 Sherri McGee |
How to Use Flash and Flash Meter I have the Nikon D70 and the SB-800 flash unit. I usually avoid taking photos inside but sometimes it can't be helped. My husband is retiring from the military in a few months and my nephew is getting married in October. I will need to use my flash for these events. I'm not the professional at the wedding but I want to take nice photos. If I'm taking a photo inside a dark hall, which mode do I put my camera and flash on? I thought about buying the Sekonic L-358 meter. Will the meter help? Do I have to use a sync cord with the Sekonic meter? I would appreciate any help you can give me.
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Jon Close |
The separate flash meter is best used in a studio setting and full manual settings. In the situations you describe you are best off using the i-TTL Balanced Fill Flash metering of your D70 + SB-800. Use P mode, or to set a longer shutter speed (1/15-1/60) to keep the background from going too dark use S. If the ceilings are not too high (about 12 feet or less) and your subject not too far away (<15 feet), use bounce flash to avoid harsh shadows.
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Kathy F. Nash |
Hi! I am joining your Q&A because I, too, have the D70/SB800 combination. I thought I'd be ok indoors at night for an awards dinner, and forgot that when I put the camera to a vertical angle, the speedlight would be off to one side, creating shadows on the other! I am just now learning how to use my SB800. Any tips would be great! I know that I can get special mounts for it, as well as the SB600 'slaves'. I was doing panoramic shots to merge in Photoshop, and found that the light ambience of the room also changed from shot to shot; I needed to use exposure lock! I did have it set on S. I have to go relocate my manual! (-:
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Raj |
Hi All, Thought of clarifying further on replies to Sherri. I have struggled with flash photography - 'using flash and the metering'. In the case above how would you control so that the foreground object doesnt overexpose while still exposing the background nicely (acceptable amount of light)
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Jon Close |
To Raj, There are actually 2 exposures in flash photography. The output of the speedlight and the lens aperture combine to control the exposure given to the near subject lit by the flash. But the flash is of very short duration and its effect dissapates quickly with distance, so it adds little or no light to the background. The exposure of the background is controled with the combination of shutter speed and aperture. To lighten up a dark background one needs to use a shutter speed longer than the x-sync speed. This is called slow-sync flash or "dragging the shutter." The flash is of very short duration (1/1000 to 1/10,000 sec), so it gives the same amount of light to the near subject regardless of the shutter speed. The near subject will only be overexposed by the flash if the flash-to-subject distance is too short and/or the lens aperture too wide.
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Kathy F. Nash |
Jon, Isn't it also true that the focal length of the lens is an issue? I understand that it has a limit of 300mm or so, and that using a 400mm zoom would obscure some of the light?
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robert G. Fately |
Hey, kids, Jon, as usual, has offered some very sound advice. Kathy, let me clarify for you, though: The focal length of the lens per se isn't an issue - if I stand over here and you are over there, and I use a 28MM lens and then take a second shot with a 400MM lens, in both cases you should be properly illuminated but the flash unit. Of course, in the second shot I might only get your nose, but the illumination is not the issue. The reason some folks have problems with longer lenses and hot-shot-mounted flash is because the lens itself might cast a shadow on the lower part of the subject if a)it is physically long enough and b) you are close enough. Now a different issue could be that with that 400 or 600 MM lens you can't focus close enough to make the flash useful anyway - as Jon points out, light dissapates at the square of the distance, so you get X amount of light at 10 feet and 1/4X at 20 feet and 1/9X at 30 feet. SInce you usually use 400MM lenses from 30 or more feet away, that might not amount to enough light for proper exposure. As for the shadows when you twist the camera to portrait orientation - this is why there are flash brackets (StroboFrame, Custom Brackets, and others) and/or flash diffusers (Gary Fong, Sto-Fen, Lumiquest). These accessories maintain the flash positioned above the lens even when you turn the camera sideways, and help to spread the light more evenly to avoid harsh shadows. Hope that helps,
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Raj |
Jon, Thanx for yr time. So, if I were lower the flash intensity, I believe that wud help not to overexpose foreground image in addition to of course getting a proper distance to object. Sorry to drag further yr valuable time, what would yr advice be on metering the situation then - spot meter the foreground object? If u would advice on any URL/book that explains in detail managing exposure and metering with flash photography, I'll be glad to read and learn - I use a olympus e1 and FL20 flash (2nd hand). Thanx.
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