Photographing with Canon 450D and external flash

[Rachele]

I am relatively new to the digital side of photography, and for ages now I have trouble taking photos with an external flash.I've had a speed lite and now I've a good quality but not original dedicated flash.Always dark photos.No instruction book or manual can help.Can you???????Please.

[Woody]

Hello Rachele,

I have a 450D and a EX430 11 Speedlite. I generally set the camera to P when using the flash. It sets the shutter speed at 1/60 and I adjust ISO and use a flash diffuser and bounce the flash to avoid harsh light.

Just experiment. Or search some posts here.

Cheers,

John W

[OsmosisStudios]

With flash I find it best to set the camera to Full Manual (M on the dial) and set the shutterspeed you want (usually around 1/125, depending on my circumstances) and the aperture you want to use (f/5.6-8 for most of my work) then let the flash sort it out in it's TTL programming.

[digirebelva]

Try setting if for full automatic and meter the scene and check what the camera sets itself for, than switch to manual and use those settings as a starting point. From my own experience, neither AV nor TV will allow you enough control to get consistent good shots with external flash.

[Doug Pardee]

Originally Posted by Rachele

Always dark photos.

Can you post an example? How dark is "dark"?

Most flash systems seriously overexpose their subjects to try to get the backgrounds lit up. Canon's E-TTL system, in Evaluative mode, tries to expose the subject correctly which means that the background is much darker.

And, since the subject is the brightest part of the picture, the histogram is mostly to the left of center. This is normal.

You can try selecting "Average" flash metering and see if you like that better. That will give you results closer to what other flash systems do, with brighter backgrounds and subjects that might have a radioactive glow or be almost blown out.

You might also check your Flash Exposure Compensation setting.