Etram

Hi-
I am a hobbyist photographer who mainly shoots macro nature (flowers, foliage) and some sea and landscapes) and of course, my 4 kids:))
About a year ago, my employer asked if I would take some mini (15 min session) holiday family portraits, on-site. I work at a beautiful nursery/home decor place, perfect setting for photos. I have continued it this year, purchasing a portrait lens, etc, practicing and learning everything I could about this type of photography. I’ve had a very positive response to the images and have truly enjoyed this genre. They have all been daytime, outdoors, natural light.
My boss just asked if I could run out to her house to take a holiday picture of her, her husband and baby. Because of her work schedule, it has to be nighttime and she would like if outdoors, in front of their new house, with Christmas lights. I said yes, of course, but am panicking because I don’t ever shoot at night. I have a speed light but am not even sure how to use it. I have a Nikon d7200. The speed light I own (Altura) cannot not be set-up for TTL? (just learning about off-camera flash) so has to be manual and I am not sure of the settings I should use. Help! Please be kind. I never use flash and was hoping for a quick lesson so I can get a decent shot for her tonight.
Thank you in advance!
Martha
adding a photo from one of the sessions-a new baby! Really have enjoyed capturing these special moments!

Earnest Botello Loc: Hockley, Texas

Welcome to the Hog, Martha, I can't help you, I have never used a flash, good luck and enjoy your stay.

JeffDavidson Loc: Originally Detroit Now Los Angeles

Go into a dark room in your house and take a few notes of what manual setting you used with the flash and which exposure setting was best. Also, bracket your exposures for safety. Good luck!

Etram

Thank you so much, Jeff! That’s a great idea. I really appreciate your feedback:))

xt2 Loc: British Columbia, Canada

One quick fix is to purchase, rent, or borrow a TTL flash unit Etram.

Cheers & Merry Christmas!

Etram

Thank you so much, Earnest! Me either. I don’t know if it’s possible to do this shot without a flash. If I could, I would!

Etram

Wonderful idea! Thank you so much! I didn’t even think of that.
Merry Christmas to you as well, and thank you for your reply!:))

Etram

Thank you so much! That’s a wonderful idea-didn’t even think of that!
Merry Christmas to you, as well!!

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Trying to not be too technical, consider what settings you'd like to use for the portraits without a flash. Say you like f/8 at 1/250 and ISO-100.

Your flash should support manual settings. Think of these manual settings as a dimmer switch on the lights. At full-strength, the flash is outputting the maximum light, turned on completely. But, if you adjust the flash output downward, you can dim the output to just the exact amount needed.

Use the suggestion above to practice. You didn't say how you normally shoot. If one of the auto settings like Aperture priority, experiment with two approaches:

1) Set the flash for i-TTL / TTL or similar Auto where the camera and flash sync to each other. Consult your manual and find how to control the 'Flash Compensation'. Using FC, you can dial-up / dial-down the exposure to tell the camera to brighten or darkening the results. I believe the D7200 manual has an entire chapter on 'Flash Photography'.

2) Set the flash to manual and consult the flash manual so you can test / set the 1:1 (100%) output as well as lowering the output down to say 1:64. You can leave the camera in Aperture or whatever setting you prefer. If you tested with FC, set that back to 0 / neutral so the camera just triggers the flash, but doesn't try to control it.

Take a lot of test shots. Review the images on your computer and consider what was 'good' and / or 'bad'. Identify corrective actions, consult the applicable manuals (if needed), and practice again until you can set the camera and flash and achieve the desired result. Using some test shots, even for the actually shoot, is expected to dial-in the exact flash settings.

Etram

Such great advice-I really appreciate this! I have to set the flash manually so will do as you suggest, starting by setting the FC to zero, etc, and going from there.
I usually prefer all manual camera settings but for these sessions, I stayed with Aperture Priority-having to work fast, I found I didn’t have time to adjust for each frame. I’ll use AP for this shoot, as well. I had one day’s notice for this request so will have to find a dark place to practice today.
Thanks again for your very helpful advice! Truly appreciate it!

Orphoto Loc: Oregon

Good luck Martha. As a back up plan sticking with things you know and trust try a few poses with them facing the house and lit by nearby lights (live dangerously and only show a bit of the house, like maybe part of porch and front door with wreath) . Most of the cast light will be odd colors so use built in pop up flash for fill if desired. Set flash exposure compensation to -1 so it doesnt overpower the holiday lights but is enough to avoid completely green faces. There should be enough available light to pull this off at say iso 800.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

The advice is simple - if you use flash, make sure it doesn't look like you used flash.

The execution, on the other hand can be daunting.

This NJ Wedding photographer nails it:

https://neilvn.com/tangents/flash-photography-techniques/natural-looking-flash/

Even if you are shooting at night, there is always a way to get natural looking and flattering light from a flash - even if it means you need to bring a friend to hold a large bounce surface so that the light source is large and nicely diffused, yet directional.

n4jee Loc: New Bern, NC

There is no trick to flash photography. Your flash is a fixed speed (very fast) so the correct exposure is determined by the aperture setting and the distance the flash is from the camera. You can determine this by trial and error with a substitute subject in your own yard at night. Oops, the shoot is tonight. When you get home from work do it in a darkened room, you'll get close enough. Now you adjust the shutter speed to record the background lit by the ambient light. Use a tripod, bracket your shutter speeds, and shoot in RAW mode.
Good luck.

Etram

I really love your ideas! So much more artistic than the traditional front-door pose. And thank you for your sage advice...sticking with what I know will be my best advantage. I really appreciate your feedback! Feeling a little bit more confident now-fingers crossed:))

Thomas902 Loc: Washington DC

""...take some mini (15 min session) holiday family portraits, on-site... ...holiday picture of her, her husband and baby... ...has to be nighttime and she would like if outdoors, in front of their new house, with Christmas lights... ...I don’t ever shoot at night. I have a speed light but am not even sure how to use it.... I have a Nikon d7200. The speed light I own (Altura) cannot not be set-up for TTL? (just learning about off-camera flash) so has to be manual and I am not sure of the settings I should use. Help! ...hoping for a quick lesson so I can get a decent shot for her tonight..."

Etram you should not have accepted this assignment... especially if you've never attempted nighttime outdoor portraiture... Sorry to be the messenger, but you have seriously exceeded your capabilities...

Since you will likely ignore my advice and attempt this shoot... The best I can suggest is to use your built in flash on the D7200 and set it's flash compensation for -1.7. Others here will try and tell you never use your built in flash... This is likely because they have yet to master this technique... See below taken with your camera model a D7200 using it's built in flash.

btw, if a commercial photographer were in your situation they might deploy a large shoot through umbrella with your (off brand) flash in manual mode using a PC Sync cord (you'll need a hot shoe converted ($2) and 20 foot PC ($15) cord to pull this off... To have the Christmas lights show up you'll need to deploy Slow Speed Flash Sycn... and let your D7200 match ambient here...

Mission impossible Etram, you're in way over your head...
And shame on those encouraging Etram to "Go for it!"
This is unlikely to end well...
.

Last fleeting rays of sunlight at dusk with a D7200 using it's built in flash.

(Download)