Need help on flash. Professional bro please advise.

[mic7762]

I am very new to photography and I have a D90. Most of the time I will be using P mode to take picture. As I will be traveling soon and hope to take better quality pictures in the day and night so I thinking of investing on a speed light flash.

My worries is that is it difficult to use? Will it help to improve the quality of pictures?

Thanks for your advise and help.

 

[AkemiOgre]

You will need some trying out aka practise to learn How to fully utilize it. I recommend you get a diffuser with it to create softer light for flattering effect esp for portraits.
There will probably be this ittl function Where the flash light will communicate with your d90 to create enough light when mounted on hotshoe. So it won't be that difficult.

regarding the image quality, good lighting does bring out your subject and make things look more 3 dimensional. It creates more contrast and better dynamic range. You can use a lower iso and faster shutter speed when using flash so that your picture quality will be less grainy and reduce blur respectively and be better in terms of quality.

Some important skills before you go overseas:
Learn How to bounce flash
Learn How to use the flash to create fill light to lit up your subject's face when sunlight is harsh during day time.
Learn How to use rear sync flash during night time for portrait shots.

My 2 cents

 

[AkemiOgre]

Oh it's most useful when shooting people but if you're gonna to shoot landscapes then it won't be of much use due to the effective range of around 2-3 metres. Depends on what you Are shooting.

 

[eleveninth]

no. it wont help improve anything if you dont have the knowledge of hw to use it.

 

[Octarine]

I am very new to photography and I have a D90. Most of the time I will be using P mode to take picture. As I will be traveling soon and hope to take better quality pictures in the day and night so I thinking of investing on a speed light flash.
My worries is that is it difficult to use? Will it help to improve the quality of pictures?

Please define "better quality pictures in the day and night". We don't know with what you are unhappy in your current pictures. If you share more we can see where the problems are and whether additional equipment is the solution. In many cases it is not, the improvement has to happen behind the viewfinder.
If using a flash is the solution for certain situations then you will need to read up about using flash, especially the different modes where flash is either main light or fill flash (supporting ambient light). Otherwise your pictures will look like any PnS flash snapshot at night: red eyes staring at the lens like the deer moments before impact into the car..

 

[PowerS]

If you are taking landscape photos at night, you don't need a flash.
Just a tripod and long shutter speed with maybe a remote shutter trigger.

 

[takafan]

We would like to help. But "taking better quality pictures" is a very vague sentence. Maybe you can explain clearly what kind of day and night pictures you take, landscape of portrait or others? Some pictures could make a better explaination.

 

[kandinsky]

I am very new to photography and I have a D90. Most of the time I will be using P mode to take picture. As I will be traveling soon and hope to take better quality pictures in the day and night so I thinking of investing on a speed light flash.

There's no shame in P mode When I travel, probably [P mode + exposure compensation] 90% of the time. I'm personally more interested in living and experiencing the moment (especially since it was a holiday with companions) than seeing it from behind the camera. I have a speedlight, but never did it occur to me to bring it. I doubt I would have bothered to used it at all. I don't know about you, but when I travel, I like to be as discrete as possible. Maybe if I was travelling to rural areas where I knew I was going to do a lot of group shots. E.g., indoor locations may be poorly lit even in the day. If you're going to be in city/urban areas, even night scenes are often well-lit enough.

My worries is that is it difficult to use? Will it help to improve the quality of pictures?

It's not difficult per se, but like with any other tool, it takes time and practice to learn to get to know it well. IMO, you gotta be intentional. E.g., Why do I want to use ___ on this shot? How is it going to improve this shot? Unless you're travelling alone and have all the time in the world to experiment, these are things you kinda want to work out before you use something new. If you're 'very new' as you say, perhaps you might wish to focus more on the fundamentals before throwing a new tool into the fray.

 

[Shizuma]

shooting flash you get a lot more control over the quality and quantity of light.

but also involves more thinking and planning . i myself am just starting out on this path. not easy.

when getting external flash avoid direct lighting and move it off camera if possible.

