David Kirsch Offline Upload & Sell: Off
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cgardner wrote:
Agree that something operator related caused the problem in the second shot but it is difficult to tell what.
Something to be aware of when composing flash shots is distance to your main subject vs. other objects in the frame. ETTL-II makes two zone maps of the scene for comparison: one ambient the other with pre-flash. That mapping process allows the camera metering to determine what is reflecting the most light from the flash back to the camera. In your shot it's the white edge of the counter on the right which is closest to the camera.
That area has an eye dropper reading of 242 - 249, which is where a solid white object should be. The metering seeing this was the brightest object based the overall exposure on it. But the same counter material next to the girl a more similar distance to her face is at 156-161 which is underexposed considerably. The white pan even further back is rendered 148-159.
If you simply raised FEC until the girl is correctly exposed the counter on the right will become a blown out distraction. While that is a solution, it's not the best on. The best way to tell the metering "This is most important - expose it correctly" is to compose your flash shots so what is most important is closest to the camera and flash.
The "red eye" in the shot is a result of the low angle of the flash. Using a flash bracket and OC-E3 cord will eliminate that problem and also make the modeling in your single flash shots much more flattering, like this one...
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Thanks Chuck. That is some awesome info! How the heck did you do those eyedropper measurements and arrows? Very cool and VERY helpful to understanding your response.
First, I agree it's an operator problem!
Second, I usually shoot flash with an off-camera bracket (RRS B-87B) and OC-E3 cord, but I was lazy this time. I don't think that would change the basic exposure problem I'm having, though (but it would, as you say, likely cure the red-eye problem)
Third, and most important, what's confounding me is that with the same exposure settings (f-stop, shutter speed and ISO) and not changing any setting on the flash, why would 2 exposures, one green square - one manual - be so different? For what is basically the same scene, why is green square pretty good but manual so underexposed? [As discussed in some previous posts, I do need to check and see if I have set something on the camera that's overriding the flash setting]. I don't want to shoot green square. I am aware of its limitations and want to have the control manual allows. Does the flash/camera meter differently in ETTL-II mode in green square than in manual in determining the amount of flash? I guess I could put the flash in manual mode, too, and adjust power until exposure was right, but do I have to give up ETTL? Manual flash may be optimum, but with my granddaughter running around the house I'd often be guessing about flash power (at least until I have a lot more experience with flash!)
Thoughts?
David
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