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Tips for taking casual party shots with flash

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Mun Weng said:
so you would recommend roughly a 1/30 shutter for more accurate
lighting?

and using daylight WB? I haven't tried that before, but I've always
stuck with the Flash (lightning symbol) WB.
Click to expand...
more accurate Kelvin temp. Of course, if you shoot in RAW, you can adjust slightlyl

Diane
--
Diane B
http://www.pbase.com/picnic/galleries
B/W lover, but color is seducing me
 
Mun Weng said:
is it true that changing the shutter speed will not affect the
flash's decision on its flash output power? (only aperture affects
it according to the article)
Click to expand...
That depends on how much the subject is exposed by ambient light as opposed to the light from the flash.

Consider this: if you took the picture in a totally dark room, then the subject is exposed ONLY by the flash. The flash is extremely short, so doubling the shutter has no effect at all on the exposure of the subject.

In more realistic conditions, the subject is partially exposed by ambient light. The more this is true, then the more your concern is real.
 
Diane B said:
Mun Weng said:
so you would recommend roughly a 1/30 shutter for more accurate
lighting?

and using daylight WB? I haven't tried that before, but I've always
stuck with the Flash (lightning symbol) WB.
Click to expand...
more accurate Kelvin temp. Of course, if you shoot in RAW, you can
adjust slightlyl

Diane
--
Diane B
http://www.pbase.com/picnic/galleries
B/W lover, but color is seducing me
Click to expand...
--
http://www.pbase.com/julivalley/galleries
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/view?id=19579
Canon 1oD, Olympus C-3o4oZ.
Juli

 
thanks for sharing. I took a class this summer on flash photography and the teacher stayed with me afterwards as I was the only digital SLR there :) He's a Fuji S2 lover, but with his expanse of Nikon lenses, I see why.

great shots.
Juli Valley said:
I find that shooting at a slow speed 1/30th at f 5.6, 200ISO with a
550EX with Sto-Fen diffuser works well for informal party shots. I
used the 28-135IS with my 10D. It allows for nice ambient lighting
without the extremely slow shutter speeds that Av allows. Here
are some examples. http://www.pbase.com/julivalley/advent_party_2003

--
http://www.pbase.com/julivalley/galleries
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/view?id=19579
Canon 1oD, Olympus C-3o4oZ.
Juli



--
http://www.pbase.com/julivalley/galleries
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/view?id=19579
Canon 1oD, Olympus C-3o4oZ.
Juli

Click to expand...
--
-tim

Canon 1 0 D, 24-70mm/f2.8 L-Series, 75-300mm/f4-5.6 IS, 35mm f2, Canon 4 2 0EX Speedlight
Sony 7 1 7, Nikon 9 9 5 & Konica KD-4 0 0 Z
Accessories....tons of course
http://www.pbase.com/pdqgp
 
it will all depend on how much ambient light there is on the subject. ever take a shot where the subject may be exposed great, but the background is very dark and the light drop off extreme...as in a big room. you can fire a slower shutter since that is what will control the background exposure and it will brighten it up a bit. even if it's still too dark, you can pull the background in better balance with the forground in photoshop too. I like to keep the background 1-2 stops lower depending on the shot of course.
Mun Weng said:
and using daylight WB? I haven't tried that before, but I've always
stuck with the Flash (lightning symbol) WB.
Juli Valley said:
I don't know anything more to tell you except that I think it
works well in situations like this. Here's a link to some shots I
did with the D60 last year using 1/20th and 1/30th. I didn't have
a bracket at the time. The band shots were weird because of their
lighting. I like to think I've done better with my camera this
year. This was a large house party with about 400 people.
http://www.pbase.com/julivalley/christmas_party
Click to expand...
--

Cheers,
kevin aka mun weng

My idea of a perfect weekend:
shooting football from the end zone with a 600mm F4 L IS.

My photo website:
http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~mun-weng/

Photosig:
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/userphotos?id=106220
Click to expand...
--
-tim

Canon 1 0 D, 24-70mm/f2.8 L-Series, 75-300mm/f4-5.6 IS, 35mm f2, Canon 4 2 0EX Speedlight
Sony 7 1 7, Nikon 9 9 5 & Konica KD-4 0 0 Z
Accessories....tons of course
http://www.pbase.com/pdqgp
 
I find that dragging the shutter is a great technique to use at parties and receptions. I just make sure they have a drink in their hands and I know they won't be moving about and creating any motion blur.



