CPR Loc: Nature Coast of Florida

Good question and it drew out some good answers. If what you wanted was just the lady w/o much background you can use the on-camera flash or the SB600 with the power dialed down or reflected or diffused and spot metering. If what you wanted was the entire scene with the seats and all, then the SB600 reflected or diffused. You could also try just laying your handkerchief over the SB600.
So many techniques are what makes this stuff challenging and fun to me....

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

To answer your question - you need to adjust your camera accordingly. I suggest you stop using "P" as an exposure mode and select an ISO, shutter speed and aperture you are comfortable with, and the external flash together with the in camera metering system will adjust the flash output. If your images are consistently overexposed, then use a bit of negative flash compensation, and vice versa. Using a slower shutter speed will allow more ambient light to give a more natural appearance.

But the biggest problem with on or near camera flash is the flatness of the light, and the way shadows are sharply rendered - hardly flattering for most subjects, particularly human.

The overwhelming majority of on camera flash or speedlight modifiers are junk. The point of a modifier is not to diffuse the light, which only creates a wider field of light, but to make the light source appear larger, like a softbox, folding reflector or umbrella. A diffused light coming from a 1 1/4" x 2" speedlight is still fairly tiny, and the diffusing material will only reduce output. Using an envelope will only make the light slightly larger. The Gary Fong-type of diffusers really eat up light power, and effectively light up the room, which is why they really only work well in a small room. Used in a setting without reflecting surfaces it is just another point source.

If you use a Rogue Flashbender 2 XL, your effective light is 13x16, and if you have the light close enough, say 3-5 ft away, you will get meaningful softness on the highlights and smoother, less deep shadows.

But the key is to take the flash off the camera, and place it in a position more or less similar to where you would place a key light in a studio lighting setup.Without a helper, this will be quite cumbersome.

However, you can use bounce light effectively. You can bounce off the ceiling, wall, or any other surface that will reflect light.

The attached image was done with a hot-shoe mounted manual speedlight with the head pointed over my shoulder - you can see the catchlight in the eyes where you can see me. With the ceiling and wall reflecting lots of light, the shadows are nice and soft, especially under the chins, no hot-spots on the faces, etc. The image has not been retouched - I would address the fly-away hair, bags under the eyes, and and address other small imperfections.

Good lighting also minimizes post processing since minor flaws are not usually accentuated.

As a rule I never point an unmodified speedlight or flash at a human subject.

(Download)

Notorious T.O.D. Loc: Harrisburg, North Carolina

The other thing that you need to understand is that there are two exposures when using flash or studio lights, the ambient light and the flash exposure.
There is also exposure compensation and flash exposure compensation. The shutter speed and aperture will control the ambient light. The flash will either be controlled by setting it manually or using TTL. This will give you a baseline exposure and then the amount of flash to ambient light can be adjusted from there.

An example is if I am shooting at inside I can set my camera to ISO 160, f/5.6 and 1/125 second and that will usually eliminate all or most of the ambient light even in the daytime. Then then flash is adding all the light used in the exposure. If you increase the ISO, you would get more ambient light as part of the image. If you decrease the shutter speed or open the aperture you would also get more ambient light. Decreasing the ISO or increasing the shutter speed or close down the aperture you would get even less ambient light until you are getting just pure underexposed black.

I would start out shooting in TTL with your flash and at f/5.6 to f/8 and a shutter speed between 1/100 and 1/200. Experiment with changes to one setting at a time and see the results. With a good flash and TTL you should get fairly even results as the TTL will adjust the flash output to get a proper exposure with the camera shutter speed, aperture and ISO settings.

Best,
Todd Ferguson

warenka

A white handkerchief covering the flash will probably give you the desired result. Give it a try.
Warren

tradio Loc: Oxford, Ohio

When all the dust settles, take a look at Neil Van Niekirk's website, Tangents. Read about the "black foamy thing" and check out some bounce light tutorials. Very good site on "off camera flash".
Another good site is "Strobist".

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

Todd, in studio, the only lighting should be the one that you use to illuminate your subject.

Typically speaking, adjusting the aperture/ISO/distance controls the amount of light from the speedlight, where using a larger aperture or higher ISO will increase the effect of the light and vice versa. Adjusting the shutter speed adjusts the amount of ambient light that is mixed in. Things change with TTL, since the camera will be able to read the scene and adjust exposure accordingly using feedback from the pre-flashes to adjust the flash output.

