UKChris

Hello. I will be taking some night time shots of dog sledders in a couple of weeks time and would appreciate any tips you may have. I have a Canon 80D, will be using my 24-70 lens and 430EXIII speedlite. Since it will likely be snowing, I guess I really need to use a decent diffuser also. Thanks.
Chris

Tomfl101 Loc: Mount Airy, MD

If you could get your hands on a longer lens that would be my first recommendation. Your 24-70 will require you to be too close for comfort. Also, if it does snow your flash will light it up and be distracting. Assuming there will be some sort of lights in the area I suggest you shoot available light at whatever ISO is necessary in order to maintain a 1/500 sec shutter speed. You could get away with a slower speed by panning but your results will be less consistent. Also keep in mind the snow will tend to force under exposure if shooting in auto mode. I suggest you use manual exposure and look for snow to be blinking slightly with highlight indicator enabled.

Bob Mevis Loc: Plymouth, Indiana

Welcome to UHH.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

The drawback of a flash and action shooting is the recycle time on the flash. Start with brand new batteries and have a second new pack as back-up. Since you have some time before this shoot, spend some time outside in the same light and test your set-up. As mentioned by others, 70mm seems a bit short for drive-by action, but maybe your situation will be different than we imagine.

A good way to shorten the recycle time is to shoot the flash in Manual and set the power to 1:2 (half) power. Then, adjust your camera, preferably in manual. Assuming your lens is one of the 24-70 f/2.8 versions, try f/2.8, 1/500 and ISO-400. Testing outside, pick a subject (any subject) about the farthest distance from the dog sleds you expect to be. Fire a few test shots and see what you've got. The 1/500 was suggested for action. Can you go slower on the shutter for more static subjects, say 1/250? Is the shutter correct and you need to raise (or lower) the ISO?

When using this manual 1:2 config on the flash, flash will put out a standard amount of light, you then just adjust the camera exposure around the situation and this amount of light. If the flash is too bright, you can dial down the flash the flash in 1/3 stop increments to a very small 1:128 output. The less output from the flash, the faster the recycle. At 1:4 or less, you'll likely have 0-time for recycle.

Practice how long the recycle time takes, starting with a new batteries (a third new package). Take as many test images as needed to get a sense of the process, even if you feel lost at this point. Come in and check the results on your computer. Figure out what you need to adjust and go out and take some more tests, that night or the next night. These speedlights are really powerful tools once you the hang of adjusting the camera exposure against the flash exposure.

Practice also changing the exposure for near and far situations. Say you get the config perfected for a distant subject, say 10-yards away. Because the flash is in manual and doesn't judge the output needed for the situation, you need to adjust your exposure + / - to the situation, so if you go from a subject at 10-yards to close a 2-yards, you'll need to adjust the camera exposure (or flash) so the close subject doesn't have the blown-out look. Judge whether it's easier to change the camera, or just dial a different manual output on the flash. The flash has a lighted display, you just need to press the manual dial and dial down / up the output. If flash at 1:2 was good for a distant subject, change quickly to 1:4 (or lower) on the flash for a closer subject. You might consider having two saved U# settings on the camera, changing the camera rather than the flash. Test these various options and develop a plan for how to use the one that is easier to your handling.

Other ideas: use the white defuser that came with the flash. If it seems slightly loose, or as just a general preparation, use a bit of scotch tape and tape the diffuser onto the flash. Also, check the manual for the flash and / or the camera and assure you're using the AF infrared illuminator rather than test burst. If you're using BBF w/ AI Servo, neither the AF tools from the flash will work. If you're in the dark and need to the flash assist for focus, you'll have to change to 1-shot AF, or manual focus. Or, turn off the flash AF and assume there's enough light for the camera's AF to work in AI Servo. Again, another configuration to test / practice in preparation.

GENorkus Loc: Washington Twp, Michigan

Setup your flash with a wireless remote. Do this in a safe but close position to the sleds.

This would be similar to taking a band concert. Where the subject is already lite up. You could move around.

Use manual setting on your camera.

Doing this would also prevent a "white out" appearance if you use an on camera flash in the snowfall. (Think of driving your car in a snow storm with the bright lights on. Yuck!)

On camera flash will delete some of the light going to the subject also.

flyboy61 Loc: The Great American Desert

Welcome! If a longer lens is not an option, use what you have, but practice in the same or similar conditions that you'll likely have during your shoot. Flash is good, but the cautions of "white out" are on point. Carry a second set of batteries in an inner pocket, and switch regularly. Lithium batteries are said to work very well in low temperatures, but are expen$ive.
Find a location where there is light, get as close (safely) as allowed, and use adjustable ISO to your advantage. Noise? certainly, but not getting the shot vs. noise? You will have to decide.
Good luck, and dress warm!

PaulR01 Loc: West Texas

Make sure you set up your flash relatively low so you don't blow out the background. If you have high speed sync I would look at using it. It takes quite a bit of light to stop the action at night. Using high speed sync will give you the ability of stopping the action with your shutter and lowering the ISO with the flash.

UKChris

Hi Tom. Many thanks - this is great. The comment on the lens is particularly helpful. I'll be taking a longer lens !!
Chris

UKChris

Hi. Some really practical advice here - I appreciate you taking the time to put this together. I will be trying your suggestions out beforehand - thank very much.
Chris

UKChris

Hi. Yeah I don't like the idea of a powerful on-camera speedlite either but wasn't sure what alternatives existed. Thanks.
Chris

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Consider using <quote reply> for specific / directed replies.

UKChris

Hi. Many thanks for the great, practical advice. Off to buy more spare batteries.
Cheers. Chris

UKChris

Hi Paul. Thanks. I appreciate the guidance on flash use.
Cheers
Chris

picsman Loc: Scotland

I have found in the cold that the wireless triggers need to get closer to the camera as the batteries drain. I have started with the speedlight across a ski trail but ended up with it next to me. Take plenty of batteries for both the speedlight and camera! I dont know if rechargeable batteries are worse than non rechrageable for the speedlight but I have a suspicion that they are.

tcthome Loc: NJ