 Lesli M. Dabney |
Using flash @ evening wedding Hello, I have a question for the wedding photographers. I went to the location of a wedding I will be shooting at the end of this month to check out the scenery at night since that's when the wedding will take place. I took some practice shots outside with my digital slr, flash bracket, and external flash. They looked fine. However, when I went into the reception area, the pics looked way too bright. The walls are cream colored and the tablecloths are white. The only dark area is the floor. The lighting is dim, too. I'm not sure why this happened? The flash was set to P-TTL, ISO was 400, set the camera on auto mode. What else?? I know about flash bouncing off white walls and ceilings. Could that be the problem? Or could it be the white balance?
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Kerry L. Walker |
I will do the best that I can to help you but please understand that I am a film guy and not at all familiar with shooting with digital. From the guys that I know who shoot weddings with digital, I hear complaints of blown highlights, especially the extreme whites. Due to film's wider range, that is less of a problem for me. Now that I have written the disclaimer, let me see if I can help you. I don't know what auto mode you are shooting in but if is program mode I would like to suggest that you switch to AP (or AV as it is called now) mode and dial in less exposure with your flash. Go back to the venue and try different levels of flash and see which works best for you. Another alternative is to shoot in manual mode. Set your aperature to f/5.6 or f/8 of even f/11 - depending on what works best for you and your flash. Set your shutter speed at 1/30. Yes, I know, your camera will sync at a faster speed but this will give you more ambient light, especially in a darkened church. You may not need to shoot this slow in a well lit environment. Set your flash to TTL and try different exposure compensations with your exposure compensation dial. Just experiment to see what works best. Since you have set both the shutter speed and the aperature, the only compensation your camera will be able to make is with the flash. Try it all and see what works best for you and your camera. (BTW, I use a Pentax too; the 645N.) Good luck.
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Justin G. |
The reason you're getting blown out pics is that you're in auto mode. Not exactly the mode to be in. You're letting your camera do all the work giving you no control over your pics. In weddings you need to be the one in control. Disclaimer: I've never shot a wedding myself, but I know how to take a picture. You said you have cream walls, white table tops, and a dark floor. Well since you're in auto mode you're flash is being used as the main light. It[the meter] is taking NO consideration about the amount of light in the room, it just knows how much to set your flash to give a "correct" exposure. It's seeing the light colors and metering them as gray, and seeing "hey there's a dark floor, we need to expose higher to bring that dark floor to gray". hmm this is bad and will blow out your highlights. This is why I HATE auto mode. The camera is being the photographer, and not the photographer him/herself. Anyways, like Kerry said go into Av. This will set your flash to fill mode instead of main. This alone will probably do the trick, but Kerry's very smart, take some more test shots varying the FEC (flash exposure compensation). Try this. Good luck. Justin
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x |
OK, another prospective. Kerry has a little different method than I do, but for weddings always bounce, unless you like that nice shine from direct flash on people's faces. I hate it myself. Set your camera on "M" for manual. Take off the bracket, you don't need it. You should be bouncing. Here's where expertise comes into play, put your flash in E-TTL mode and point it straight up to the ceiling, and set your camera around 1/30 @ f/1.4 or so. Now, I say that this is where expertise comes in because you have to know how to read the histogram and understand what it's telling you as you use these settings. You'll have to make adjustments based on various factors in the room. Increase or decrease the speed or the exp comp on the flash, depending on what the histogram tells you. Sorry I can't help you much more, it's just kind of a thing you have to do when you're there. Watch your meter, watch your histogram, and suck in as much ambeint as you can. If you can turn off your flash, do it. When you're done, the goal is to not even be able to tell that flash was used at all. That's my method. Cheers,
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Kerry L. Walker |
I agree with Jerry except that I don't alway bounce. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't but if you don't bouce, (a decision made on the fly, mainly depending on how close I am to the subject, whether I have a low enough ceiling or a close enough wall, etc.) use a mini-softbox to diffuse the flash (forgot to add that to the first post). It helps get rid of those hotspots. Each method has its benefits and drawbacks. If you already know how to read your histogram or can learn by the end of the month, great. Otherwise, that method could get you into trouble. Jerry can probably read one like a book so it works great for him but I have yet to nail the ability to read a histogram on a film camera! lol (Another place where Jerry and I differ but get the same end result.)
