Fill In Flash

[gumnaam]

Hi,

Recently i was shooting my friend in daylight. I was trying to use flash as fill in to avoid shadow on face. When i switch on the flash, my max shutter speed cannot go above 1/250Sec..... in turn making my shot overexposed. I was using Canon 430EX with Canon 40D with min possible ISO. The only control I have at that point is reducing the aperture ......which is turn increases the DOF, against my wish of getting bookeh shot...


Is there any way it can be controlled.....

 

[Dream Merchant]

Yes. Look for a less bright location, wait for the sun to go down a bit, wait for clouds, add a scrim or use a neutral density filter.

 

[yellowlemonie]

most flash units are unable to sync with the shutter at such high shutter speeds (i think something along the lines of it being really hard to get the flash to fire off at such a short interval) try reading up on high-speed photography is the only answer I can give. I'm afraid I don't know very much on this subject either.

as for trying to control the shot, have you tried shooting in M mode? It should generally be okay if you were to shoot in M mode - if it's too bright, you can add a diffuser, bounce, reduce flash power etc.

 

[Dream Merchant]

TS was commenting about the ambient light being too bright.

Most common way is to use ND filter. Cheapest way is to wait for ideal lighting conditions.

 

[limcc]

Hi,

Recently i was shooting my friend in daylight. I was trying to use flash as fill in to avoid shadow on face. When i switch on the flash, my max shutter speed cannot go above 1/250Sec..... in turn making my shot overexposed. I was using Canon 430EX with Canon 40D with min possible ISO. The only control I have at that point is reducing the aperture ......which is turn increases the DOF, against my wish of getting bookeh shot...


Is there any way it can be controlled.....

try High-Speed FP Sync.

 

[Dream Merchant]

Canon does not have HSS, only Nikon has.

 

[limcc]

Canon does not have HSS, only Nikon has.

you mean Canon doesnt have High Speed Flash Sync? are you sure? :nono:

check your source again or just click my link.

 

[zerartul]

Canon does have high speed sync.It does reduce the flash power though.

 

[Dream Merchant]

Ahh ... okay. HSFS. I 'saw' HSS. My bad.

 

[maswu]

hey dream merchant, i still remember what yu taught me =)

well anyway gumnaam, all yu have to do is reduce your flash output by using the manual mode...i have a 430ex too

 

[iankwa]

Hi,

Recently i was shooting my friend in daylight. I was trying to use flash as fill in to avoid shadow on face. When i switch on the flash, my max shutter speed cannot go above 1/250Sec..... in turn making my shot overexposed. I was using Canon 430EX with Canon 40D with min possible ISO. The only control I have at that point is reducing the aperture ......which is turn increases the DOF, against my wish of getting bookeh shot...


Is there any way it can be controlled.....

Yeah. Use High Speed Sync.

 

[Del_CtrlnoAlt]

dunno got anybody say here before anot...

just remember... think most of not all HSS only usable if you shoot with your flash light direct, not bounced... you bounce, HSS = useless... (diffuser is not bouncing)

 

[Benosaurous]

hey dream merchant, i still remember what yu taught me =)

well anyway gumnaam, all yu have to do is reduce your flash output by using the manual mode...i have a 430ex too

i second that it seems the ts got his photo overexpose due to the flash plus bright day light, just lower ur flash output for fill flash, hope that helps

 

[Dream Merchant]

The problem is sometimes, you need or want a higher output from the flash, so reducing its power is counter-productive.

In those instances, and when you already hit the max 1/250 sync speed, you have no more leeway.

HSS, if your system and components allow it is a fast way to get a higher shutter speed, but the problem is, the flash output is severely reduced. It may not strike many as a real problem, but having that steep reduction in flash output and lesser control can be again, severely limiting in some situations.

The neutral density and/or polarising filter is one of the most effective ways around this problem.

 

[grantyale]

i second that it seems the ts got his photo overexpose due to the flash plus bright day light, just lower ur flash output for fill flash, hope that helps

No. He had a shutter speed lock-up at X-sync, forcing a slower shutter speed than appropriate.

TS-
430EX should be able to provide enough power for fill-flash with high-speed sync. If you really can't afford the loss in flash power due to HSS, use an ND filter to cut exposure to X-sync speed for maximum flash-ambient ratio attainable.

 

[Benosaurous]

No. He had a shutter speed lock-up at X-sync, forcing a slower shutter speed than appropriate.

TS-
430EX should be able to provide enough power for fill-flash with high-speed sync. If you really can't afford the loss in flash power due to HSS, use an ND filter to cut exposure to X-sync speed for maximum flash-ambient ratio attainable.

Thanks for the pointer! :thumbsup:

If you dont have a ND filter, I think move your friend to a shade (under the tree or building) can do the trick also

I read from the magazines, most of the time the pros just use silver reflector instead of flash for times like this, does that helps? But bringing out a huge reflector is kinda eye catching for casual shoots :bsmilie: