Outdoor Flash - When To Use It (Or Not)

Curtis N wrote in post #8616245

Is that "Miss Boone's Farm"? I didn't think women of that calibur drank that stuff

Great write up! I am now knowing that flash and metering needs to be my next concern with my photography skills. I have been looking to get a flash for the camera. Would a 430ex fit the bill?

i"m sorry - what's this thread about? I got sidetracked by the 'busty' pictures...

thanks for sharing this information, now i know how to maximize and properly use my flash indoors or outdoors.....cheers!

Roy G. Biv wrote in post #8627952
Is that "Miss Boone's Farm"? I didn't think women of that calibur drank that stuff

Roy,
She's Miss Boone County Fair, as in Boone County, Illinois. And she hasn't yet reached legal drinking age.

iAMB wrote in post #8628076
I have been looking to get a flash for the camera. Would a 430ex fit the bill?

The 430EX could have been used for any of the shots in this thread. The 580EX II will give you about 35% more distance. There are lots of other differences, though. Plenty of threads here about those differences. Buy the best flash you can afford.

Jon Foster wrote in post #8621826
It kills the catch light in the subjects eyes. That alone is worth using it to me. Most people never even realize I used a flash.
Jon.

Are catch lights not desired?

greazyjungle wrote in post #8628445
i"m sorry - what's this thread about? I got sidetracked by the 'busty' pictures...

Wow, way to drag an educational thread down to the gutter. Nice work!

BCRose wrote in post #8631140
Are catch lights not desired?

When I shoot outdoor events I like the shots to look as natural as possible. I try to get shots that don't look like they've been lit by a flash. Nothing wrong with it, just a personal preference thing I guess.

Jon.

Curtis, as always you are very helpful and have rightly earned the title "flash guru".

I've found that often a shutter speed of 1/200 on my rebel simply isn't fast enough in outdoor shots to prevent blowing out the picture unless it goes down to an aperture of f22 which is terrible since most lenses lose sharpness when you stop them down too much. It seems that avoiding using HSS means your apertures willy usually be very small and you'll never get nice bokeh....just a thought..

Fremen,

Make sure your ISO is at 100. Then you shouldn't need f/22 unless you're trying to underexpose the ambient. 1/200 shutter, f/11 at ISO 100 should be about right in bright sunshine.

and... welcome to POTN!

Hi guys i have just bought myself a 580exII and was wondering, if anyone could shed a couple of tipps on using it for outside light fill,

lets say i stand the flash mounted on a tripod with a 40x40 softbox about 6feet away 45 degree angle on it, and have a reflector to the right of it but this being 4 feet for reflecting light back for harsh shadowing, presuming the sun is coming from behind the subject....

any help would be great as i am still learning,

Cheers

Lee

Lee,

Any method if diffusing the light from a flash unit, including a large softbox, will severely reduce the effective range of the flash unit. A 580EX II in a 40x40 softbox, 6 feet away, will not effectively compete with the sun. It may have some utility on an overcast day, or near sunset.

I have successfully used a silver umbrella 3 feet away on a shaded subject. But you won't get more than a head & shoulders shot that way.

As you gain experience using direct, hotshoe flash, you'll learn more about the limitations of your flash unit.

Ok would any difference be made if the sun was behind me and i had this set just to gain some fill light.... i have to take photos of kids at a play school for christmas photos, outside in october, now here its still quite warm then not sure what the sun will be like..... but any tipps on the kit i have would make the pics look ok

Cheers

lee

Lee,

Fill flash does not need to be diffused. You're filling shadows, not creating them. All the flash shots in the first two posts in this thread were taken with direct, undiffused hotshoe flash.

Just put it on your hotshoe, point it forward and fire away.