When I shoot corporate black tie and other corporate type dinner events I usually try to shoot available if the light in the room will let me. I'm not talking quantity I'm talking quality. If I can't get what I'm looking for from available I will gel my strobe to try and match the available light and either use my strobe as fill defused and gelled or if the light is still giving me problems I'll let the available/ambient go 1 stop down from my gelled defused strobe.
I can show you some of my shots if you are interested. I do a good mix of posed and truly candid type which my client really like. I shoot at higher than 800 all the time. (5Ds)
Well, thanks to everyone and all the helpful info you have shared. Always glad to get some feedback from other pros!
I have the understanding down pat, but lack a little in the practice.. so perhaps there is more hope with the 50D then I am seeing at the moment. I need to dare down into the 1/10 - 1/15 areas, and allow the flash to freeze subject(s) and possibly push the ISO beyond 400. What are the collective thoughts on second curtain function? It's about the only thing I did not try..
So, at the end of the day yes I maybe able to get expectable results with the existing tool... but sounds like I have more flexibility with a better one...
On available light, sometimes you really can create nice, moody shots with it when it would seem all hope is lost. I shoot a lot of performance/event stuff in my off season, and there's times when cranking up the ISO and finding somewhere steady to rest a camera really works out! Not the exact same subject matter, but this is an example. (Light is a tugsten bulb with reflector, pointed from the floor UP under the chin of the performer..!!! )
Some of the available light shots were shot with the 200 2L & the 85L and from 800 ISO to 3200 ISO. I've actually gotten really good hand held candid shots with the 200 2L at 1/40 and even at 1/25 of a sec and all were at f/2 with the 200 2L.
A lot of the shots with flash were taken with the 35L and maybe some with the 24L & 85L at 800- 3200 ISO. Most at f/4 or faster. The shutter speed dancing shot was slow 1/15 I think to get the motion but I think the rest were 1/60 or so..
Yes, that's the DEMB Pro adjustable flash bounce/reflector and bracket. I have tried a lot of other diffusers plus the DEMB products and the latest pro set is great being able to use large or small reflectors. The biggest is almost like a studio light and the small ones convenience for lite carry. The DEMB website is also very helpful and is Joe himself. He is simply a long-time pro shooter that wanted to create something that really worked. He's constantly coming up with new ideas as the research and development continues.
The wedding pros here may disagree, but I think you should be using a LOWER iso, not higher. If you look at airfrogusmc's sots (amazingly great, IMO) one thing you'll notice is that the background is much brighter. This is preferable to many folks, including me. Your pics, with the strong front light source & dark backgrounds, just screams "Uncle Bob" to me.
You wrote " it's just not happening unless I dip lower then I can hand hold..." But with that much flash (too much, IMO) it should be freezing the subject for you, so what's the problem?
By lowering your ISO, you can lengthen your exposure, so you'll get more ambient light. This is known as "dragging the shutter." With a 50D, this seems like a win-win to me, unless you're not using enough flash, and your exposure is so long that you get blur. -That where a FF sensor can help, as you know.
-And if you're getting just a TOUCH of blur, you can try rear-curtain sync, and maybe get some really creative shots.
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Another option, which works for some event photogs, is to mount one or two flashes in the far corners of the room, either faced in or bouncing off the walls & ceiling. Keep their output low, and it will boost the ambient. (gel them to match whatever fixtures are present.)
Now you can use more on-camera flash (for better or worse) , still have plenty of background detail, and no blur.
Travis, the photos you posted are not bad, especially considering you were outdoors in what looked like a very dark setting, but I understand your frustration in trying to produce the best possible images for even the most difficult of circumstances. From the looks of the photos, you probably could have bumped up the ISO some more and opened up the lens to bring in a little more ambient. I'm not 100% sure since I don't know exactly how much ambient light there was.
One of my favorite things about the 5DmkII is the way it handles noise. Pair it with a nice fast prime, and it really shines! I love using my 35L on it and bouncing the 580EXII (whenever possible).
Travis,
I have found on a couple of my cameras that this technique works reasonably well...
Test it first though to see if it works with the 50D.
Shoot in RAW...
Shoot a low light shot as you have in your work with fill flash as you normally would (correctly exposed etc...) at the highest ISO that you're comfortable with quality wise.
Then, shoot the same shot with a stop or two higher ISO (ie. if you're happy at 400 then shoot a test at 800 and 1600) BUT these images need to be overexposed from correct but not blown out.
Now, the first image you process as you usually would and then the test images pull back the over-exposure in the RAW processing using the exposure slider. The more you have to pull back the exposure the more image quality you will lose. (same as any push/pull process in the film days).
Working on the theory that noise forms in the shadow areas before the mid to highlight areas hopefully this technique might reduce your noise a little.
Worked well with my 20D many years ago... works well on the 5D mkI (not needed on the mkII) and my 1DsmkIII gets a small amount of pushing if the venue is really dark.
Travis..
Ever consider going with one of the prime?
I think what you want is ambient light in bckg, thus with iso under 400, the 2.8 will probably too slow.
i meant the prime like the 35L, 50L or so
