 Posted 7/11/2008 12:18:41 PM
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SkyBlueRose (7/10/2008)
I have been learning fast on the importance of studying the light since I recently shot 3 sets of engagement photos all outdoors and many of the images were problematic. All three of the weddings are going to be outdoors too. I decided I better get a lot of practice over the next month. For two of the weddings I need to shoot with a river in the background.
Linda. If you are not familiar with balanced fill flash, start studing and practicing with it. It will be most helpful for the shooting in the situations you described. WE
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Posted 7/11/2008 1:53:58 PM
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Posted 7/11/2008 2:19:51 PM
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Good advise We and thanks for the links Chris. I have been to strobist before and even though I haven't read any on fill flash I already know it will be a good one. We spend oodles of time talking about fill flash in school but studying it and going out and practicing is to different things. It isn't one of the easier things to master so I can use all the practice I can get. One thing I need to research is at what distances fill flash can help. I have to go back a ways with my 85mm. I also have a large round reflector and was thinking about getting a boom type stand for it so I can try and fill in darker areas with that. Unfortunately when I did the engagement shoots my flash wasn't working and luckily I was able to fix the problem. I had left my batteries in the flash which was a bad idea. The battery leak onto the conductors but I was able to clean it off. I'm actually glad it happened because I decided to get a second flash as a backup. Mine is an SB600 and I might get a SB800 thinking maybe I can get a good deal since they are now coming out with the SB900. I can't remember if you have the SB600 or 800 We?
Another thing is I have been getting to know my camera better because I wasn't even using it to its full potential. I started to use the active Dlighting and I'm very impressed with it.
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Posted 7/12/2008 8:48:07 AM
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SkyBlueRose (7/11/2008)
One thing I need to research is at what distances fill flash can help. I have to go back a ways with my 85mm.
The formula for calculating this is below:
Subject to Flash Distance (STFD) = Guide Number /F-Stop
I have calculated the STFD for 3 flashes at an ISO of 100. If you shoot at ISO 200 you pick up one stop and at ISO 400 you pick up 2 stops.
Disclaimer - Manufacturers do not give the guide number for every focal length so I had to make an educated guess based on the data I could find. The Blue data is supplied data and the red is calculated. It seems accurate never the less.
The battery leak onto the conductors but I was able to clean it off. I'm actually glad it happened because I decided to get a second flash as a backup.
Good Idea. I'd also suggest that you get or make a off flash battery. This guy makes some no nonsense ones. I made my own (6 of them) for my Vivitar 283s for less than $30 each. (I used 4.5 AH 6volt alarm batteries). Each should yield about 1000 full power flashes each though I've never tested them. Since I've never held a SB600, I'm not sure how it's battery compartment is constructed but I make the dummy batteries out of wood dowels, a couple of screws, and some 2 conductor 16 gauge wire. I use compact camera cases for the batteries that I carry and a plastic case made from storage containers for the batteries that I use with stands. If you want to go really cheap then stop by an alarm company and ask for the used 6 volt batteries they have replaced for customers. They replace them on a yearly basis and they still have life in them.
Mine is an SB600 and I might get a SB800 thinking maybe I can get a good deal since they are now coming out with the SB900.
I don't see the SB800 dropping that much as there is a huge market for used flashes of this caliber and the price point difference between the SB800 and SB900 is $200. The price points for new Nikon flashes are fairly well distributed in the retail market so I don't expect to see much change there. While some will disagree, my belief is that the used market will absorb the SB800 to 900 upgrades, I contend that there are a lot of users of SB600s that will want to step to the SB800. I'd expect the price of the SB600 to take a hit though. Currently used SB800s are going for ~ $275 with New going at $320 you might see them drop to the $225 level but I wouldn't bet on it.
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Posted 7/12/2008 8:55:32 AM
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Oh, one other thing to remember is that fill flash is often a stop or so less than the main lighting.
Your sb600 has plenty of power for the task at any distance that you are likely to encounter in the described situation.
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Posted 7/12/2008 11:26:54 AM
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Thanks so much for the chart! I can go farther than I thought with my flash. I think it will come more naturally with experience but I'm going to pay closer attention to the numbers. What I mean is that some people (not talking only photographers) can be amazingly accurate at knowing distances like "I was 100 feet away from the pump when I ran out of gas" For practice I should guess distances before reading them on the camera.
When I shot the one couple some of it was in a thickly wooded area. I didn't even notice that the sun was peeking through and hitting on the guys bald head. Now I'm trying to be better about studying the light. I'm sure using fill flash would have helped a lot in this situation. I have been going out in my yard shooting flowers almost everyday at different times of the day and with different cloud cover to get a better sense of the suns affect on the flowers and the usual f stop and shutter speed combinations I like. I have also been finding that there is a wide range of kelvin temperatures and the all purpose "daylight" WB setting just doesn't cut it. When your shooting in raw what is the best setting to use? I know you can set WB after the fact which is handy if colors are off but what settings will give the least fuss in post processing?
That is so cool that you were able to make your own battery pack, I'm impressed. With heavy use of the flash I'm sure the AA's go fast so rather than messing with changing batteries at possibly critical shooting times I can see where an external set up would be useful. Again, thanks for the advise!
Linda
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