NJphotodoc Loc: Now in the First State

Hi all, I've been doing photos for a local children's hospital and for a holiday concert, I recently brought in some of my studio equipment for holiday family photos. I was using a dark muslin backdrop, an SB700 with a Lumiquest diffuser with my D7200 as a camera-mounted flash and a 300ws monolight with a 30" umbrella off to the side for fill-in. The problem is I was consistenly getting very dark photos. Started out in Auto but I switched it to portrait mode and no real difference. Also pushed up the EV on both camera and flash to see if that helped (it didn't). Adjusted the power settings on the monolight from low to high and saw only minimal improvement. Sorry but I can't attach any photos for you to evaluate due to HIPAA regulations but when I boosted the brightness in Photoshop, the images were perfect.

Being only an enthusiastic amateur, I was hoping I could get some advice from you as the hospital is having another event this week and they've asked me to take photos for them to share with the kids' families. As an FYI, the photos taken during the concert that preceded the portrait session were all fine. In addition, when I take pics in my home with the same basic setup, I don't have this problem.

Should mention that the room they gave me to use had high hat lights but I dimmed these to minimum to avoid tricking the sensor.

Any and all advice is greatly appreciated!

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

Maybe you should learn first how to use flash, before taking on jobs like that. I think it may be a good time to get a few books and start to study a little bit about flash photography!

crazydaddio Loc: Toronto Ontario Canada

You may be experiencing the "Auto-mode civil war". (It's not a thing, i just made that up :-)

Essentially, if you have any of your equipment in AutoMode, you run the risk of the equipment trying to make the decision for exposure.

Example: you have your camera on manual but your monolight is on ETTL via a trigger that transmits camera info. YOu dont like the exposure level so you lower the shutter speed in camera. The monolight takes in the info from the camera and adjusts the exposure based on what it sees and voila.....same exposure regardless of what shutter speed you use. This is fixed with FEC...another discussion....

Also, pre-fire of Ettl will set off the other lights if they are in optical slave mode...ie the slaves will pre-fire along with the ETTL light which is using a prefire to decide on exposure.

Etc etc etc

I recommend you put everything on manual and dial in your exposure to where you want. Adjusting only the shutter/aperature/ISO in camera as you need to....

Ideally, have a flash controller on your camera so you can also dial up / down flash strength to taste....all this auto stuff just means you either really need to understand what your are doing OR live with what the equipment decides.
I shoot full manual all the time as I find it easier and I have not spent the tine to properly learn it myself :-)

DaveYoung

When shooting with any kind of flash I am always on full manual control. To me, a good flash light meter is a necessity, and you can find good deals on used ones. Get one, learn how to use it, and practice. You will get perfect exposure first shot every time.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

Portrait mode is an auto mode as well.... not something you want for consistent exposure.
Use everything in "M"anual mode : Camera, speedlight and monolight, and a fixed ISO (not Auto ISO).
That way changes in power or aperture can be seen.
Leave the shutter at around 1/125th or so because the aperture, flash and ISO are the only things that will affect the flash exposure.

How are you triggering the monolight? What kind is it?
Some only have a "dumb slave" and don't recognize the pre-flash from the camera as something to be ignored.
It's possible that it may be firing before the shutter even opens.
Another reason to use all manual.

When you get the exposure nailed down, it's not going to change if and when some one comes in wearing a light or darker outfit.

Personally, I'd opt for the monolight with umbrella as the main light.

NJphotodoc Loc: Now in the First State

I have a Gossen Lunasix I bought years back but buried it in my closet when I moved from my ftn to digital. Time to bring it out and see if it helps.
This time I had the monolight on optical slave rather than use a wireless trigger system (have Phottix Odin) that I normally use at home. Forgot about the pre-flash (another "Duh" moment for me).
Time to try manual and lock in the ISO and see what happens.
And again, thanks for the valuable advice.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

If your Lunasix reads flash, you'll be ahead of the game!
If not, it's really not going to help.
Good luck!

NJphotodoc Loc: Now in the First State

Yup - Should have mentioned it is a Lunasix F which is made for flash and quite accurate still despite that fact it is "middle aged". I last used it a few yrs back when helping teach a photo class at a local college to explain f stops and ISO to 1st semester photography students. Guess I should have paid more attention to what we were teaching :)

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

Your camera meter can't read flash exposure. That's why you need to shoot full manual and get a flash meter.

NJphotodoc Loc: Now in the First State

Have the flashmeter (Lunasix F) but was relying on technology rather than what I learned years ago.

CO

Put the camera in manual mode and take light meter readings. I do a lot studio photography with different meetup groups. We will typically set the light meter to ISO 100 (for low digital noise) and 1/125 second. We adjust the strobe output until it's giving us an aperture reading of f/5.6 to f/8. The reason for f/5.6 to f/8 is because that's in the range were most lenses are their sharpest. It's best to set the shutter speed just a little below the sync speed of the camera. Your D7200 has a sync speed of 1/250 second. Try to keep the shutter speed no faster than 1/200 second.

NJphotodoc Loc: Now in the First State

Good advice and thanks. Will try it out and let you know. Was just asked to take photos for a holiday show at the hospital being put on this wk so want to get it right (pictures both during the show and then afterwards with families). Unfortunately most of these kids won't be going home for the holidays so this is very important for their families

canon Lee

Hi... I would suggest that you use the mono light as your key. A 30" umbrella is only good for head and shoulder shots. I use a 60" umbrella. I would use your flash as the fill light, set to Manual, with a large umbrella. This will give you a smooth even light. I have found that the aperture is usually around F8~16,ISO 125, shutter 1//125, depending on how high the output of your mono light is set at. Shoot in RAW, and Manual mode. I take my first test shot and look at the histogram to determine the mono light output to lock in the correct exposure. Place the umbrellas close to reduce shadow over lap. That basically is a 2 umbrella set up. It is good that you are using a black background as it will eliminate any shadows creeping up on to it..

crazydaddio Loc: Toronto Ontario Canada

Good advice.
Would add...make sure you have enough distance between the subject and the background so the light falloff can occur. Even with a black background, you can get shadows or washout if there is not enough distance.