Canon 600EX

[Kolourl3lind]

Hello all. I wanted to know if there is a way to turn down the brightness of the flash. Say if I am in a dark setting and I just want a little bit of light to fill in the subject.

Also what  does the setting that change the flashes 50mm to 100mm do?  That's not the power level is it?

Also if you have a diffuser on the flash is it still better to take the diffuser off and bounce the flash instead?

[Kolourl3lind]

Thanks for all your help TCampbel. I was getting confused on some of the concepts of using the flash. I still a little fuzzy on some things but I will learn as I shoot more.

Happy Holidays to all!!!!

[Kolourl3lind]

OK. I have one more question. I have been photographing a lot of smaill indie concerts. Sometimes I can use my flash, however when I do, it usually over power the ambient light of the stage lights. Now is there any way to get a fill in flash just to light up the artist face without blowing out the rest of the lights.? The stage lights could be red or blue or green.

[MikeSowsun]

In a situation like that I would use a lot of trial and error to get it right.  

I would start by getting the camera exposure roughly where I want it without using flash, and then add just a little flash using manual flash at a very low  power setting. (1/64 maybe?) This is also where you might want to manually zoom the flash head for a narrow beam because you are not trying to light up the entire stage, 

You could also try using ETTL flash, but dial in lots of  "-"  Flash Exposure Compensation. Start with -3 FEC and work up from there if needed.   

[Kolourl3lind]

OK. I was thinking the same thing. I just wanted comfirmation. Part of my problem was that the subject was becoming a shadow on stage.  I am thinking that I also need to upgrade to a full frame camera. It seems most of the photography I am doing is extreme low light.

Ok I will practice what you suggested.

[amfoto1]

Before shooting at any venue, if it were me I'd try to go by and do some lighting tests in advance.

You might need to filter the flash's output, to match the color of the type of lighting being used (the color of the bare lighting, without any of the color filtration). You will probably need to set a custom or hand selected color temp in the camera, to keep Auto White Balance from reacting to the colored stage lighting and "correting" them.

Start with your camera on one of the automatic exposure modes, and the flash set to ETTL and FEC set to 0. The camera will try to make the image by the ambient light, recording the stage lighting, and the flash will be fired as FILL, about 1.5 to 1.7 stops underexposure. Dial it up or down as you see fit, to increase or decrease the fill, using FEC.  

You can do this manually, too, as described above. Set up the camera alone, without the flash, to record the basic exposure. Just remember that in M mode the camera will want to fire the flash as FULL, so you will need to dial it down 1.5 to 1.7 stops, or maybe a little more or a little less.

When using the camera in M, you could use the 1/4 power setting of the flash, too... but the result of that will be the same as -2 stops. The problem with using the fractional settings is that it will be full stop increments only (1/2 = 1 stop, 1/4 = 2 stops, 1/8= 3 stops, etc.)

You very likely don't want to use bounce flash in a case like this. You will need direct flash. You likely shouldn't try to diffuse the fill flash, either. Bounce or diffusion will simply force the flash to fire more powerfully and recycle more slowly. Bounce light also can cause unwanted shadoes, or if bounced off too high a ceiling or a ceiling that's too dark colored can be underpowered or lost completely, or can cause a tint if the ceiling is any color other than white.

***********
Alan Myers

San Jose, Calif., USA
"Walk softly and carry a big lens."
GEAR: 5DII, 7D(x2), 50D(x3), some other cameras, various lenses & accessories
FLICKR & PRINTROOM 

[Kolourl3lind]

amfoto1 you are right. The flash seems to correct, using white light, all the collored light in my photos. I do have some color filters that came with the flash. I could try those.  But my problem in this case might be the white balance? I should do a custom white balance right?

But direct light? won't that create shadows even for fill flash? Well all I can do is try it out at my next show. Thanks.

[TCampbell]

You need to "drag the shutter". When you use a flash you get a light "fall off" behavior. The light follows the "inverse square law" -- which means that as the distance from the light increases by the square root of 2 (you can round that to just 1.4 to keep it simple) the illumination from the light will be cut in half.

For example... if you use flash to photograph someone 7' away, then something 10' away will have half the light. Something 14' away will have 1/4 the light. Something 20' away will have 1/8th the light.

The net effect is that you see your subject illuminated by flash, but everything behind quickly falls to darkness.

HOWEVER... when you take a shot with flash, there is also the available light in the room -- it's weak, so it hardly competes with flash. But if you leave the shutter open longer, you'll get more ambient light to fill in. You will NOT have to worry about over-exposing your subject because the flash itself is extremely brief.

Use manual with a low focal ratio and slow the shutter speed down... perhaps 1/60th... perhaps even slower (but if you go very slow you'll need a very steady camera or a tripod).

[Kolourl3lind]

Yes I agree. For my last shoot I had to go down to 1/30 on the shutter to get decent pictures that were true to the subject and setting. Hoever, because this was a rock concert, the subjects were moving to fast. The pictures came out blurry. It looks like I have to find some compromise between flash and shutter. Something got to give for either one.  I hopping if I upgrade to a full frame I can get some better results. But I just have to practice what you guys have beem suggesting.

Most of my photography has been in low light settings. What a way to start things off right?

[TCampbell]

For concerts I shoot with available light and don't worry about color balance. I use spot metering and meter a subject's facial skin. I typically use Av mode (I do not attempt to shoot manual when lighting is changing moment by moment due to the light show) and if the camera uses evaluative metering then set exposure compensation to -1 (otherwise it will tend to below out highlights while trying to bring the black backgrounds up to a dark gray - which you don't want anyway.)

[Kolourl3lind]

OK. I shot a concert yesterday and the flash in manual seemed to work the best. I was able to dial down the power which help with the fill. Now I have to try the other suggestions.

But one thing I noticed was that without the flash, my pictures are kind of fuzzy.  With the flash, the pictures have a kind of hardness and sharpness to them. Does that have to do with ISO?