question regarding using canon speedlite

wheresdavid · October 3, 2007

my question is that often times when i want to take a portrait there is not enough light to get a
'proper exposure" without camera shake even at the highest ISO and lowest aperture settings.

so how do i take a portrait using my canon speedlite so i can keep the ISO at a 100? i would like to use AV mode but i know the flash acts as fill flash and there is not enough light to handhold the camera. what do i do, use one of the preset options like auto or the little portrait icon?

hope this makes sense.

Dave

rwells · October 3, 2007

wheresdavid wrote:

my question is that often times when i want to take a portrait there is not enough light to get a
'proper exposure" without camera shake even at the highest ISO and lowest aperture settings.

so how do i take a portrait using my canon speedlite so i can keep the ISO at a 100? i would like to use AV mode but i know the flash acts as fill flash and there is not enough light to handhold the camera. what do i do, use one of the preset options like auto or the little portrait icon?

hope this makes sense.

Dave

Hey Dave,

I don't know which speedlight you have, but...

Use camera in manual mode.
Depending on what you want to do with the ambient light, & DOF, set those as you need/like.
Shutter speed only matters for ambient light at this point, and of course don't go over your x-sync speed
Set your Canon speedlight to ETTL
Use FEC to fine tune the exposure (this is the way to do it in ETTL)

Let er' rip!!!

Also, about Canon camera's (20D - 30D), and AV mode. Yes, in AV mode the camera and flash will conspire to make it fill flash

But, only when the EV is above 13 (well, actually from EV10 to EV13 it's a gradual ramp-up). So, if it's low light (below EV9), it will use it in normal ETTL mode (if that's what you have is set to)

OK, clear as mud

Give it a try, see if that works out for you...

z_28 · October 3, 2007

Depends which final effect do you want ?

Basically if ambient light is too weak - fill flash will be too weak either !
You can push up power of flash but at the same time you will lost effect of ambient light

High and without excessive noise ISO may be very handy.

sirsloop · October 3, 2007

In dark lit rooms, you probably won't be able to shoot at iso 100 and get any background lighting. You'll probably be shooting iso 400+ if you want any background light. Shoot in M, keep an eye at the exposure bar in the viewfinder and make sure it never goes to the + side. Setup your aperture to get the desired DOF, set your shutter high enough to eliminate camera shake but low enough to expose the background. Set the flash up for bounce or use a diffuser and shoot. If ggreen light on the flash lights up it exposed correctly. If you preview the photo and it looks too bright or dark, dial in EV on your flash. If the background is too bright/dark tune your shutter to compensate. If the depth of field (dof) is too narrow, adjust and shoot again. Its all good!

Scott_Quier · October 4, 2007

Manual Mode
- Set camera to manual mode
- Select your desired ISO, bearing in mind that you may be looking at 400, 800, or even 1600, depending on the conditions. Do not be afraid of 800 as the grain is nearly invisible in properly exposed images.
- Select an aperture for the DOF effect you are looking for
- Select the shutter speed you need for the amount of ambient light you would like to have in your photo. The faster the shutter speed, the more the image will appear to be a "subject in a dark cave" (assuming dark environs).
- Take a shot
- Chimp - look to your LCD for both the image and the histogram. The image will give you an idea of what your image will look like - in terms of flash to ambient balance.
- Repeat, seasoning SS, aperture, and FEC to taste.
AV Mode
- Set camera to AV - you can do the above, but AV works well for fill flash
- Select your desired aperture
- Select your desired ISO
- Look to your shutter speed. Is it equal to or below your flash synch speed? If not, then either adjust either your aperture, your ISO, or set the flash to HSS mode (if it has it).
- Take a test shot.
- Adjust your EC to increase/decrease your ambient - this will affect your shutter speed.
- Adjust your FEC to increase/decrease your flash exposure
- Take another shot, repeat until seasoned to taste.

Which is better? Only you, with time, can tell which is better for you. Having a reliable light meter makes the manual mode the best/easiest for me, though both can be done effectively without a light meter.

If indoors and the is a light colored surface near the camera (for our purposes here, 10 ft is near), adjust the flash head to bounce the light off that surface. If using the ceiling, either use the pop-up fill card or a white business card (attached to the flash head) to provide some fill for the shadows created by the flash (example, reduce/eliminate "raccoon-eyes").

rwells · October 5, 2007

Scott_Quier wrote:

Manual Mode
Set camera to manual mode

Select your desired ISO, bearing in mind that you may be looking at 400, 800, or even 1600, depending on the conditions. Do not be afraid of 800 as the grain is nearly invisible in properly exposed images.

Select an aperture for the DOF effect you are looking for

Select the shutter speed you need for the amount of ambient light you would like to have in your photo. The faster the shutter speed, the more the image will appear to be a "subject in a dark cave" (assuming dark environs).

Take a shot

Chimp - look to your LCD for both the image and the histogram. The image will give you an idea of what your image will look like - in terms of flash to ambient balance.

Repeat, seasoning SS, aperture, and FEC to taste.

AV Mode
Set camera to AV - you can do the above, but AV works well for fill flash

Select your desired aperture

Select your desired ISO

Look to your shutter speed. Is it equal to or below your flash synch speed? If not, then either adjust either your aperture, your ISO, or set the flash to HSS mode (if it has it).

Take a test shot.

Adjust your EC to increase/decrease your ambient - this will affect your shutter speed.

Adjust your FEC to increase/decrease your flash exposure

Take another shot, repeat until seasoned to taste.

Which is better? Only you, with time, can tell which is better for you. Having a reliable light meter makes the manual mode the best/easiest for me, though both can be done effectively without a light meter.

