Greetings all!

So.. I am just starting out in photography, blah, blah, blah.... I have been asked to preform a "X-mas" shoot for some friends (mother / father / 2 small kids) in front of the x-mass tree.

Now, here is my setup: 50D with 24-70 2.8 L, and a 430EX mounted on camera.

I did some test shots in my own living room, and I noticed that in order to expose the tree in the background, I need to be at one setting, with tri-pod and no flash to capture the nice warm tones of the room... BUT in order to expose the people in front of the tree, I need flash, and I need a faster shutter... BUT then the tree looks like crap, and you can not see any of the lights, or the "warm" tone in the room because the flash is being used.

Is there a way to have my cake and eat it too?

Thanks!

What you don't understand is that flash exposure of the foreground isn't affected by shutter speed...

What you need to do is set the camera in M mode on a tripod. Pick an aperture that will give you desired DOF. Say f.5.6. Now with flash off find the shutter speed which will expose the just lights on the tree correctly and leave everything else dark. It will be a relatively slow shutter speed.

Now just turn on the flash in ETTL mode and take a shot. The flash will go off immediately then the shutter will stay open after, allowing time for the lights on the tree to register. That technique is called "dragging" the shutter. You will need to adjust the FEC on the flash to get the people in the foreground correctly exposed.

You will need the coach the people not to move after the flash goes off, otherwise you get them frozen by the flash with an ambient "ghost" blur around them.

The more space you can put between the people in the foreground and the tree the less the light from the flash will affect the appearance of the tree. You'll want some flash fill, but not so much its obvious.

See this LINK for a simple to make reflection/diffuser. Materials are not critical. A white gift box or a couple sheets of photo paper will work. Just staple it together and attach with a rubber band or tape.

Chuck

sharp_glass wrote:
...or the "warm" tone in the room because the flash is being used.

Thanks!

First you need to understand color temperature of light http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_temperature Scroll down and you will see a chart on right giving color temp of various light sources.

What you need to do is correct the flash to have to about the same color temp as the lights in the room. To do this you need a CTO gel. Rosco Labs has these http://www.rosco.com/us/filters/roscolux.asp Scroll down to find Roscolux #3407: Roscosun CTO. Putting this gel on your flash will convert to 2900K, about the color temp of household bulbs. This gel shoud be available from your local photo store. Or from an online source.