Outdoor Flash - When To Use It (Or Not)

Cheers for all help Curtis,

Will experment a few things b4 the event takes place. Will call again if i need help..

Many thanks again

Jon Foster wrote in post #8631556
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.

Great writeup Curtis.

Jon... they can look perfectly natural, imo. Here are some taken at night events that would not have been possible without a flash because there was only backlighting and faces would have been buried in the shadows, for these angles. All shot at ISO 1600, most at 200mm.

Some of these I have posted before

LJR_Photoart wrote in post #8666786
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

If the sun is behind you, you really won't need fill, plus the subjects will be squinting if they are looking at you

this is great advice. i'm just starting to play with fill lighting and haven't been pleased with the results so far. i don't know why but i've been using a bounce card while outside (a waste of light and battery - i know). i'll try direct and see how that goes. i'm looking to get a 580ex2 soon also.

thanks!!

Another Thanks to Curtis!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks Curtis, been avoiding really learning how to get the best out of my 580 II for way too long, I've been bouncing in AV and P...... With your tips and the links provided I'm starting to get comfortable with it..trial, error, trial error....Bang! got it!
Again....Thanks for the time you put into this.
-Matt

Another "thank you" here

Always more to learn!

I needed this!

Thank you.

Guys,

Can someone explain their take on how they meter for the ambient light (background), using the Sunny 16 rule. By this I mean, where is the metering needle in the camera pointing after using this rule.(under or over exposed). I understand that if it is centered, then its an average tone of 18% grey scale. So if you selected the photo of the chick with tatts on her arm, and had ISO 100, sync 1/250s, f4, where would it be ??. Is it a decision based on what you want the background to look like ??

great tips thanks!

Great tutorial! Learned a few things I can add to my toolbox for the future.

Wish i found this long time ago!! I seem to be very persistant at wanting to use light modifiers like soft boxes. I think thats one reason my my pictures are being underexposed because my poor 430ExII cant push out enough power for modifiers in the bright sunny conditions.

boerewors wrote in post #13246117
Wish i found this long time ago!! I seem to be very persistant at wanting to use light modifiers like soft boxes. I think thats one reason my my pictures are being underexposed because my poor 430ExII cant push out enough power for modifiers in the bright sunny conditions.

I had a problem using gel diffusers and that was cutting down on my light a bit as well. I'm planning to try some naked flash at a wedding this weekend.

CameraMan wrote in post #13245900
Great tutorial! Learned a few things I can add to my toolbox for the future.

Same here, excellent write up

[QUOTE=Curtis N;8616245]For this shot, I rotated the camera backwards (shutter button down) to put the flash on the right side of the camera. Rotating it the other way would have made a nasty shadow by her hat brim. If you look carefully, you can see the shadow on the left side of her mug.

Never thought of this, very excellent tutorial.