Speedlite 430EX II just arrived..

[MikeGTi]

..So come on PH.. How do I use it?

I've never really been into flash photography but I figured I'd give it a shot (no pun intended).

Are there any rules of thumb, tips and tricks or old wive's tales I should be aware of? I imagine I'll mostly be using it for shooting bands and for family gatherings in the usual low light conditions..

[JJM]

Worth checking out this site as they have lots of advice and walkthroughs...

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/02/welcome-to-st...

Also it may be worth investing in a remoted trigger for your flash.

Cheers,

Jon

[MartinP]

^^^ what he said - getting the flash off camera gives so much better results.

This is worth a read too, lots of useful information (though not a light read...)

http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/index.htm...

[PGD5]

I'm also interested in this

I have a 430ex too and although I've used it a fair bit, a still feel like I've plenty to learn!

In most cases when its mounted to the hotshoe I've left it in E-TTL mode so the camera talks to it regarding focal length etc.

Off camera I use the popular RF-602 remotes with the flash in manual mode. Flash power is then adjusted trial and error style until its about right.

[mikef]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Speedliters-Handbook-Learn... - excellent book

[markmullen]

It will recycle much quicker on rechargeable batteries.

[MikeGTi]

markmullen said:

It will recycle much quicker on rechargeable batteries.

Just bought 16 x AA Duracells.

Ah well

Thanks for the tips so far guys. So much for flash photography being easy..........

[markmullen]

The duracells will come in handy as backups though. I always have a couple of sets in my flash case in case I get through the rechargeables.

[Simpo Two]

Reading the manual is a good first thing to do.

Experimentation is a second good thing to do.

[miniman]

markmullen said:

It will recycle much quicker on rechargeable batteries.

Really? I found mine drained a set of rechargeable batteries in a ridiculously small number of cycles.

[markmullen]

miniman said:

markmullen said:

It will recycle much quicker on rechargeable batteries.

Really? I found mine drained a set of rechargeable batteries in a ridiculously small number of cycles.

Yes, something to do with internal resistance.

[RobDickinson]

Basic fundamental thing to realise is that every flash shot is actually 2 exposures in 1.

The ambient exposure and the flash exposure.

The ambient exposure can take as long as you want, the flash exposure is very very quick (1/8000th kind of quick) and the trick is to balance both.

use manual mode.

[MikeGTi]

RobDickinson said:

Basic fundamental thing to realise is that every flash shot is actually 2 exposures in 1.

The ambient exposure and the flash exposure.

The ambient exposure can take as long as you want, the flash exposure is very very quick (1/8000th kind of quick) and the trick is to balance both.

use manual mode.

Whoa whoa whoa sweet child of mine...

I prefer P, for Professional

[RobDickinson]

MikeGTi said:

Whoa whoa whoa sweet child of mine...

I prefer P, for Professional

Honestly use manual mode(for flash) or go home.

Its not so tricky. Shoot with the flash off, change shutter speed till you get the ambient exposure you want , then switch the flash on and use FEC to change that.

Shutter only affects ambient

ISO will affect ambient and flash (lowers flash power requirements = faster recycle)
Aperture will affect ambient and flash.

[MikeGTi]

RobDickinson said:

Honestly use manual mode(for flash) or go home.

Its not so tricky. Shoot with the flash off, change shutter speed till you get the ambient exposure you want , then switch the flash on and use FEC to change that.

Shutter only affects ambient

ISO will affect ambient and flash (lowers flash power requirements = faster recycle)
Aperture will affect ambient and flash.

I usually shoot Av on the camera. I've quickly noticed that ETTL mode is about as much use as Ann Frank's drum kit mind. - I assume that's what you mean with regards to using the flash on manual?

I still need to get to experimenting with FEC mind.

[RobDickinson]

Canon deem the flash is in 'fill mode' for Tv and Av so it basically does nothing to affect the exposure parameters apart from throw some light onto the scene.

So if it is 1/2 and f2.8 in Av without flash it will be the same with flash. Just the flash adds some light onto the foreground subjects. The amount of light the flash adds is (as usual) controllable via FEC.

In manual mode your control of the ettl flash power is (again!) FEC. Its easy to adjust, just like normal exposure control but it only affects whatever the flash lights up.

[MikeGTi]

So, learn to use FEC?

[AJB]

RobDickinson said:

MikeGTi said:

Whoa whoa whoa sweet child of mine...

I prefer P, for Professional

Honestly use manual mode(for flash) or go home.

Manual is a lot less scary with flash than without. Without flash, you're doing everything yourself in manual, and it's up to you to get the exposure right. With flash, the camera will automatically adjust the flash to get exposure for the foreground subject right, leaving you to play with aperture and shutter and get the amount of background exposure you want.

I think I'm right in saying that in P it assumes you're hand-holding and sets the shutter fast enough to avoid camera-shake blur. In Av, it doesn't and will set the shutter to give the correct exposure for the background, using the flash to light the foreground. Hand-held in low light, this often means too long an exposure, and a blurred background. Setting manual lets you decide a shutter time which won't blur things, and the camera sorts out the flash exposure on the subject.

Bounce flash makes a huge difference. Indoors, play with bouncing light off the ceiling and/or walls. The direction the light is coming from, and the fact that it's "soft" because it's coming from a large area, makes all the difference. You'll find that a photo with the flash pointing straight at the subject is totally differnt to one where the flash is pointing up and bouncing off the ceiling, and totally different again to one where it's bouncing off a wall to one side.

Enjoy - I love my 430EX II! Although need to play a lot more - I still don't really know what I'm doing!

[MikeGTi]

AJB said:

Manual is a lot less scary with flash than without. Without flash, you're doing everything yourself in manual, and it's up to you to get the exposure right. With flash, the camera will automatically adjust the flash to get exposure for the foreground subject right, leaving you to play with aperture and shutter and get the amount of background exposure you want.

I think I'm right in saying that in P it assumes you're hand-holding and sets the shutter fast enough to avoid camera-shake blur. In Av, it doesn't and will set the shutter to give the correct exposure for the background, using the flash to light the foreground. Hand-held in low light, this often means too long an exposure, and a blurred background. Setting manual lets you decide a shutter time which won't blur things, and the camera sorts out the flash exposure on the subject.

Bounce flash makes a huge difference. Indoors, play with bouncing light off the ceiling and/or walls. The direction the light is coming from, and the fact that it's "soft" because it's coming from a large area, makes all the difference. You'll find that a photo with the flash pointing straight at the subject is totally differnt to one where the flash is pointing up and bouncing off the ceiling, and totally different again to one where it's bouncing off a wall to one side.

Enjoy - I love my 430EX II! Although need to play a lot more - I still don't really know what I'm doing!

Thanks for the info.

I feel I must point out that the "P for Professional" was a joke... I usually shoot Av, Tv, or Manual. P for Professional just made me laugh on an older thread, I'd thought I'd resurrect it in true PH style. ...and fail.

[AJB]

MikeGTi said:

I feel I must point out that the "P for Professional" was a joke... I usually shoot Av, Tv, or Manual. P for Professional just made me laugh on an older thread, I'd thought I'd resurrect it in true PH style. ...and fail.

Yes - don't worry - I got it!

It's just that I almost always shoot Av, but when using the flash in low light I've realised that manual is kind of the equivalent of Av, as the camera still sorts the main foreground flash exposure for you in manual. So my normal low light process is grab camera, take photo forgetting I've left it in Av. Realise that background is very blurred due to slow shutter. Switch to manual. Take photo again, this time without blur, but having missed the moment!