backyard snap

Elaine

Yesterday we hosted a going-away party for some friends who are moving out of state. There were 14 kids (7 and under) running around and I tried to grab some shots as they played. I also tried to use fill flash with high speed sync, which I had never done before. I've just begun to work up the shots and most are snapshot quality, just trying to capture some memories for our friends. This is one of the kids who is moving away and I was especially happy with how it turned out. Thanks for looking!

jeffreaux2

That's nice Elaine!!!...and you are going to love high speed synch. You will be able to use those wide open apertures...and flash...with no worries about synch speed.

Elaine

Thanks, Jeff. My comfort level is not quite there yet, but that may be due to shooting manual while following kids in changing light conditions. I would get set for one part of the yard and then travel to a brighter area and forget to check my exposure, so I had a few blow outs and some dark shots, too. For this sort of thing, I think next time I'll go with AV +1/3 or something. Being able to use a flash at high speeds is very nice, indeed. Now I just need to mess with the gels!

urbanaries

Elaine wrote:

Thanks, Jeff. My comfort level is not quite there yet, but that may be due to shooting manual while following kids in changing light conditions. I would get set for one part of the yard and then travel to a brighter area and forget to check my exposure, so I had a few blow outs and some dark shots, too. For this sort of thing, I think next time I'll go with AV +1/3 or something. Being able to use a flash at high speeds is very nice, indeed. Now I just need to mess with the gels!

This shot is TACK SHARP!!! Just gorgeous light, colors and capture. Nicely balanced flash exposure...wow.

It is the reason you state above that I've relied on using Av in outdoor conditions...flash or no flash. Definitely a life-saver outdoors!

jeffreaux2

Elaine wrote:

Thanks, Jeff. My comfort level is not quite there yet, but that may be due to shooting manual while following kids in changing light conditions. I would get set for one part of the yard and then travel to a brighter area and forget to check my exposure, so I had a few blow outs and some dark shots, too. For this sort of thing, I think next time I'll go with AV +1/3 or something. Being able to use a flash at high speeds is very nice, indeed. Now I just need to mess with the gels!

The situation you describe is the main reason I choose to shoot AV mode when I am doing my outdoor portrait walkarounds. I keep the lcd set to display the histogram, and just ride the exposure compensation(on camera) to expoae to the right, and flash's FEC wheel to set flash to tastes.

Manual definately has great advantages IF the light is unchanging, but if I am on the move it gets to be bothersome very quickly.

Tima and place for everything I guess....luckily Canon was kind enough to give us plenty to choose from!

Elaine

urbanaries wrote:

This shot is TACK SHARP!!! Just gorgeous light, colors and capture. Nicely balanced flash exposure...wow.

It is the reason you state above that I've relied on using Av in outdoor conditions...flash or no flash. Definitely a life-saver outdoors!

Thanks, Lynne! That would be the 17-55 2.8 IS at work! This was shot at 3.2. That lens is certainly my work horse.
It's funny...I used to use AV mode all the time, and a few months ago I forced myself to use manual for a whole week and I've continued to use it since then. This situation was a good reminder that it's OK to use whatever mode suits the circumstances best.
Thanks for stopping by!

Elaine

jeffreaux2 wrote:

The situation you describe is the main reason I choose to shoot AV mode when I am doing my outdoor portrait walkarounds. I keep the lcd set to display the histogram, and just ride the exposure compensation(on camera) to expoae to the right, and flash's FEC wheel to set flash to tastes.

Manual definately has great advantages IF the light is unchanging, but if I am on the move it gets to be bothersome very quickly.

Tima and place for everything I guess....luckily Canon was kind enough to give us plenty to choose from!

Yes, it is nice to have options! I still am so happy that I can set this camera (40D) to show my histograms immediately after the shot. My old one didn't work that way, and this feature makes quick tweaking (riding the exposure comp) so much simpler. I was wondering if adjusting the flash's FEC wheel was what I was supposed to do. That's what I did (I mostly left it at -2/3) but I felt like I was cheating somehow because I'm really not an experienced flash user! I hope I get some more chances to try this stuff out this summer.

jeffreaux2

Elaine wrote:

Yes, it is nice to have options! I still am so happy that I can set this camera (40D) to show my histograms immediately after the shot. My old one didn't work that way, and this feature makes quick tweaking (riding the exposure comp) so much simpler. I was wondering if adjusting the flash's FEC wheel was what I was supposed to do. That's what I did (I mostly left it at -2/3) but I felt like I was cheating somehow because I'm really not an experienced flash user! I hope I get some more chances to try this stuff out this summer.

I use the cameras exposure compensation to get the exposure where I want on the histogram. I use the FEC wheel to set enough flash to provide the needed fill, but hopefully to not throw strong shadows. Much of this relies on tastes. For frame filling close-ups, I dial all the way back to -3 and adjust from there rather than the other way around. -1 is usually a good starting point for most everything else. Of course distance plays the major role here.

Elaine

jeffreaux2 wrote:

I use the cameras exposure compensation to get the exposure where I want on the histogram. I use the FEC wheel to set enough flash to provide the needed fill, but hopefully to not throw strong shadows. Much of this relies on tastes. For frame filling close-ups, I dial all the way back to -3 and adjust from there rather than the other way around. -1 is usually a good starting point for most everything else. Of course distance plays the major role here.

Good info...thanks for sharing.

shatch

Elaine! This is great. What a fun photo!

Scott_Quier

jeffreaux2 wrote:

I use the cameras exposure compensation to get the exposure where I want on the histogram. I use the FEC wheel to set enough flash to provide the needed fill, but hopefully to not throw strong shadows. Much of this relies on tastes. For frame filling close-ups, I dial all the way back to -3 and adjust from there rather than the other way around. -1 is usually a good starting point for most everything else. Of course distance plays the major role here.

This is a nice, concise statement of how to best (?) use on-camera flash for fill and how to dial the power up/down to get some really pleasing results - and Jeff has shown us how to get these results many times. Thanks for the overview, Jeff - one more tool in my tool box

Elaine,

I've hesitated to post here - just think and loving that photo and really didn't have much to add to what's already been said. But, I think Lynne has said it best ...

urbanaries wrote:

This shot is TACK SHARP!!! Just gorgeous light, colors and capture. Nicely balanced flash exposure...wow.

Elaine

Scott_Quier wrote:

This is a nice, concise statement of how to best (?) use on-camera flash for fill and how to dial the power up/down to get some really pleasing results - and Jeff has shown us how to get these results many times. Thanks for the overview, Jeff - one more tool in my tool box

Elaine,

I've hesitated to post here - just think and loving that photo and really didn't have much to add to what's already been said. But, I think Lynne has said it best ...

Thanks for the Scott!