If indoors and the is a light colored surface near the camera (for our purposes here, 10 ft is near), adjust the flash head to bounce the light off that surface. If using the ceiling, either use the pop-up fill card or a white business card (attached to the flash head) to provide some fill for the shadows created by the flash (example, reduce/eliminate "raccoon-eyes").

Scott,

While our post give the same technical info, I'll have to thank you for taking the time to fill in the gaps I left with a very concise "step-by-step" guide.

Re-reading the OP's question again, I did not give enough process guide info given their experience level on the subject.

That's what I like about your replies... Detailed and with an eye to the questionnaire's experience level (subjective here, no one take offense) per the topic asked about.

Again, good on ya'

Dave, you've got some good info now, give er' a whirl...

Scott_Quier · October 5, 2007

rwells wrote:

Scott,

While our post give the same technical info, I'll have to thank you for taking the time to fill in the gaps I left with a very concise "step-by-step" guide.

Re-reading the OP's question again, I did not give enough process guide info given their experience level on the subject.

That's what I like about your replies... Detailed and with an eye to the questionnaire's experience level (subjective here, no one take offense) per the topic asked about.

Again, good on ya'

Dave, you've got some good info now, give er' a whirl...

Ahh, gee. All part of the service, sir!

Actually, I have garnered so much information from fellow DGrinners that I feel an obligation to give back when and as I can. This is just one small installment.

But, thanks for the kind words. I really appreciate them.

wheresdavid · October 6, 2007

Thanks everyone
Now i have plenty of amo to go out and start practising using my flash.

i appreciate all the help!
dave

Cason · October 6, 2007

rwells wrote:

Shutter speed only matters for ambient light at this point, and of course don't go over your x-sync speed

I've heard this several times. Say you set your shutter at 1\15. Your subjects are the bride and groom dancing. You want them and all the guests in the background watching. I understand that 1\15 will allow the ambient to come through; however, won't the subjects be motioned blurred?

saurora · October 6, 2007

Scott_Quier wrote:

Repeat, seasoning SS, aperture, and FEC to taste.

Great 'recipe' Scott! I cut and pasted it into my 'recipe box'.

Scott_Quier · October 6, 2007

RTP wrote:

I've heard this several times. Say you set your shutter at 1\15. Your subjects are the bride and groom dancing. You want them and all the guests in the background watching. I understand that 1\15 will allow the ambient to come through; however, won't the subjects be motioned blurred?

At that shutter speed and generally speaking, yep! It all depends on how fast they are moving. If they are more or less still - you can get a decently sharp shot - depending on your camera holding technique. But, again, 1/15 is very slow and you will get motion blur.

Everything's a trade-off. You have to balance your desire for ambient light with the competing desire for sharp photographs. In dark receptions, you aren't going to be able to do both. The up-side is that, usually, when you are shooting for ambient light, you are more after the mood of the event than sharp photos. The motion blur can then be sold as artistic treatment.

rwells · October 6, 2007

RTP wrote:

[/list]I've heard this several times. Say you set your shutter at 1\15. Your subjects are the bride and groom dancing. You want them and all the guests in the background watching. I understand that 1\15 will allow the ambient to come through; however, won't the subjects be motioned blurred?

Hey Cason,

When I got to the point that I wanted to know about flash photography more than "turn it on, and it works", the biggest stumbling point was to make the mental break concerning aperture/shutter speed, and how they now differ in their rolls when using flash.

There are excellent articles on explaining this. I don't know if I can do a good enough job with the explanation for you, but I'll give it a try. If I don't succeed, please do a google search and read the many good write-ups on the subject.

Let me start off my saying that the statement was also connected to the one above it, meaning; when using flash, and you have set your desired aperture for DOF, THEN the shutter speed only affects the ambient light.

Meaning: Changing the shutter speed will not affect the "flash" exposure. (if kept below the X-sync speed)

______________________________________________________________

This example uses camera in manual mode to control everything:

First, let's think this through like we were not using a flash. (ambient light)

Also, let's think of this as though we had sufficient ambient light. (for now)

Would 1/15 sec. be the shutter speed you would use on a dancing couple and people moving around in the background? (provided that you don't want them blurred)

I don't think so... So, what would you use? 1/90 ~ 1/250 right? We want to stop any motion, so we need a shutter speed well above 1/15 sec. Let's use 1/200 sec. OK, now they are frozen.

Alright, now we need to set the aperture. I want the couple in focus, but I want the people/background out of focus. Let's choose f/4 to do this. (let's just say this is correct with your selected ISO for proper EV)

OK, let's turn the lights back down to our inside dance example. We still have the aperture set to the DOF that we want, and we still have the shutter speed set high enough that nobody will be blurred, but now, with the ambient light level being low, the whole picture is going to be very underexposed.

Let's turn on our flash (let's just use ETTL here)...

Now, as far as the above info goes, the DOF is how we want it (aperture setting), the shutter speed is where we need it so that motion is frozen, and the flash will illuminate the "dancing" couple correctly due to ETTL talking with the camera meter.

The flash duration on most speedlights will be in the 1/4000 ~ 1/10000 range. At this fast a duration, you can see that shutter speed is not going to have any bearing on the light that the sensor sees from the "flash". (there's that statement in question again )

So now we have a picture where the dancing couple is properly exposed, while the people in the background are OOF & underexposed.

That's just the way it is. You can't have it both ways... (with low ambient light levels & stopping motion)

Also, the statement did mention not to exceed the camera's x-sync speed. That's the fastest speed that the camera can synch with the flash. (let's not get into FP, or high-speed synch here)

Well, I hope I've shed some light on the subject, and specifically your question.

EDIT: Scott, you got there first while I was writing this novel

Cason · October 6, 2007

rwells wrote:

Well, I hope I've shed some light on the subject, and specifically your question.

Makes perfect sense! Thank you for taking the time to explain.

question regarding using canon speedlite

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