Advice on flash photography

[enyu]

Hi all, need some advices on flash photography,
Q1 : I took a pic for my daughter under direct sunlight ~ 1pm, noticed shadow on her face, hence decided to use flash, I set my D70 to spot metering and locked exposure on her face and shoot at 50mm f1.8, but pic turn out to be over-exposed.

Q2 : subject was under shade, but if i lock the exposure at the subject, background will be over-exposed, so I locked my exposure at the background and used flash, thinking by doing so I can get both background & subject to be properly exposed, 50mm f1.8,but pic turned out to be over-exposed too.

my flash shuttle speed was set to 1/60... on my D70 and I was using SB-600 speed light. Plse advice. thanksssss....:cry: :cry:

 

[ExplorerZ]

q1: locking the metering on the shadow subject will let the camera use a longer shutter (that is if you are using aperture mode) causing a good exposure on the face but overexpose the sun

my guess to fix this will be to use normal metering like matrix and let the flash do the calculation as fill flash. if overexpose still happens, you can try tuning down the EV. im not good at flash too but this is what i think...

maybe some pro can correct us

 

[enyu]

thks, can help me with Q2 as well ???;p

 

[ortega]

firstly get the aperture to get the correct exposure for the flash to subject
then use that aperture setting to get a correct exposure for the bg
by changing the shutter speed.

now go with this setting and trigger the flash as well (best if the flash is set to M)

 

[enyu]

thks ortega... pardon me for asking the following... I don't get it, i thought if my flash is set to TTL, it will automatically choose a flash power that corresponds to my apperture setting ?

 

[pai]

Q2 : subject was under shade, but if i lock the exposure at the subject, background will be over-exposed, so I locked my exposure at the background and used flash, thinking by doing so I can get both background & subject to be properly exposed, 50mm f1.8,but pic turned out to be over-exposed too.

my flash shuttle speed was set to 1/60... on my D70 and I was using SB-600 speed light. Plse advice. thanksssss....:cry: :cry:

1/60 at f1.8 under 1pm sun? no wonder over-expose, the shutter/aperture combination is way too bright.

i'm not familiar with the nikon system, but i think you have to check if you really locked your exposure for the background correctly. the shutter speed is much too low, i'm not sure if your camera flash-sync limit forced the shutter speed down or something. it may also help to stop down your lens a little. sunny 16 rule says that at f16, iso100, shutter speed should be 1/100. at f2, that goes up 6 stops to 1/6400... d70 lowest iso is iso200 right? so... 1/12800... even if you want, your camera also cannot give you that shutter speed...

maybe it's easier to give a better answer to your question if you explain what sort of metering mode you use, and how you chose your exposure for background.

 

[enyu]

tks pai for yr explanation... reason why i used f1.8 is that i wanted a shallow depth of field. thot TTL will do the rest for me. take note of what u said. by the way can i do what i mentioned in Q2 if I wanted both bkgnd & subject to be... errrr... at least as close to correct exposure as possible using spot metering to lock bkgnd exposure and use flash on subject (but use a bigger f-stop this time to match 1/60 flash speed) ??? or should i just use 3D-metering and let the camera do the rest of calculation ???

 

[ExplorerZ]

tks pai for yr explanation... reason why i used f1.8 is that i wanted a shallow depth of field. thot TTL will do the rest for me. take note of what u said. by the way can i do what i mentioned in Q2 if I wanted both bkgnd & subject to be... errrr... at least as close to correct exposure as possible using spot metering to lock bkgnd exposure and use flash on subject (but use a bigger f-stop this time to match 1/60 flash speed) ??? or should i just use 3D-metering and let the camera do the rest of calculation ???

most of the time i let my camera do the calculation and adjust accordingly if result is not very good

 

[enyu]

:thumbsup: Roger that ExplorerZ, thanksss

 

[ortega]

thks ortega... pardon me for asking the following... I don't get it, i thought if my flash is set to TTL, it will automatically choose a flash power that corresponds to my apperture setting ?

yes it should

but to what the camera thinks is the correct output.
you need to know what your camera think and over ride when the camera is wrong

 

[enyu]

thks ortega again..:thumbsup: I am very green to digital photography, i just wanted to learn as much as i can from u guys & try out as much as i can, hope my Questions won't sound STUPID to you all.:embrass:

I recently tried making myself a bounds card for my SB-600, I don't see obvious diff in pic, i used a pure white cardboard double the length of the flash lens and shot taken with my flash pointing up and my bounds card at an angle (~45 dgr). no other setting changed, just leave it as it is as if taking normal pic with fill flash, am i doing the correct way ??

 

[ortega]

set up a tripod
get a subject
location is in a room with white ceiling (not too high)

set up your camera and flash
take a shot without the bounce card
without moving the camera and flash place the bounce card in position
take another shot

view the pictures on your lcd and move forward and backward
see the difference now?

 

[knpan]

ya agreed to pai. 1/60 with f1.4!!. obviously it will be over exposed. (With f1.4 try to take advantage of it by setting higer shutter speeds) setting it to maybe around 1/ 125 ~ 1/200 might be just nice for that situation. And you thought that ttl in sb 600 will do the job, correctly exposing the subject with the background, sometimes it wont get correct exposures as it might be a little too near, noting that the min flash output power is ?1/64?( thats what i remembered) with sb 800 it will allow 1/128, allowing you to stand nearer. oh and try with the flash compensation too.

does this help?