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Cyndee Wanyonyi |
What do you bounce from if the ceilings are high? I recently shot a wedding with a slow lens and very high ceilings, low light, etc. The photos turnd out fine, but there was no way I was going to be able to use the flash effectively from my experience...
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Lesli M. Dabney |
Thanks for the advice. So a flash bracket isn't really a necessity? I get mixed answers about this. I've heard everything from "must-have" to "just an extra gadget." I'm not sure what I think of mine. I don't really like how awkward it is. I tend to move around a lot and work really fast. I don't like extra "stuff" getting in the way. But, if it will help with red eye, glass glare, and cave-looking pics, then I will make myself get used to it. So, I've been practicing in manual mode with shutter speed @ 30 and f stop 5.6 (and varying these at times to see what happens). Results are better. My next questions are these: 1. When you shoot a wedding in manual mode, do you find that you adjust the settings a lot and it takes away from the time you could be getting a good shot or do you have "staple" shutter speeds and f-stops and quickly flip to them depending on the situation? Just curious. 2. Why does my autofocus go haywire when I try to focus on something in a dark room? I have to switch to manual. . . and my eyes aren't the best, so it's scary to depend on them. 3. Is it better to set the external flash on P-TTL or Auto? I get mixed answers from this, too. I appreciate all the help I'm getting. I've even copied/printed everyone's comments to refer back to while I practice. Lesli
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x |
Cool. If you like 5.6 then use it. I don't think I ever use 5.6 except for formals. But, that's just me. By the way, everything I say here is just my little ol' opinion. There are many different views or opinions that are valid. I shoot manual whenever I use flash. It just works out better. Any of the auto modes, like AV, seem to not meter correctly and therefore, don't produce the proper amount of flash. If you use manual, your focus assist from your flash will work beautifully and will help with the focus problem. Using AV or P mode disables focus auto assist. So, that's why alot of people have problems. However, there are just general problems shooting in the dark, that's just how it is. I use my flash on E-TTL, I truly don't know what P-TTL is, but I'm sure that's it's similar. And, I dial the compensation up or down, depending. As far as the bracket, just lose it. It's a waste and not required. You can always bounce. Have an assistant hold a reflector behind you or something. Hell, I've been known to bounce off the clouds. Not really, but the if you have a stofen or something on your flash, you can point it up, even with nothing to bounce from, and you get just enough light to twinkle the eye. It's perfect. I very rarely put flash directly on a subject. If I do, it's because there is absolutely no other option. You can bounce off a bald guys head, the floor, or any surface that isn't black. Good luck.
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Justin G. |
Of course flash isn't going to expose properly on Av, it's set to fill flash. It shoots at approx 1 stop underexposure. It's not supposed to be a main light. The camera meters per the aperture you told it, then shoots the flash at 1 stop lower exposure.
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Lesli M. Dabney |
Jerry, the lens I've been using doesn't open up as wide as 1.4, but I just ordered a 50mm lens/ f1.4 and can't wait to use it. What do you think about the light spheres by Gary Fong? I've heard they are good.
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Kerry L. Walker |
"You can bounce off a bald guys head, the floor, or any surface that isn't black." No wonder people are always standing behind me to shoot! Leslie, a bracket is not a necessity. It is just something I choose to use. Every photographer has his own style. Jerry choose to bounce and I choose to use a bracket and a softbox. You just have to try different techniques and see which works best for you. If you set your camera to manual (shutter speed and f/stop) and your flash to TTL, you are still shoting in auto. It's just that you are controlling the shutter speed and aperature and the camera is adjusting the flash as needed. You can vary the f/stop to vary the DOF as you wish or you can just set it and forget it. It really depends on what you want to do. If your autofocus doesn't work too well in a dark room (or not fast enough in those conditions) just set your aperature at f/8 or so and zone focus. (Like Jerry said, the flash's focus assist should help a lot.) Setting the flash to TTL or just auto is a choice you need to make. Different folks for different folks. You will note that you get different advice from Jerry and me. It just so happens that mine is right and his is wrong. (Just kidding.) Actually, we just have different styles or working. Try each and see which works best for you or develop your own methods. There is no right or wrong method - as long as you get good results.
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