F2.8 1/15th 16-35L 550EX bounced with stofen
Steve
Juli Valley said:
I find that shooting at a slow speed 1/30th at f 5.6, 200ISO with a
550EX with Sto-Fen diffuser works well for informal party shots. I
used the 28-135IS with my 10D. It allows for nice ambient lighting
without the extremely slow shutter speeds that Av allows. Here
are some examples. http://www.pbase.com/julivalley/advent_party_2003

--
http://www.pbase.com/julivalley/galleries
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/view?id=19579
Canon 1oD, Olympus C-3o4oZ.
Juli



--
http://www.pbase.com/julivalley/galleries
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/view?id=19579
Canon 1oD, Olympus C-3o4oZ.
Juli

Click to expand...
 
my point was whether it affects the flash's decision to decide on the output power of the flash.
critter1 said:
critter1 said:
is it true that changing the shutter speed will not affect the
flash's decision on its flash output power? (only aperture affects
it according to the article)
Click to expand...
That depends on how much the subject is exposed by ambient light as
opposed to the light from the flash.

Consider this: if you took the picture in a totally dark room,
then the subject is exposed ONLY by the flash. The flash is
extremely short, so doubling the shutter has no effect at all on
the exposure of the subject.

In more realistic conditions, the subject is partially exposed by
ambient light. The more this is true, then the more your concern
is real.
Click to expand...
--

Cheers,
kevin aka mun weng

My idea of a perfect weekend:
shooting football from the end zone with a 600mm F4 L IS.

My photo website:
http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~mun-weng/

Photosig:
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/userphotos?id=106220
 
Thanks Juli and everyone else that has participated in this thread. I always struggle with indoor flash shots. The D60 and 550EX combo is not very consistent. I do tend to shot RAW when using my flash, but I am also going to give this "dragging the shutter" a trial run before Christmas morning.

The imformation shared in this thread is the reason I come to this forum. Always looking for new techniques to try that will help me grow as a photographer.

You guys are a great help!

Happy Holidays!

Dianne
Juli Valley said:
I find that shooting at a slow speed 1/30th at f 5.6, 200ISO with a
550EX with Sto-Fen diffuser works well for informal party shots. I
used the 28-135IS with my 10D. It allows for nice ambient lighting
without the extremely slow shutter speeds that Av allows. Here
are some examples. http://www.pbase.com/julivalley/advent_party_2003

--
http://www.pbase.com/julivalley/galleries
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/view?id=19579
Canon 1oD, Olympus C-3o4oZ.
Juli



--
http://www.pbase.com/julivalley/galleries
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/view?id=19579
Canon 1oD, Olympus C-3o4oZ.
Juli

Click to expand...
 
critter1 said:
critter1 said:
is it true that changing the shutter speed will not affect the
flash's decision on its flash output power? (only aperture affects
it according to the article)
Click to expand...
That depends on how much the subject is exposed by ambient light as
opposed to the light from the flash.

Consider this: if you took the picture in a totally dark room,
then the subject is exposed ONLY by the flash. The flash is
extremely short, so doubling the shutter has no effect at all on
the exposure of the subject.
Click to expand...
how fast the shutter speed is. Even thought the flash is short burst but if the shutter speed is
critter1 said:
In more realistic conditions, the subject is partially exposed by
ambient light. The more this is true, then the more your concern
is real.
Click to expand...
 
Mun Weng said:
my point was whether it affects the flash's decision to decide on
the output power of the flash.
Click to expand...
and not the flash. If you setup the camera so that i'll adjust flash compensation automatically. It will set the flash compensation to get proper exposure.
Mun Weng said:
critter1 said:
Mun Weng said:
is it true that changing the shutter speed will not affect the
flash's decision on its flash output power? (only aperture affects
it according to the article)
Click to expand...
That depends on how much the subject is exposed by ambient light as
opposed to the light from the flash.

Consider this: if you took the picture in a totally dark room,
then the subject is exposed ONLY by the flash. The flash is
extremely short, so doubling the shutter has no effect at all on
the exposure of the subject.

In more realistic conditions, the subject is partially exposed by
ambient light. The more this is true, then the more your concern
is real.
Click to expand...
--

Cheers,
kevin aka mun weng

My idea of a perfect weekend:
shooting football from the end zone with a 600mm F4 L IS.

My photo website:
http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~mun-weng/

Photosig:
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/userphotos?id=106220
Click to expand...
 
