Eyeball wrote:
Yes, that's true, and in this case the flash is clearly on the right. Nevertheless, the flash looks mis-aimed or mis-zoomed to my eyes. He was using 50mm on a full-frame camera. It looks like pretty uneven illumination to me unless there was operator error or the flash is broken.
It was at 90* the entire time I was shooting them coming down the isle.
cgardner wrote:
More often than not when odd random underexposure occurs its a result of shooting before the flash is sufficiently recycled.
Canon flash has a two stage recycle process. When it reaches 1/6th or greater capacity it will allow another flash in what Canon calls "quick flash" mode but at reduced intensity. That works great if you are up close to the target and the power level needed for correct exposure is low relative to full power. But in a situation like a dark church shooting with bounce at near full power with every shot quick flash will bite you in the backside if you don't pace your shooting and pay attention to the flash ready and confirmation signals in the viewfinder. ...Show more →
brainiac wrote:
Maybe something was obstructing light then? Lens hood?
No.. the lens was my 24-70, never had a problem with obstruction with it on any camera aside from my old 30d while using the pop up flash, but not with a top mount.
I'm also aware of the recharge cycle and how it works, but I assure you my batteries were fine and the flash was recharging in milliseconds, I didn't have to replace batteries until after the boquet toss.
You've got a camera that has amazing high ISO capabilities- use them. Sometimes having the flash can actually be a crutch- and it's those no flash situations that really teach us how to properly meter and shoot indoors. Why don't you shoot available light with your fast glass and high ISO? You could get away with some amazingly natural photos.
You wedding guys must have nerves of steel. I'd be skinned alive by the first bride I photographed, if I couldn't outrun her. Flash photography has always eluded me, no matter how many times I read Chuck Gardener's or Neil's excellent information. The only consistent, if marginal, success I have is with a Demb diffuser and program mode.
Are there any instructional books that you guys would recommend that don't initially presume some fairly advanced knowledge of flash photography in the reader? I don't make money from photography, but I would happily open a portrait studio one day of I can get this flash business down pat. I get the shakes just thinking of shooting a wedding.
Those shots look fine to me, FWIW
I haven't shot any weddings yet . . . but I get sent to virtual caves by the newspaper quite often (community centers, dance recitals, socials, dining rooms) where the lighting is either non-existent or seemingly designed to frustrate photography. (My favorite: a restaurant where a judge was being honored that had a BLACK ceiling. Freaking black. Seriously.)
Anyway, I experienced a whole heck of a lot of frustration with my 580EX II flash and 20D, later 40D rig, until I read this article at Photonotes.org by, well, I think the guy's name is NK Guy. I just checked, the article is still up at: http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash
(I think someone on FM actually clued me in to this article.)
Anyway, notwithstanding the better understanding I developed from reading the article, here's how I cheat on assignment:
I shoot a frame or two in Program mode in the light I anticipate will be giving me the most trouble.
I take a look at the settings the camera selected and the results I got.
Then I throw the camera into manual mode and adjust the speed and aperture to try to get the shot to look the way I want, using the settings the camera selected as a guide.
I've found that Av and Tv are worthless - if the lighting's bad enough to really require serious flash (rather than fill flash), in either of those modes, the meter solely adjusts for the background, rather than the subject. Which is absolutely the reverse of what most photographers want - and I genuinely can't understand why Canon would design the freaking thing like that. So, Manual mode it must be.
Oh, and I shoot in RAW and rely on Adobe Lightroom. The "Exposure" and "Fill light" sliders are AMAZING. And I can't imagine handling any serious volume of workflow without Lightroom. I've found that judicious use of adjustment brushes can salvage otherwise unuseable shots where, for example, a subject's face may be close enough to properly exposed to be recoverable in post, selectively, even though the remainder of the shot isn't.
