Question about night/flash photography! (important)

[hotchoco1ate]

i am thinking of taking my gf to the flyer on friday (pre v day).

i am literally cracking my nuts on what settings to use and which diffuser to buy for my speedlite 430.
for those wondering, i am intending to bring my f2.8 100mm macro and 50mm f1.8 on that day.(ignoring my wide angle lens kit lens since i dont intend to bring a tripod)

so my question is how to use the flash properly in both portraits and landscape mode in the singaporeflyer at night?

hopefully csers who has done this before or know the light conditions in the flyer can help me with this..

do i need a diffuser or the flash bounce is sufficient? Av, Tv, P or M? aperture settings? iso? i dont have time to experiment so im counting on u guys! thanks a bunch! ;p

 

[clioboy]

bring yr wide lens. and dump yr 100mm..

 

[ortega]

full frame or cropped sensor camera?

 

[hotchoco1ate]

okay im bring my 100mm for the bokeh effect . i dont plan on using my wide angle since i dont think there is a use for it on that night. what do u think?

 

[hotchoco1ate]

full frame or cropped sensor camera?

my 500d. haha.

 

[Dream Merchant]

Personally I prefer a diffused direct flash as opposed to a globally diffused flash which results in very flat and boring tones.

A simple forward bounce with a white name card attached to your flash will also work well.

Actual settings - I don't know what ISO or aperture or shutter speeds you will be using, nor do you say if you want the flash to overpower all existing light, balance with the existing light or act only as a minor fill, so I can't advise.

You could practice first at home to find what settings and results you like. I figure the lighting inside the capsule will be slightly dim, but not dark.

All the best.

 

[sampan]

tissue paper may be used as diffuser, cheap and good.
100mm may be too tight inside the 'carriage'; there will be others around and you may not enough free 'working space'
on a crop sensor, even 50mm may be too tight (i think)
just my 2 cents, hope it helps.

 

[hotchoco1ate]

Personally I prefer a diffused direct flash as opposed to a globally diffused flash which results in very flat and boring tones.

A simple forward bounce with a white name card attached to your flash will also work well.

Actual settings - I don't know what ISO or aperture or shutter speeds you will be using, nor do you say if you want the flash to overpower all existing light, balance with the existing light or act only as a minor fill, so I can't advise.

You could practice first at home to find what settings and results you like. I figure the lighting inside the capsule will be slightly dim, but not dark.

All the best.

diffused direct flash do u mean the rectangular kind where u attach to the flash? and the global being the bowl shaped one?

about the 50mm being too tight i will take a look again. if i want a clear picture at night do i use the widest aperture? since i have my flash i shld consider higher f number for the deep dof right? oh ya i dont intend to overpower the existing light but im just afraid the ambient light isnt enough.

 

[ortega]

my 500d. haha.

then leave the 100mm at home

why not bring a video camera

 

[daredevil123]

100mm not suitable.

Don't worry about bokeh, as your gf will be near to you and the view will be very far away.

Even a 50mm is a little tight, although you can get away with it if the flyer is not very packed.

Aperture depends on what you are trying to achieve. Remember to use M mode, and bring down flash power with EV compensation.

 

[nixontkl]

the flyer capsule is quite small, your 50mm just might fit, 100mm surely toooooooo narrow. you should consider dumping both the 50 and 100 at home, 50 u want can bring and try luck.

use wide angle and if u can stand abt 2 meter back and shot your GF, F3.5-4 or even 5.6 should be enough. ISO set as high as u can accept, 800-1600 and possible shutter 1/30 to 1/50 to catch the ambient light. Flash can just bounce up and use a bounce card to push abit forward can liao.

thou i never been up in the flyer but i think the focal length u are most likely to use be 24-35mm for a good half body with some background scenery.

 

[ortega]

beware of reflections from the capsule glass

 

[Dream Merchant]

diffused direct flash do u mean the rectangular kind where u attach to the flash? and the global being the bowl shaped one?

about the 50mm being too tight i will take a look again. if i want a clear picture at night do i use the widest aperture? since i have my flash i shld consider higher f number for the deep dof right? oh ya i dont intend to overpower the existing light but im just afraid the ambient light isnt enough.

I'm assuming 'clear' to mean clear main subject as well as clear background, or what do you mean by "clear"?

Lens wise, take the wide and the 50.

Diffuser - I'm partial to the flip-it type diffuser because it allows me to control how much bounce and how much fill I want in an instant.