Google for strobist blog, it is near gospel truth on using speed lights

 

[Blur Shadow]

The way I see things, you'll need to get one to learn how to use one anyway.

 

[mic7762]

Thanks all bro for your replies and info. For the better quality picture that I'm referring to will be more for night portrait picture with scene.

 

[Cowseye]

Thanks all bro for your replies and info. For the better quality picture that I'm referring to will be more for night portrait picture with scene.

I think bros here are asking in what way better quality, not for what purpose. In another words, what's wrong with your current pictures?

 

[catchlights]

Thanks all bro for your replies and info. For the better quality picture that I'm referring to will be more for night portrait picture with scene.

[h=3]How to take night photo of people[/h]

 

[lkf73]

Haha. Suggest that you bring a tripod instead.

 

[ijnek]

most of the newer nikon flashes like sb700 comes with the diffuser...
of course u can opt for other diffusers in the market.

get n practise is the easiest way to learn.
talk n talk but nvr try is ....

 

[JasonB]

You will need some trying out aka practise to learn How to fully utilize it. I recommend you get a diffuser with it to create softer light for flattering effect esp for portraits.
There will probably be this ittl function Where the flash light will communicate with your d90 to create enough light when mounted on hotshoe. So it won't be that difficult.

regarding the image quality, good lighting does bring out your subject and make things look more 3 dimensional. It creates more contrast and better dynamic range. You can use a lower iso and faster shutter speed when using flash so that your picture quality will be less grainy and reduce blur respectively and be better in terms of quality.

Some important skills before you go overseas:
Learn How to bounce flash
Learn How to use the flash to create fill light to lit up your subject's face when sunlight is harsh during day time.
Learn How to use rear sync flash during night time for portrait shots.

My 2 cents

No offense to quoted poster, but this is blind leading the blind.

A diffuser does not soften light but just weakens it. Soft light is created by large light sources, not a small diffuser on a hotshoe flash. And flash do not just create contrast, but can also be used to reduce contrast.

My advice to TS is just buy it and bring along to learn, use and have fun making mistakes, all part of the learning process.

 

[catchlights]

from you posting seem you don't have a good foundation at all, pick up a tips or two here and there will get you to nowhere.

there are many books on basic digital photography and at least two books on hotshoe flash photography in our national library, just borrow them and read it, you will have a better systematic learning this way.

 

[daredevil123]

No offense to quoted poster, but this is blind leading the blind.

A diffuser does not soften light but just weakens it. Soft light is created by large light sources, not a small diffuser on a hotshoe flash. And flash do not just create contrast, but can also be used to reduce contrast.

My advice to TS is just buy it and bring along to learn, use and have fun making mistakes, all part of the learning process.

+1

The only way to soften the shadows (what most people mean by softening light) is to increase the size of the light source. So if out in the open, and you put on the stock cap diffuser, you are essentially doing nothing more than wasting flash power.

 

[nulbonklr]

I am very new to photography and I have a D90. Most of the time I will be using P mode to take picture. As I will be traveling soon and hope to take better quality pictures in the day and night so I thinking of investing on a speed light flash.

My worries is that is it difficult to use? Will it help to improve the quality of pictures?

Thanks for your advise and help.

If you intend to use a light source to light up your subject. speed lights are worth the investment and easy to use. Regards the quality of pics, It all depends what type of diffusers or modifiers you want to use. There is no right or wrong, it all depends on your preference and how you want your shots to be.

 

[Andrew Ng]

+1

The only way to soften the shadows (what most people mean by softening light) is to increase the size of the light source. So if out in the open, and you put on the stock cap diffuser, you are essentially doing nothing more than wasting flash power.

Not true. Think why profoto offers clear and diffused dome. And if you have a sb900 or sb800, it can created soft light with creative use of the diffuser dome cap and flash zoom. Smaller catchlight though.
C. Ng | Flickr - Photo Sharing!