Flash

[alotofyarn]

Can someone give me the basics of flash, or point me to a good tutorial? I've got a speedlite that I'd like to play around with. How do I meter in manual? When do I change the flash exposure compensation?

[alotofyarn]

[MENTION=1890]niener[/MENTION] [MENTION=1048]Ladybug[/MENTION] [MENTION=1315]TulipsAndSunscreen[/MENTION] and anybody else that I forgot?

[TulipsAndSunscreen]

Flash

So I never found a great tutorial and that's why I actually took the class. However, I know there is a CM tutorial on Canon flash forum of the message board.

Does your speed lite have TTL or just manual? And how you meter depends on how much ambient light you want in the frame and how much movement you need to freeze. You can't go above your sync speed (usually around SS200) but you can go low with w flash depending on how you're using it. You definitely chimp more with flash than with natural light bc you adjust your exposure comp. I'm often -3 or -4 to add literally a kiss of light and to slow movement.

[alotofyarn]

I read the Canon tutorial, and it kind of helped, but I still feel like it's all trial and error, and that's hard for me! I have TTL and manual.

I guess I don't know how to expose for ambient light. When I meter, I tend to use spot metering to go off of E's forehead if I'm doing a portrait, or the grass if we're outside, occcasionally with a few other random things that I feel comfortable knowing their exposure value. If I'm running around outside a lot trying to capture more action, I switch to evaluative metering and generally keep it at zero, over or underexposing depending on what my shots look like.

The flash course is next on my list, because although I prefer natural light, I do want to be able to capture some non-grainy shots without it when necessary.

[TulipsAndSunscreen]

Flash is a lot of trial and error at least for me. I'm usually trying to freeze motion when I'm using flash but also let in some ambient light so I start with the aperture that I want, then use a slower shutter speed of like 80 in a pretty light room (if you want just a little flash) or slower if you need more flash.

[niener]

I'm not as good with flash as I probably should be; I really don't use it regularly for anything other than a little fill light/catch lights in the eyes, and then I just trial and error a couple of times until I find the right strength with the flash set on manual. Ages ago when I was reading up on flash photography I remember Strobist being a really awesome resource, but I want to say it was geared more towards off-camera flash than on. Still though you might find some info in there that helps you understand how to set your exposures correctly (whether the flash is on top of your camera or triggered remotely the concept of exposure should be the same). Here's the link to the first post in their Lighting 101 series: http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03...tart-here.html