 

[enyu]

ok will do that, can't buy SB-800 liao, since i alrdy got SB-600:cry: need to save $$ for nokkor 80-200mmED f2.8. ;p

 

[ExplorerZ]

ok will do that, can't buy SB-800 liao, since i alrdy got SB-600:cry: need to save $$ for nokkor 80-200mmED f2.8. ;p

weee 80-200 f2.8... very good lens :thumbsup:, just got mine last week from BnS... like the contrasty color but i find CA quite a problem on some of my shot even it is a ED glass :sweat:

 

[enyu]

Can't afford VR, nest better choice, MS $1620 TK $1610, actually I was considering Sigma HSM 70-200mm F2.8, but after reading some reviews and treads from CS + sigma adjusted their price UP recently, more worth to buy nikkor lens. but can't use it as a walk around lens, difficult for travel too. tell me more about yr nikkor 80-200mm ley.....;p

 

[pai]

tks pai for yr explanation... reason why i used f1.8 is that i wanted a shallow depth of field. thot TTL will do the rest for me. take note of what u said. by the way can i do what i mentioned in Q2 if I wanted both bkgnd & subject to be... errrr... at least as close to correct exposure as possible using spot metering to lock bkgnd exposure and use flash on subject (but use a bigger f-stop this time to match 1/60 flash speed) ??? or should i just use 3D-metering and let the camera do the rest of calculation ???

if your background is sunlit, and your spot meter is giving you 1/60 when your aperture is set at 1.8, then the metering is probably wrong anyway. spot metering can be tricky to use, are u sure you've metered the right thing? you may have accidentally metered on a dark object. try again? or meter the background using matrix or center-weighted instead?

if you get the correct exposure for the background, then in theory all you need to do is set the flash to ttl and you should get a balanced exposure. then if the flash is over or under exposing your subject, use flash exposure compensation to correct this.

 

[ExplorerZ]

Can't afford VR, nest better choice, MS $1620 TK $1610, actually I was considering Sigma HSM 70-200mm F2.8, but after reading some reviews and treads from CS + sigma adjusted their price UP recently, more worth to buy nikkor lens. but can't use it as a walk around lens, difficult for travel too. tell me more about yr nikkor 80-200mm ley.....;p

yes sigma price increase slightly that becos they changed to Macro function. which mean you get to focus on subject at a nearer distance. for 80-200 maybe you can try BnS, a few CSer are selling theirs right now. I got mine at 1k including the hood. if you are getting 2hand, please check that it is 2 touch.
if you wish to see some of the pic taken with the pic, feel free to pm me. just some sample pic (not up to standard 1) :sweatsm:

 

[enyu]

Hi ExplorerZ, sorry don't know how to PM, anyway, tks for info, not vry comfortable to buy 2nd hand lens due don't know wht to look up for, actually i was seriously considering buying e sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 until recently when they adjusted their price, gap betn it & nikkor 80-200mm vry slight, will consider nikkor instead liao.

by the way need yr pro advice here, i have a sigma DC 18-200 f3.5-6.3,<<budget walk around lens>> bought it in rush before my last trip, due it covers from 18mm to 200mm. intend to sell it off, is 80-200mm sufficiant for travel ??? i also have a nikkor 50mm f/1.8 + D70 kit lens, wht lens shld i bring for travel ?? can't afford a wide angle lens.

Plse share yr opinion on yr nikkor 80-200mm. worth the $$$ ??

 

[ExplorerZ]

Hi ExplorerZ, sorry don't know how to PM, anyway, tks for info, not vry comfortable to buy 2nd hand lens due don't know wht to look up for, actually i was seriously considering buying e sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 until recently when they adjusted their price, gap betn it & nikkor 80-200mm vry slight, will consider nikkor instead liao.

by the way need yr pro advice here, i have a sigma DC 18-200 f3.5-6.3,<<budget walk around lens>> bought it in rush before my last trip, due it covers from 18mm to 200mm. intend to sell it off, is 80-200mm sufficiant for travel ??? i also have a nikkor 50mm f/1.8 + D70 kit lens, wht lens shld i bring for travel ?? can't afford a wide angle lens.

Plse share yr opinion on yr nikkor 80-200mm. worth the $$$ ??

no pro advise cos im just a noob

for me 2h 80-200 definitely worth the $ :thumbsup:. It saves my a$$ when i go on trip without flash :sweat:
anyway here the link link
all shots done with either tokina 12-24 or nikkor 80-200 with out any flash except for one pic.

anyway if you don wan to carry too much load for your trip, the sigma 18-200 + nikkor 50mm f1.8 wuld be the best choice. 1.8 can be used it you really need the speed and 18-200 would be your do-all-lens. quality wise 18-200 is not as good as 18-70 + 80-200 but you will be grateful if your trip consist of a lot of walking :thumbsup:
80-200 is also my 1st 2h lens btw :sweatsm:, here a link you might wan to read regarding getting 2h lenses