Strobist HELP!

[smo2]

I am a seasoned shooter but almost exclusively natural light. I have several flashes but they scare the hell out of me. I have been trying to get better at using small flashes and a modifier like an umbrella. I have been to Fstoppers and love watching the BTS videos which make everything seem simple.

I hear everyone saying shutter controls ambient and Fstop controls light source (or something like that). What is the right saying the heck does that mean???? I was trying to take some shots of my daughter in a neat looking tree but it was very dark. Wanted to get the ambient right but i could not get what I wanted. She looked great (well lit and adorable) but everything else was too dark. Is there a rule of thumb, am I an idiot or it just trial and error until I get something I like? And then have to learn the whole thing over again in a new situation?

Please help - I am at my wits end! Thanks in advance!

[IABoomer]

While I'm not (yet) a flash user, I did recently see this video from Fro Knows Photo that seemed to make a lot of sense regarding the interplay between aperture, shutter speed, and how it affects flash lighting.

Photography, Digital Camera DSLR & Lightroom How To — FroKnowsPhoto Super Secret Project Video – Flash Tip

[inkista]

Never ask a bunch of strangers if you're an idiot.

But don't worry, most of us felt like that when we start out learning flash. Everything you know about photography, light, and metering has to get adjusted at some point to encompass flash. So, don't worry about flailing about at this. It's not trivial, and it's not something you pick up overnight.

First questions, what system are you shooting? And what mode are you shooting in?

I hear everyone saying shutter controls ambient and Fstop controls light source (or something like that). What is the right saying the heck does that mean????

Ok. Main mental adjustment 1: with flash photography, you are combining two different exposures: the ambient light (natural light, what you're used to shooting), and the flash illumination. Ambient exposre is controlled by all three controls: ISO, aperture, and shutter speed. The higher the iso, the larger the aperture, or the longer the shutter speed, the more ambient light you'll see.

Flash, otoh, is controlled by ISO, aperture, subject distance, and power output. The higher the ISO, the larger the aperture, the smaller the subject distance, and the higher the power output, the more flash light you'll see.

Note how shutter speed isn't in that list. Because the flash burst is so short (much shorter than your maximum shutter speed), adjusting your shutter speed won't add any more flash illumination to the exposure. So, shutter speed is the only independent control you have to adjust the balance of flash to ambient. If you adjust by ISO or aperture, but you want the flash or the ambient to stay at the same level, you'll have to adjust with the other setting.

I was trying to take some shots of my daughter in a neat looking tree but it was very dark. Wanted to get the ambient right but i could not get what I wanted. She looked great (well lit and adorable) but everything else was too dark. Is there a rule of thumb....

You have to balance flash and ambient against each other. In the situation you're describing, your balance is more flash than ambient. Most folks meter the ambient, and set the exposure to be only a stop or so below ambient, and then add a small amount of flash (i.e., "fill flash").

I'd recommend reading the Strobist 101 Balance assignments to get a feel for what's going on.

Also, shoot with the camera in full Manual mode. You have a limited ability to balance flash against ambient in any of the auto modes. If you're not comfortable shooting in full Manual and mentally swapping stops among iso, aperture, and shutter speed, you really want to get that down first.

[smo2]

OK - that helps. I have read the Strobist 101 stuff which is very good. I am shooting in full manual, camera and flash. Nikon CLS. D300 & SB600 which was in a shoot through umbrella.

Is the problem the large differential between flash and ambient? It was quite dark where we were.

Here is some data:
50mm F/1.4
Front curtain <--- (shouldn't this be set to rear curtain?)
Group A M x 1/2 (-2/3 EV)

That help?

Thanks very much!

[sk66]

Originally Posted by smo2

OK - that helps. I have read the Strobist 101 stuff which is very good. I am shooting in full manual, camera and flash. Nikon CLS. D300 & SB600 which was in a shoot through umbrella.

Is the problem the large differential between flash and ambient? It was quite dark where we were.

Here is some data:
50mm F/1.4
Front curtain <--- (shouldn't this be set to rear curtain?)
Group A M x 1/2 (-2/3 EV)

That help?

Thanks very much!

Yes, the problem is the ratio of flash to ambient...to get the background up you needed less flash and more ambient...
The front/rear curtain doesn't really matter for stationary subjects.

[wannabephotographer]

Originally Posted by smo2

OK - that helps. I have read the Strobist 101 stuff which is very good. I am shooting in full manual, camera and flash. Nikon CLS. D300 & SB600 which was in a shoot through umbrella.

Is the problem the large differential between flash and ambient? It was quite dark where we were.

Here is some data:
50mm F/1.4
Front curtain <--- (shouldn't this be set to rear curtain?)
Group A M x 1/2 (-2/3 EV)

That help?

Thanks very much!

Strobist is a great site. Easy way to expose properly for ambient is to turn off all your flashes and get the settings on your camera for how much ambient or natural light you want in the picture. Once you have those settings then figure out how much flash you want to use to expose the subject.

[smo2]

What do I do if the ambient light is minimal? Is the issue the shoot through? Thanks for all the help.

[inkista]

Drag the shutter. I doubt it's the shoot through.

BTW, I didn't mean Strobist lighting 101 lessons on balance (although those are good, too). Sorry. I meant the Strobist 102 lessons on Balancing flash/ambient. Most specifically this one:

Strobist: Lighting 102: 3.3 - Balancing Flash/Ambient Indoors

You may also want to look at this entry on Neil van Niekerk's blog. His is about using on-camera flash and bouncing, but the principles of lighting are the same, whichever you do:

http://neilvn.com/tangents/flash-pho...more-examples/