I'm a college student and one of my professors offered me a job this weekend. This is my first photography job! It is an Indian cultural event that is going to have performers on stage. My teacher told me I needed a flash, so in a quick moment and a strong suggestion from a friend, I ended up with the 430 EX ii. I've taken a few photography classes but I've never worked with flash photography before. Photography has always been a hobby not a job, so i'm feeling a little stressed. But i have been playing with the flash for the past couple days trying to familiarize myself with it. Does anyone have any advice or suggestions for using this flash for stage performers? Or just professional advice? Thank you so much!
Normally flash is not allowed during stage performance, it can be distracting to both the performers and the audience. If you must use it though I would recommend leaving it in TTL mode unless you get REALLY familiar with it real fast and unless the stage lighting is even throughout...
Think of flash exposure as being like firing a Cannon or gun: fire the first shot, see where it lands, then adjust your aim based on what is seen.
In TTL mode, FEC=0 represents the camera's best guess based on how the shot is composed in the viewfinder how far away the exposure should be perfect. Flash falls off about 2 stops each time the distance is doubled, so anything closer that the distance the camera guessed will be overexposed and anything further away will be under.
With each new scene fire off a test shot at FEC=0 and look at the result you'll see a gradient of exposure front-to-back and somewhere in the middle the exposure will be "just right". Based on what you see in the first shot adjust the FEC setting + to move the point of correct exposure further back in the scene (i.e. more flash power) or - if what you want correctly exposed is clipping. Turn on the overexposure warning in the playback so the clipping can be seen and adjust FEC so what you want correctly exposed is just below clipping. FEC can be adjusted a number of different ways: button and dial on camera, camera menu / dial, or the dial on the flash. I find using the dial on the flash most convenient but try all three methods and decide what works best for you.
When using flash it's better to keep the camera in M mode to elminate variables. Indoors the room or stage lighting will be a different color temperature. For close in shots its better to use a higher shutter speed to block as much ambient as possible with the flash providing all the light, using Flash WB. For wider shots where the background ambience is as important or more important than the foreground the best strategy is either to tun the flash off and use a fast lens, or gell the flash to compensate for the difference in color. For example when using flash in combination with stage lighting at events or dress rehearsals I'll gell my flashes with 1/2 CTO (orange) which balances the flash color with the ambient mode.
Outdoors I avoid using the Sun as "key" light. Instead I shoot into the sun, keeping the sun at the back of the subjects as "rim" light and then use the flash as the frontal "key" lighting by raising it on a flash bracket. Again shooting in M I will set shutter at 1/250th and adjust aperture until the sunny highlights are below clipping, then in front adjust flash FEC until the front side of the same highlights are about 2/3 below clipping — raising FEC to the point where clipping is seen on the shaded front side, then lowering the FEC by two clicks of the dial (each click is 1/3 stop power difference). It's the same "aim the Cannon" appoach using the clipping warning, but in two steps: first get the sunny highlights below clipping at 1/250th by adjusting the aperture (to around f/11 @ ISO 100), then adjust FEC as needed to get the front shaded side looking normal. In backlight of the sun the highlights on the shaded side need to be a bit darker than the sunny ones to seem in balance.
Thank you so much for your advice and useful tips! I appreciate it a lot, it has been helpful! I will definitely keep them in mind tonight! Thanks again!
dcookson wrote:
Thank you so much for your advice and useful tips! I appreciate it a lot, it has been helpful! I will definitely keep them in mind tonight! Thanks again!
