Almost a year ago Blarney Photography Club held a photo session using flash to help members get used to flash guns. A lone popcorn underneath a radiator. 🙂
| Aperture | ƒ/9 |
| Camera | ILCE-7M3 |
| Focal length | 70mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/40s |
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Tag: flash
If you have an external flash (and this even applies to the onboard flash but that’s a lot weaker) for your DSLR try shooting with the camera in manual mode and let the flash light the scene for you.
Canon flash units use E-TTL to figure out what power to use, Nikon and other manufacturers use something similar. In the bad old days photographs had to figure out the right settings with a light meter but now the tiny computer in your flash does the job automatically. This means you have a lot more freedom with your camera.
Instead of shooting in Program or auto mode switch the dial to M and change the aperture to F8, and the speed of the shutter to match how wide your lens is (or faster if you’re hand holding, try 1/50th of a second to start). Try shooting an indoor scene with objects at various distances. Do the same in Program mode too. You’ll probably find that objects that are blurry in Program mode are in-focus in manual mode!
By shooting in manual mode you’ll have more control over the depth of field, that is the area of the scene that will be in focus. F4 means that only a narrow sliver of the scene will be in focus but F8 broadens that. This is why those family portraits you shot in Program mode had some blurry faces in the background!
Many lenses produce sharper and better looking images at a certain aperture setting. F8 is widely suggested as a good starting point but it depends on the lens in question.
Unfortunately changing the aperture means less light gets to the sensor but your flash will do a good job of compensating for that. It can’t cope with every aperture setting or scene so experiment and get to know your equipment.
On Canon cameras Manual mode is better than Aperture priority mode for simple flash photography. In Aperture priority mode the camera adjusts the shutter speed for the ambient light and doesn’t use the flash in this calculation. In a dim room this will result in a long exposure. The flash will illuminate the subject but the background will be exposed for too. This is of course a valid way of taking photos but you have to be prepared for some camera shake, or you can underexpose the image on purpose to reduce the shutter speed. Long exposure shots with a flash produce some great looking action shots too, but be sure to set the 2nd curtain sync correctly! Here’s a good comparision of 1st and 2nd curtain sync.
Here’s some good advice and tips on the subject for Canon EOS owners.
| Aperture | ƒ/5.6 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 40D |
| Focal length | 88mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/30s |
2 chicks are fed by a parent just outside the window of my home office here in Blarney.
The chicks have been there all evening and I just looked out again and they’re still there. Unfortunately the neighbour’s cat, Patches, saw them too and is keeping a vigil close by. We saw the parent bird literally dive bomb the cat several times but Patches won’t be moved.
A moment before this shot was taken the first chick was fed. I have a photo of that too but I thought this was the better one.
Is it common for young birds to huddle together on a wire in the shelter of a house? It troubles me that they might be in danger or injured and can’t fly away. Anyone know?
| Aperture | ƒ/6.3 |
| Camera | Canon EOS 40D |
| Focal length | 200mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/60s |
Categories
How to build a pop-up flash diffuser
If you use the built-in flash on your camera you’re probably used to the ugly effect direct light has on portraits and scenes: red eye, background shadows and foreground brightness, lost blown out detail. You can avoid all that by buying an external flash and bouncing or you can build a flash diffuser to sit in front of your camera.
Looks like a fun project to try too!
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In Summary, 11th June 2007
A few links you will find useful and interesting as we start another week.
- Cardboard bounce flash for your SLR using only your onboard flash. I might try this with my Panasonic FZ5
- Protect Your Photos: How to Defend Your Copyright – I have a keen interest in this after my Thieving Duck became a joke email attachment.
- Four ways to bounce a flash – yet more tips on flash bouncing. Why? Don’t you want to avoid that ugly shadow behind your subjects, let alone avoid the dreaded red eye?
- Following on from my previous post on photographing children, here’s a two part series: The Complete Guide to Children Photography – Part I and part 2. I’ll try some of these techniques and post some more photos of Adam!
- What does Paris Hilton have in common with an iconic image of the Vietnam War? Mike Johnston reveals the surprising coincidence.
- Bibble Labs 4.98 has been released and from a brief pla with it last night it appears to show thumbnail images more quickly than before. Recommended upgrade if you use this software!
Categories
Lighting 101 – all in one place
David at Strobist has linked to all his flash lighting articles in one place. It’s a really good place to go if you want to get the most out of your flash.
Another great resource is Photonotes: Eos Flash for users of Canon cameras and flash units. There’s some great bits of info there.