Help with 10D & 580EX please

Hi,

A friend has asked me to do a few shots of a reception this weekend. I have bought a 580EX for this purpose with a buncha diffusers (stofen and LS2) but am hoping the light in the hall will be fine for the lenses i have (24-70 f2.8L and 85 f1.8) and so not have to use flash (i kinda don't like using flashes).

My questions are essentially these - should I use auto white balance or should I use flash white balance? Also, M mode or P? If M, any particular settings you would recommend? Are there any other things I need to change for settings eg sync etc etc?

I do this as a hobby so don't know all the ins and outs etc, very limited knowledge so please please bear with me if these questions sound stupid. My paying job doesn't leave much time to do any reading for non-related subjects, otherwise I would just buy a buncha books and go on courses to learn more.

Thanks in advance,
Saqib.

Well, the available light in the hall is a complete unknown, so you can't set anything specific and expect perfect results. You could shoot a custom white balance and go that way.

Shooting with standard auto flash (and flash white balance) is going to be about the most foolproof.

M mode can be tricky and too slow to manipulate if you are trying to use flash and your subjects are changing rapidly. I'm guessing that you will not be shooting with ambient light only, so M metering will throw you off.

I shoot nearly all flash with P mode.

Use ordinary ETTL or ETTL-II flash and keep your shutter speed at the maximum sync speed. Your camera will likely block you from going faster, and there is no advantage in going slower.

If you want to, shoot a few test shots with flash, and notice how they look on the rear display and histogram. You might need to crank up the flash exposure compensation by +2/3 or something like that. That is something you cannot do if you are in one of the basic zone exposure modes.

If you are shooting at relatively short flash distances, then ISO 100 may be sufficient for range. If you are trying to shoot at relatively long flash distances, then ISO 400 or 800 are good, and possibly even 1600. I never use "H", but that is just me.

For best results on people, use a flash bracket.

(edit) Sorry, I was thinking Canon 20D. You said 10D. Reduce your ISO by a stop to avoid color noise. ISO 400 or 800 is as high as you want to go.

---Bob Gross---

I have found this technique to be easier then setting a custom WB and just as accurate. Carry a white or grey card in your bag. 3x5 is fine. Shoot Raw. In the first shot of every series of shots in different lighting, include the card as a part of the picture. Then when you open up the picture in ACR, use the WB eyedropper and click on the card. You can then tell ACR to apply that WB to all the shots in that series.

Scott, you make the assumption that everybody has this program.

I, for one, do not.

---Bob Gross---

You know what they say about assume Bob . You make an ass out of you and one of me!
Many people do have CS, and my advice applies to them and anyone considering buying it or CS2. It's a great tool.
Imagine if the advice given in these forums was limited to only those things everyone had. It would get pretty boring.
I would think you can do the same in most Raw convertors, No? I believe you can do the same in BreezeBrowser as well.

I have Photoshop CS, but nothing that will open a 20D RAW file.

---Bob Gross---

Bob, I use CS (not CS2-sitting on the shelf, not installed) and have no problem opening up 20D Raw files. Do you have the latest version of the ACR plug in? It is available on the Adobe web site. The latest plugin Version 2.4 contains the 20D.
http://www.adobe.com …ads/detail.jsp?​ftpID=2701

Now why didn't I think of this. good idea. And DPP lets you apply the setting to all shots in the group too - and it's free.

awsome

Very interesting idea. As a recent JPG-RAW convert... I like this! Thank You!

One thing to be aware of is the color temperature difference between ambient lighting and flash. Your flash is putting out about 5600K, and ambient lighting indoors can vary from 2800-4500K. When you white balance for flash, the indoor lighting looks quite warm which is usually good. One thing you can do to reduce the difference between flash & ambient is to put a 1/8 CTO gel inside your diffuser to slightly warm the light of your flash. Nice for skin tones, and keeps the ambient light looking warm but not too warm.

Cool thanks

Appreciate all the replies - I will let you all know how it goes!

It wasn't my idea. Thank Bruse Frasier after you read his book, Real World Adobe Camera Raw.

There you go!

scottbergerphoto wrote:
The latest plugin Version 2.4 contains the 20D.
http://www.adobe.com …ads/detail.jsp?​ftpID=2701

This is the same one that has been out for months. It didn't work then, either.

"This program version does not supply the services, yada yada... "

---Bob Gross---