 Cindy Lozar |
Flash problems I recently purchased a studio flash w/umbrella and I've never used one before. The problem I had before this purchase was on indoor shots. Most of the time, half the photo was dark and the other half light. Since I got the studio flash, the result has been the same. My slave flash on my camera was angled rather than direct on the subject. I've bene asked to take pictures at prom and need them to be perfect. What am I doing wrong?
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Jeff S. Kennedy |
If your flash shots are coming out with only half the frame exposed that indicates that you are shooting above your cameras sync speed. What shutter speed are you using and what kind of camera is it?
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Cindy Lozar |
The camera I'm using is a Canon Rebel G. Last night I was just playing around, trying to get use to the flash unit and had it on the basic setting for pictures. If I use the pop up flash that's on the camera, then things are ok. However, it's when I use the slave that's causing problems. Prom is only 2 weeks away. Do I need to add another light?
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John A. Lind |
Cindy, When you use the studio light alone . . . without the pop-up built in to your camera . . . you must set the shutter speed manually to 1/90th or slower, the Rebel G's X-sync speed. Put the camera in manual exposure mode and set the shutter speed to 1/90th or 1/60th second. When using studio flash (a.k.a. monolight or strobe), exposure is basically controlled by a combination of the power level you manually set on the studio strobe and setting lens aperture manually. Shutter speed is manually set to ensure the shutter is completely open when the flash fires. From your description of what's happening, it's most likely that the camera is automatically setting itself to the X-sync speed (or slower) when you pop up the built-in flash and activate it. If nothing automatically signals the camera to do this through the pop-up or the hot shoe, it will pick shutter speed on its own . . . unless you manually force it to X-sync or slower. Regarding setting exposure . . . through a combination of power adjustment on the studio light and manually setting lens aperture, you should be using a "flash meter." This is a special type of hand held exposure meter. There are some inexpensive ones under $100 that will work OK for what you are doing. -- John
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