 Pieter J. Roelofse |
Flash Photography Dear Sir I have always had a problem with flash photography. My pictures have always been OK, but not great ! I am an advanced amateur photographer, but needs some help with flash photography. I own a Canon EOS Elan 7E and a Sunpak PZ400AF flash unit. Its easy enough to use the flash in program mode on my Canon, but how do I use flash exposure compensation. I feel that if I can master this feature, I can do anything. Its the one thing thats been on my mind for so long. What do I do when I am in a dark situation and I want to use the flash as my main light ? What exactly is flash exposure compensation and exactly how do I use it. I can use that on my camera by setting the flash compensation to -2, -1 0, +1, +2 and halfs in between. I also need help with fill flash and hopw to use my flash in all manual mode. Thanks Pieter Roelofse
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
flash compensation will cut down or increase the power of the flash instead of shooting the usual amount that the sensor says it needs to. If you only needed a little bit of flash to add some light to somebody's face that had the sun behind them, you could go -1 to cut down the power. To prevent an unnatural looking real bright face with real bright backlight. Or if for some reason you needed to add more power to the flash if you thought something was throwing off your flash sensor, like a large white area.
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RoxAnne E. Franklin |
Hi Gregory, I have had this challenge with my Elan 7e and my 550ex flash for as long as I can remember and still dont have the right formula, so to speak. If I want my background blurred, but still need to use flash, I find it very difficult to get the right flash compensation to allow this to happen. It seems that I usually end up with a nice portrait with a very cluttered background. I have tried -3 stops of flash and that doesnt even give me the resutlts I'm looking for. Just thought I throw that out there to you, maybe you can give me some tips.
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
flash does add to clarity of detail, but is there anything that is preventing you from using no flash, or flash at a aperture of f/4 or bigger? Would you be able to use the flash at a low power setting and get a correct exposure at a wide aperture?
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RoxAnne E. Franklin |
I photograph alot of indoor canine agility events in the winter and spring. So, for obvious reasons, dimly lit arenas, freezing motion in some shots, etc. you can see why the need for flash is critical in these settings. If I get close enough, I can use f4 or a larger aperature, but there are times when that is impossible. I guess this is just the "magic" of photography. I want there to be a "magic recipe" and sometimes, it's just impossible to create a result that you are totally satisfied with. I usually try to set my flash -2 1/2 stops to -3 stops under my lens aperature, and sometimes it works, but I'd sure like to know how to make it work most times.
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
I thought you meant posed portraits. If you're worried about background in an action shot, then you'll have to try and fill the frame with the dog. Why do you need to use exposure compensation for a dog agility contest? You should be able to pick a spot where you can shoot tight and wait for the dog to get there.
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RoxAnne E. Franklin |
That would be the ideal situation and sometimes that works out, however, there are usually lines of 3 handlers and their dogs, I need to be "on the move" quite a bit, depending upon what particular phase of the competition is going on. It's mostly sideline distractions that hinder the shot, either by having to use flash and getting more sideline detail than you want, or having to straddle sideline activity while shooting. It's difficult to fill the frame at all times with the dog, because the dog may not be your main subject, the handler and the dog together may be what you're after. It really depends on what's going on in the arena.
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
Are you talking about reflections from the flash in the eyes of the dogs in the background? Focal length and aperture are what really make backgrounds out of focus when it comes to depth of field. If you shoot wide, you're going to have the background show more than if you use a longer focal length. Flash compensation isn't going to change that. You can't find a spot to fill the frame during one event, then move to another spot to fill the frame at the next event?
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RoxAnne E. Franklin |
Not the reflection of the eyes of the dogs in the background, I meant all the people, chairs, etc in the background that i'd like to blur out of the photo to call attention on just the handler and the dog. The beauty of agility trials is the in sync stepping and running that the handler and the dog do together, also, the handler giving the hand signals and the dog obeying. It's very difficult to show both subjects if you zoom in tight, as the dog is alot shorter than the person would be. I rarely use wide angle. I usually use my 70 - 200mm 2.8 IS lens for shots that are impossible to get close to and an 85mm lens for those zeroing in shots, where I can focus on a particular area when I want just the dog in the fram and I can get close enough. My backgrounds are slightly blurred, but I'm still trying to get them with less detail displayed and have not found a setting on my flash to allow this to happen. I'm not sure it's possible to do.
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
With those two lenses, you can shoot 2.8 all the time. And why not use the 70-200 all the time. And shoot some vertical shots, unless there's too much distance between dog and handler to get the hand signal shots.
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