DanH Loc: Erie, PA

I just got the 430ex II about a week ago, trying to learn. I used the pop-up flash to fire the off camera.
I'm thinking the shadowing in the second photo might be a little hard.

First photo:
f/16
1/200s (not sure if I had high-speed sync on or not)
ISO 100
Canon T3i - 430ex II

Second photo:
Only thing I changed was the f stop to f/18

Not sure how to tell (or if you can) what the flash was fired at.

Thanks in advance.

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thephotoman Loc: Rochester, NY

F/18 is defiantly too small of an aperture. That is why photo went dark. Using a diffuser and having the off camera flash farther away and less power will control shadows. I slower shutter speed will allow more light. You may have to play around with these factors to get it right.

Bill Houghton Loc: New York area

I always have my Shutter Speed set to 1/125 of a second. Both seem to a little to dark. At 200 your camera most likely didn't even see the flash.

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/camera-flash-2.htm

Beercat Loc: Central Coast of California

Go to 1/125, maybe even 1/100 to bring in the ambient light which is to dark, you have nice clouds which would add something to the photo.

F/16 - F/18 is way to small. The sweet spot on most lenses that you would be using on that body is in the F/8 - F/11 range.

Use some diffusion on the off camera flash, fire on manual, start at 1/4 power at about 10 feet and then adjust as needed. The on-camera flash set to manual and fire at 1/8 from about the same distance, then adjust as needed.

Remember shutter dictates the ambient light, F stop/flash power dictates subject light .......... and ISO effects both, very simple once you know the basics ;)

After you master the flash basics you can learn basic posing and getting loop lighting on the face 8-)

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

Both are very hard.

The definition of "hard" or "soft" is the shadow transitions; are they gradual (soft) or abrupt (hard) and in both images they are hard.

It's not necessarily a bad thing but it's an effect that you would do for a specific purpose.



F/16 is a very small aperture. Any reason why you chose that?

Your flash has to work awfully hard to overcome f/16, 1/200 and ISO 100.

Next time try 1/125, ISO 100 or 200 and f/4.

Also, how are you deciding how to set the flash? TTL or manual?



Same comments.

Also, you should get a bed sheet or something and fire through it to enlarge the light. How "large" the light source in relation to the subject determines how "hard" the shadows are.

A flash is TINY compared to a human so you need to bounce it into something or through something to make it bigger.

You can bounce it off a light colored or white wall, that works great.

Beercat Loc: Central Coast of California

Follow up

I'm guessing here but I's say I'm pretty close to being on target. Looking at the picture, knowing your cropped sensor and looking at the megadata I would say you were 10 - 12 feet away from the subject.

At 12 feet away and using F/4 your DOF will be 6 inches behind and 6 inches in front. This is where individual taste comes into play. Some like to nail the focus on the close side of the face and let other parts of the subject be slightly out of focus, in this case the arms/hands. Personally I prefer the subject to be in complete focus, thus I look for a higher F stop when that close to a subject, again there is no right or wrong, just and individual taste. At F/8 you end up with about 12 inches to the rear and 12 inches to the front for your DOF, at 12 feet away. Your subject is slightly off angle, about 30 degrees. F/8 would still be tight but probably doable to ensure the subject is completely in focus. Furthermore most lenses continue to get better until they reach their mid F/stop range, it's called the sweet spot. Go beyond the sweet spot and the photo suffers. Depending on your zoom lens it should be in the F/8 - F/11 range. This can be increased on either side if it's a good piece of glass but most zoom kit lenses are typically in the range I stated and when I use one I want to get every once out of the lens that I can. Again just my 2 cents worth and personal preference. The nice thing about photography is there are usually several ways to end up with a nice photo, what works for me and my settings my be different for someone else who also ends up with a nice photo

Bottom line is your F/stop was way to small. ;-)

photoman022 Loc: Manchester CT USA

What Beercat says: Remember shutter dictates the ambient light, F stop/flash power dictates subject light .......... and ISO effects both, very simple once you know the basics

If you don't have a light modifier, I would set the bare flash at 1/2 power at 6 feet away.

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

Bare flash 6 feet away?

Harsh harsh harsh.

I'd bounce it into a wall or blanket or sheet or anything before I'd do that.

tsilva Loc: Arizona

I would figure out what the ambient exposure is and add flash to achieve a 70% ambient/30% fill flash.

julia agosh

Very informative thank you BEERCAT.