Canon Speedlite flash photography

[Kristey1975]

A friend has asked me to take pictures at her wedding reception this summer. I feel most comfortable taking natural light photos, but I have agreed to do this for her. It will be indoors in a very dim room. Any information on flashes and omni bounce will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

My camera is a rebel XSI. Also what lenses seem to perform the best with limited lighting?

Thanks!

[Samanax]

Flash Photography Techniques

[Swisstony10]

In dimly-lit conditions you want the fastest lens you can possible get your hands on. Something like an f2.8 at the very least. See if you can hire or borrow something like the Canon 24-105 f2.8 L, the image stabiliser might help for some pictures (people standing still and posing) or even a 50mm f1.8 (or a 1.4!).

To be honest though, if the room's dim, then you're going to need to shoot at a fairly high ISO if you want to use natural/ambient light. I used to use a Canon 400D, which is the UK name for one of the Rebel range cameras - not sure if it's the XSI or not, but I was never happy with the amount of noise once I went beyond 800 ISO. Try some test shots in a dim room yourself, at high ISO, and see if you get an unacceptable amount of noise. If that's the case, then you may well have to shoot mainly with flash to keep the ISO down.

Do some reading up on flash-work though - it's not much of a Dark Art to be able to mix flash with ambient light to keep the mood of a situation while still letting the subject stand out. Most importantly, get the flashgun off your camera - TTL cords aren't that expensive (look on Ebay) and being able to hold the flash a little bit away from the camera and getting off the same plane as the lens will make a massive difference.

Russ.

[Photoboothguy]

I've shot a few weddings now...a couple with the XSi and a few with the T1i. Each time I used a 580exII and several different lenses.

For group portraits, a Sigma 24-70mm f2.8 is what I use. Like someone else said, if you can get the flash off the camera and give it some directional light (usually through an umbrella), that will look the best. A good compromise is to buy a big reflector (like 42") and use that to bounce the flash off of. Conditions/style vary, but I like to have the background slightly darker than the subjects, so underexpose by a stop or two and let the flash brighten the subjects (not sure if that makes sense or not).

For 1 or 2 people, there's nothing like the Sigma 50mm f1.4. Awesome detail, great bokeh. Really good low-light lens for the reception too. I like to keep the appeture pretty wide, usually around f2.0. It's a very narrow DOF, but the results are very nice.

For the ceremony, it depends. I usually hang in the back of the church with my Sigma 70-200mm f2.8...shoot at f2.8 and balance the shutter speed/ISO for lowest noise possible and no blur. Use a tripod if you have to. If you can sneak around with a 24-70 and/or use a flash, you might get a little closer...ask the pastor/preacher/random-ordained-guy for the official rules.

For on-camera flash, bouce it off walls, ceilings...anything that's pretty white. I don't like omni-bounces, because the light looks a little flat. Shoot RAW so you can correct the WB later (churches and reception halls have screwy lighting, plus you might get off colors due to bouncing off something non-white). Use ETTL mode and you should be fine.

[inkista]

Originally Posted by Swisstony10

See if you can hire or borrow something like the Canon 24-105 f2.8 L ...

There is no such lens. The 24-105L is an f/4 lens. I love mine to death, but for available light, uh, no. You're probably thinking of the EF 24-70 f/2.8L USM.

Flash photography is a bit of technique and thinking to learn, but it's fun and doable, and Samanax's link to the planet neil website is a good place to start.

Also, an omnibounce is... well, variably useful depending on the situation. What an omnibounce does is similar to bare-bulb lighting--it throws the light from your flash out in all directions. This does NOT by itself diffuse your light. What diffuses the light is that because it was sent out into all directions, it can bounce back from all directions. Hence the name.

If you are using an omnibounce outdoors, mostly all you're doing is robbing yourself of light. If you use one in a large venue, you can spread the light out a little from direct flash, but it won't be the same as using an umbrella or softbox. If you use one in a smaller room, then you'll see the benefits. So, the basic gist on whether or not you need one depends on how you're planning on using it. It is not a cure-all solution for having no bounce surfaces around, as many people imply.