Eric,

The 10D light meter works different than the D60. I believe that the 10D takes a much larger area for the metering. With the D60 you need to meter on something that is grey to get better exposure for white and dark areas. If you were to meter a grey card first and then use those setting will get the best exposure.

With the 10D you can pretty much point and shoot with your flash.
--
Pat
 
Dianne W said:
The imformation shared in this thread is the reason I come to this
forum. Always looking for new techniques to try that will help me
grow as a photographer.

You guys are a great help!

Happy Holidays!

Dianne
Juli Valley said:
I find that shooting at a slow speed 1/30th at f 5.6, 200ISO with a
550EX with Sto-Fen diffuser works well for informal party shots. I
used the 28-135IS with my 10D. It allows for nice ambient lighting
without the extremely slow shutter speeds that Av allows. Here
are some examples. http://www.pbase.com/julivalley/advent_party_2003

--
http://www.pbase.com/julivalley/galleries
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/view?id=19579
Canon 1oD, Olympus C-3o4oZ.
Juli



--
http://www.pbase.com/julivalley/galleries
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/view?id=19579
Canon 1oD, Olympus C-3o4oZ.
Juli

Click to expand...
Click to expand...
--
http://www.pbase.com/julivalley/galleries
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/view?id=19579
Canon 1oD, Olympus C-3o4oZ.
Juli

 
Juli,

Thanks for the tip. I've shot a couple weddings and have not been completely satisfied with my dark backgrounds. The pictures were acceptable but not great.

I have a birthday party to shoot tomorrow that I'm doing for free. The host is not expecting to get any pictures from me so, I'll try the shutter drag method. This "free" birthday party will give me some needed practice with the shutter drag.

What settings do you recommend for shooting the dance and still getting some of the background? My lens is f2.8 so I have some room with the aperture.

I have another Wedding to shoot in May that I will get paid for.

--
Pat
 
I guess you are going to have to experiment with how slow you can go. I really haven't done a lot of action this way. The good thing about digital is that you see right away if it's working for you.
 
Glad I kept my G2.

--
Eric, Snapshooter
DSixty, GTwo, Four20EX, Fuji 38Hundred
http://www.pbase.com/haglunde
TenDee said:
Eric,

The 10D light meter works different than the D60. I believe that
the 10D takes a much larger area for the metering. With the D60
you need to meter on something that is grey to get better exposure
for white and dark areas. If you were to meter a grey card first
and then use those setting will get the best exposure.

With the 10D you can pretty much point and shoot with your flash.
--
Pat
Click to expand...
 
Great shots Julie.

I think the IS helped guard against camera shake, and you didn't have a problem with subject movement since all the poses were static.

The "flash-blur" effect will show up if you try to shoot a moving subject (like dancing) with your set up. The flash will freeze motion within it's range, but blur will creep in as the flash falls off and ambient light becomes more dominant. This is a cool effect if you can get it right.
Juli Valley said:
That allows for the ambient lighting. I have not had a problem
with blur. I don't know if it's the flash freezing the image or
the IS on the lens, but it works for me.
Click to expand...
 
Juli Valley said:
I find that shooting at a slow speed 1/30th at f 5.6, 200ISO with a
550EX with Sto-Fen diffuser works well for informal party shots. I
used the 28-135IS with my 10D. It allows for nice ambient lighting
without the extremely slow shutter speeds that Av allows. Here
are some examples. http://www.pbase.com/julivalley/advent_party_2003
Click to expand...
I don't know if this counts, but I do exactly the same technique in reverse during those hot / outdoor wedding-under-a-tent type affairs.

Instead of exposing on the subject, and blowing out the backgrounds, set your exposure based on the background, and use a fill flash for the foreground. Both are in perfect exposure, and everything works.

Mike
 
Juli Valley said:
I find that shooting at a slow speed 1/30th at f 5.6, 200ISO with a
550EX with Sto-Fen diffuser works well for informal party shots. I
used the 28-135IS with my 10D. It allows for nice ambient lighting
without the extremely slow shutter speeds that Av allows. Here
are some examples. http://www.pbase.com/julivalley/advent_party_2003

--
http://www.pbase.com/julivalley/galleries
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/view?id=19579
Canon 1oD, Olympus C-3o4oZ.
Juli



--
http://www.pbase.com/julivalley/galleries
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/view?id=19579
Canon 1oD, Olympus C-3o4oZ.
Juli

Click to expand...
--
Gene - Walk softly and carry a big lens

Please visit my galleries at: http://www.pbase.com/gaocus/

 
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