The global Lightsphere/Lembency type diffusers are great for lighting up an entire room, albeit, a very small room, but are actually horrendous for portraits because they product such ultra-flat lighting.

As for ISOs, just go as high as you can tolerate (with a post-processing noise removal sofrtware).

Actually, if I were you, I would try several combinations:

1) High ISO, wide open apertures, low power flash, slow shutter speeds like 1/20 - 1/40 (depending on the actual existing light).

2) High ISO, slightly closed down apertures, slightly more powerful bounced/fill flash, slow shutter speeds like 1/20 - 1/40 (depending on the actual existing light).

3) Medium ISO, wide open and slightly closed down apertures, auto fill flash, slowish shutter speeds like 1/40 - 1/60.

Flash usage in all options - apply + or - EV as appropriate.

Try those few options and see what results you and your GF like the best.

 

[hotchoco1ate]

hmmm thanks so much for ur suggestions..

haha i forgot to say that the 100mm is not for flyer use. its for the outdoor use later on after the flyer.

seems like i will take all 3 lenses with me and try it out. about ev compensation im not too familiar with the settings yet. can i use E TTL instead?

i've nv used any bounce card or diffusers before. so i just have to use a white card and paste it on top of my flash gun? or would a rectangular type be better?

oh ya by clear i mean un-blur pics of us and the background (the sharper the better)

 

[N-user]

Flash usage in all options - apply + or - EV as appropriate.

Check with you bro, when you guys say adjust EV.. adjust the camera EV..... flash also can adjust the "power", you call it EV too?? So which to adjust?? :dunno:

 

[Dream Merchant]

Adjust flash EV for main subject, shutter speed for BG.

There again, Canon flash users need to Google and read the 'EOS Flash Bible'. The EOS flash system is designed very differently from conventional flash systems.

 

[Numnumball]

i am thinking of taking my gf to the flyer on friday (pre v day).

i am literally cracking my nuts on what settings to use and which diffuser to buy for my speedlite 430.
for those wondering, i am intending to bring my f2.8 100mm macro and 50mm f1.8 on that day.(ignoring my wide angle lens kit lens since i dont intend to bring a tripod)

so my question is how to use the flash properly in both portraits and landscape mode in the singaporeflyer at night?

hopefully csers who has done this before or know the light conditions in the flyer can help me with this..

do i need a diffuser or the flash bounce is sufficient? Av, Tv, P or M? aperture settings? iso? i dont have time to experiment so im counting on u guys! thanks a bunch! ;p

Go full M and diffuse ur flashgun if you can.
Bring your tripod or u will regret it.. (Surely u wan to take nice pics of u n ur gf together right).. Maybe passerby/onlooker can help, by nth beats shooting on tripod at night where quaility are assured.

Use of Rear curtain sync and FEV accordingly..
Dun let the flash overpower the ambient (Fill flash if necessary) else all mood is lost..

Took my wife to SG Flyer 2 mths back.. For ur reference...

SG Flyer Set

HTH

 

[Dream Merchant]

oh ya by clear i mean un-blur pics of us and the background (the sharper the better)

You're welcome man, and thanks for taking the time to say thanks! Most people don't bother.

If that's what you want, set a High ISO, put camera on a small tripod or clamp to rails, adjust the shutter speed/aperture to get the BG you want, then let the flash expose for the main subject.

If the BG isn't that important, since I assume this will be at night and it will be dark, set your camera on 'P' and it will give you perfectly exposed main subject and disregard the BG entirely (aka, deer-in-the-headlights look). Your flash should be on ETTL.

 

[Numnumball]

beware of reflections from the capsule glass

Agreed.

Bounce if u can, never direct...

 

[Dream Merchant]

Go full M and diffuse ur flashgun if you can.
Bring your tripod or u will regret it.. (Surely u wan to take nice pics of u n ur gf together right).. Maybe passerby/onlooker can help, by nth beats shooting on tripod at night where quaility are assured.

Use of Rear curtain sync and FEV accordingly..
Dun let the flash overpower the ambient (Fill flash if necessary) else all mood is lost..

Took my wife to SG Flyer 2 mths back.. For ur reference...

SG Flyer Set

HTH

:thumbsup:

But TS might not know what is FEL.

Need to look up instruction manual.

And PRACTICE and EXPERIMENT using all the different options BEFORE YOU GO UP.