In the example in the link below

https://neilvn.com/tangents/flash-photography-techniques/dragging-the-shutter/

the author adjusts only the shutter speed, from 1/250 to 1/60 sec, leaving the ISO and aperture the same at 400 and F5.6 respectively. The only thing that changes is the exposure for the background - anything lit by the flash remains the same.

Increasing the ISO alone would brighten the image if shooting manual or auto flash. If shooting TTL the camera will adjust the flash output to achieve the correct exposure. In all three scenarios, the difference between the flash and the background would remain the same, so as you increase the ISO the entire image gets brighter, including the background. But there is an important distinction, which has to do with flash exposure comp in TTL.

Increasing the aperture alone in manual or auto mode you would get the same result as increasing the ISO. Once again, with TTL, the camera would make the adjustment.

For me (I use manual flash) the convenient way to darken/brighten the background is to adjust the shutter speed.

With TTL you could adjust any of the 4 parameters - distance/ISO/Aperture/shutter speed - within a given operating range of exposure - and the exposure would change. However, adjusting flash exposure compensation will change the ratio of the flash output to the ambient light, and you would dial in some negative flash exp comp to allow more ambient light.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

How about learning the flash?

Clapperboard

bobbyjohn For 'fill flash' where the image does not look like a flash exposure you want the flash to be 25/30 percent as powerful as the ambient light. Set the camera and flash to ITTL on Nikon and ETTL for Canon. Set the flash exposure compensation to minus two stops. Take a couple of test shots and make any slight adjustments to get the required effect. For better results with a bit more setting up you can move the flash off camera for better lighting effect and use the on camera flash to trigger it without letting the on camera flash affect the exposure.

Jules Karney Loc: Las Vegas, Nevada

Bobby:
I have a SB 600 too. Try turning the power down maybe by half.

Reinaldokool Loc: San Rafael, CA

If you are using TTL, it is reading the whole frame. Since most of the frame is dark, it is trying to average the exposure for the right lighting, but that makes the young girl overexposed.

Solutions? Several possible. If there is a ceiling above you, try bouncing the light off of that. Optionally, there are several light modifiers that would help. I used Gary Fong's Lightsphere for many years. (I tried others but GF invented it and he did it right.) Wanting something I could pack for a trip, I now use a Light Genius. Both soften the light and give a much more natural modeling to the face. There are hundreds of variations in the market, but these are the ones I've had good luck with.

My SB800 and other flashes came with a built in bounce card. While not ideal, it was better than nothing. Finally, in a pinch, fold a cloth handkerchief over the flashtube. It will do some buffering.

PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

Me too! I expect you have the flash set to TTL (or ETTL if it has that mode).

aellman Loc: Boston MA

Also true for using a diffuser on your onboard flash. Will improve the quality and spread of light a lot.

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

Diffusers cut down on the amount of light so the distance has to be taken into account as the unit won't reach as far. Some units (like the Gary Fong Lightsphere) spread the light out over a 360-degree circle & again the power of the flash is severely reduced Plus the Fong unit has a nasty habit of falling off the speedlight. Best to bounce a flash whenever possible but note that if you bounce off of a wall or ceiling, the distance the light has to travel needs to be accounted for as well.

jamesl Loc: Pennsylvania

In the picture on the left with the external flash your camera chose an ISO of 400 but in the one on the right with the built-in flash it chose an ISO 3200 a 3 stop difference in the lighting. What mode do you have the flash set on? for the way you are using it, I think the camera and speedlite should both be in TTL mode. Try repeating the process using aperture priority and a fixed ISO and see if that will make a difference. With those two locked in, only the shutter speed can vary and as long as the camera and speedlite are both in TTL the camera should adjust the power output of the flash to what it needs for the exposure. If the same thing happens and it is consistent you can try using some negative flash compensation to correct it.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

The problem is that you use your camera in about as close to a full auto mode and the speetlite in full auto. You will never get professional looking results with those settings. You need to learn about your camera and speedlite and take advantage of other ways to achieve good looking pictures. As others have mentioned, you need to also use a light modifier. You don't mention if your flash is on top of your camera's hot shoe or not, but if it is, that's also a no-no. Big no-no!

In fact, a speedlite on a hot shoe is just as bad as the built in flash but more powerful which will blow out the highlights of your image as evident in your snapshots.