1/250s when using flash in Av mode, but if you're outside, you will still most likely blow out the background at 1/250s (even at ISO100). For decent fill results, you really need an external speedlight with HSS.



Anyway, that custom function is a waste because you can just as easily achieve 1/250s by going into manual mode and setting the shutter speed there. Indoors you should generally be in M mode anyway as Av will most likely give you too slow of a shutter speed which will result in blurring.

You're thinking of a different C.Fn. This one isn't specific to flash: it simply adjusts aperture or shutter if necessary to prevent overexposure or underexposure, in cases where it's impossible to adjust what it's supposed to adjust (i.e. if you're in shutter priority, but your shutter speed is too fast to get a decent exposure, it'll lower it). And yes, you can shift yourself into manual mode, but that doesn't help you if you didn't realize the need for it in the first place. Every now and then, you find yourself unexpectedly needing to pop up the built-in flash for a little fill, and it's not hard at all to fail to realize that you have it set in Av at an aperture where 1/250 will completely blow out everything.

Aha! Got it now.....Had a major brain f*rt earlier today

bieber wrote in post #6088013
You're thinking of a different C.Fn. This one isn't specific to flash: it simply adjusts aperture or shutter if necessary to prevent overexposure or underexposure, in cases where it's impossible to adjust what it's supposed to adjust (i.e. if you're in shutter priority, but your shutter speed is too fast to get a decent exposure, it'll lower it). And yes, you can shift yourself into manual mode, but that doesn't help you if you didn't realize the need for it in the first place. Every now and then, you find yourself unexpectedly needing to pop up the built-in flash for a little fill, and it's not hard at all to fail to realize that you have it set in Av at an aperture where 1/250 will completely blow out everything.

bieber wrote in post #6088013
You're thinking of a different C.Fn. This one isn't specific to flash: it simply adjusts aperture or shutter if necessary to prevent overexposure or underexposure, in cases where it's impossible to adjust what it's supposed to adjust (i.e. if you're in shutter priority, but your shutter speed is too fast to get a decent exposure, it'll lower it). And yes, you can shift yourself into manual mode, but that doesn't help you if you didn't realize the need for it in the first place. Every now and then, you find yourself unexpectedly needing to pop up the built-in flash for a little fill, and it's not hard at all to fail to realize that you have it set in Av at an aperture where 1/250 will completely blow out everything.

really? on a 40D? Will have to have a look.

to be honest, in that situation, I'd probably have preferred the low dof shot with a slightly dark face which could be sorted in PP (wasn't almost black like the OP), rather than stop massively down. But it does sound a handy function for those times I forget.

I took a look on my 20D yesterday, and it's called "Safety Shift in Av or Tv," and it's towards the end of the custom functions (I think around 17 or 18 )