Questions for Flash Photography

[iamzul]

Hi guys. I'm pretty new to photography and would like to ask about some stuff regarding flash photography.

Recently, I had an indoor event at a restaurant. The lighting in there is pretty dim so I used the built-in flash and pumped up the iso to 1600. I am currently using the Sony alpha A300 with the standard kit lens. Overall the pictures were alright but group photo's have some faults. The people in the back row tend to be darker than the first few rows.

So i'm considering to buy an external flash to overcome this problem.

What are the things i should consider when looking for an external flash? My budget is below $250.

 

[J-Chan]

Not really a fault, just inverse square law in action..

Just look out for a flash that's able to swivel its head to bounce and its Guide No. (GN) something in the 40+ region would be sufficient for most needs..

 

[grantyale]

Hi guys. I'm pretty new to photography and would like to ask about some stuff regarding flash photography.

Recently, I had an indoor event at a restaurant. The lighting in there is pretty dim so I used the built-in flash and pumped up the iso to 1600. I am currently using the Sony alpha A300 with the standard kit lens. Overall the pictures were alright but group photo's have some faults. The people in the back row tend to be darker than the first few rows.

So i'm considering to buy an external flash to overcome this problem.

What are the things i should consider when looking for an external flash? My budget is below $250.

Move your light further away from the subjects, it will reduce the difference between rows in a group - but for built-in flash, it means moving your camera too, and may not be feasible because of its low GN. With an external flash, you may bounce it off the wall behind you if the room isn't too big, or you can move it off-camera.

Of course you can also expose such that the front row is slightly overexposed (but not blown out) and tweak the image in postprocessing.

 

[iamzul]

What is Guide number? I've seen it appearing in a couple of posts and i see neither head nor tail about it.

What are some of the possible recommendations for basic needs?

 

[grantyale]

Guide Number = Distance x F-number, indicates the maximum output of the strobe. Note that this number may be quoted based on different ISO values, in meter or feet, and is variable on "zoom" flashes.

I don't know what you use but here's an example:
Canon EOS 500D, built-in flash: 13m; 430EX flash (at 28mm zoom): 27m