 Keith Penney |
Flash problems.... Thank You,
|
|||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
Kerry L. Walker |
I am not really sure what to tell you except that you have way too much light. Why are you using 2 lights? When I use 2 lights, I use one as the main light (off camera) and the second as the fill light (on camera at 1/2 power). I use this setup only when I am doing formal portraits and then I use a flash meter to determine the f-stop. I would suggest two things. First, use only one flash for shots like this. It is difficult to use a flash meter to determine the setting when you are shooting unposed shots. Second, I would attach a mini-softbox to the flash. That will diffuse the flash and eliminate the hot spots. Even when using 2 flashes, I use softboxes.
|
|||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
Keith Penney |
Kerry, Thank you for taking the time...I will try the softbox thing. Thanks, Keith
|
|||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
Michael H. Cothran |
Keith, I think your problem is elewhere: When you hook up two ttl flashes, your default ttl reading is usually from the flash mounted on your camera, not the remote flash. Both flashes will fire at the same ttl power level according to this reading, so if the remote flash is nearer your subject, this would explain the over exposure. Michael H. Cothran www.mhcphoto.net
|
|||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
Maynard McKillen |
Dear Keith: Mike and Kerry are both right. Now, you didn't say this specifically in your description, but do you point both flash units directly at the subjects? I ask because with two flash units, one off camera, you could point the latter at the background and not the subject. My thinking is that you could do so to brighten up the background. Photographers who point two flash units at a subject, whether both units are in TTL mode or manual mode, do so (I hope)in your circumstances to provide light which renders the subjects more three dimensional. This lighting can sometimes look more natural, as if you weren't using flash. That second, off-camera flash, if it's off to your right for example, tends to create slightly higher values on the right side of the subject (seen from the subjects' viewpoint), leaving the left side of the subject to be lit more exclusively by the flash on the camera or camera bracket. Many of the people who view your images are probably content with the lighting provided by a single flash that is mounted on a bracket above your camera, so the second light could be used to illuminate the background. Many digital cameras cannot accurately render subjects that contain a wide range of brightness, whether that is because of the range of reflectivity in the subject, or the range/uneveness of the illumination of that subject, or, even worse, because both challenges are present. You will hear photographers say that shooting with a digital camera is similar to shooting with a conventional film camera that is loaded with slide film. In such circumstances, the photographer tries to keep lighting ratios low, and also tries to keep the range of subject contrast low. At a dance, you take the subjects' clothing as a given. If she's in black and he's in white, you do your best to keep your lighting ratio low. Kerry's suggestion, using softboxes, is a good one, because it will take your SB-800s, which are specular sources, and convert them into more diffuse sources. Light from the "softboxed" SB-800s will wrap around the subjects more, lowering the lighting ratio and decreasing the possibility of hot spots that you struggle to correct in Photoshop. You and Michael are also both aware that you have the ability to ratio the lighting by both your choice of power settings on the SB-800s, and their placement relative to each other and the subjects, so you have to take care in positioning that second, off-camera flash. My suggestion about using the second flash to light the background arises because this would also lower the range of brightness values in the image. I'm a bit suspicious about using program mode, even though the SB-800s are fully dedicated. You can set the camera in manual exposure mode, say f/8 at 1/60th, 1/90th or /125th of a second, and still leave the flash units in TTL mode. And if you do decide to keep both flash units pointed at your subjects, I'd say the bigger the softboxes you can use, the better.
|
|||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
Keith Penney |
Michael and Maynard, Thank you for joining in.I can't thank you enough for spending your time... Keith
|
|||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
This old forum is now archived. Use improved Forum here
Report this Thread |
||||||||