new to indoor portrait type lighting

[davenn]

greetings all,

just getting my feet wet on a new area of photography.
Have bought a couple of $15 each 500W helogen lights like tradies would use for lighting up a room. also a reasonable flash unit for my Pentax K7 it has just 3 settings TTL MH and ML

did my first set of experimental pics last nite with my lovely wife as my model.
I am strugging to understand why when I used TTL setting on the flash that the pics were from dark to virtually black.
When I used MH mode on the flash I got respectable pics,

playing at ~ 200 - 400 ISO, F8, and 100th sec on a 18 -200 mm zoom at around 50 - 70mm
was photographing against a black bedsheet backdrop. the 2 x 500W lamps were at near floor level lighting the front of the model

Final comment....
in the weekly emails of weekend tips has there ever been one done on flash photography ? anyone have a link please ?

cheers
Dave

[hilhi2005]

Well I dont know if the newsletter has ever covered it, but if you want to learn about using flash, Strobist is a great place to start. Strobist he has some great info to get people started.

[davenn]

Originally Posted by hilhi2005

Well I dont know if the newsletter has ever covered it, but if you want to learn about using flash, Strobist is a great place to start. Strobist he has some great info to get people started.

thanks mate, I will go have a read up.

I must comment that this is for purely fun and learning, I have no interest in professional portrait work. I just want to learn some new stuff

Dave

[AdrenoJunkie]

It would help alot if you posted a photo with EXIF info.

[i speak in math]

The k-7 doesn't support TTL, only P-TTL so it makes sense that the flash isn't working properly on camera. MH and ML, I assume, mean manual high and manual low? They probably just out put a certain amount of light. If you set you camera to follow the guide (typically a chart on the back of the flash), then you should get a reasonable exposure.

[davenn]

Originally Posted by i speak in math

The k-7 doesn't support TTL, only P-TTL so it makes sense that the flash isn't working properly on camera. MH and ML, I assume, mean manual high and manual low? They probably just out put a certain amount of light. If you set you camera to follow the guide (typically a chart on the back of the flash), then you should get a reasonable exposure.

well there ya go ... "time to read the flaming camera manual" haha, that I didnt realise
Yes ... Manual H / L
the manual for the flash gun (read as "single sheet of paper in multiple languages") doesnt give much info. its a Sigma EF-530 DG

Also having a difficult time trying to source a remote cable and or a wireless link for triggering it for off camera use. seems there are plenty of choices for Nikon and Canon but next to zilch for my beloved Pentax

Dave

[i speak in math]

grab some cheap cactus v4 or some new (and still very cheap) cactus v5. The v5's can act as a remote shutter release also.

[davenn]

Originally Posted by i speak in math

grab some cheap cactus v4 or some new (and still very cheap) cactus v5. The v5's can act as a remote shutter release also.

thanks, had a quick look and bookmarked that site, will investigate further

ok now that I'm home the exact model of the flashgun is a EF-530 DG ST [PA] - PTTL
so that seems to mean that it is compatable with my K7, it was just on the switch settings it said TTL MH ML so "obviously" shortened it to just TTL ?

did some more pics tonite with the dearly beloved now I just interested in lighting comments not a full critique else I would post them in other section.
compared to last nite's pics, this time I photoed against a creamy-whitish wall I found some diffuser screens I had ratted out of an old LCD panel some time ago (knew they would come in handy one day). I placed them over the front of the 2 x 500 W floods. Cindy was standing ~ 0.5 - 1m in front of the wall, I was ~ 2 metres in front of her.
the floods were facing her at ~ 45 deg angle (from wall) and also pointing up at a few deg.
My on camera flash (EF 530) was directly facing her using its built in diffuser panel. Lens is a Sigma DC18 - 200
here's the flood Im using without and with the experimental diffuser and a pic of the lass

EXIF data
Manual Mode
ISO = 100
EXP = 1/180
F = 5.6
FL = 45mm
Metering = centre weighted


ok lets see how that goes

cheers
Dave

[i speak in math]

hmm, yea, that flash should work using p-ttl with the K-7. Not sure...do you have one where it was nearly black with the exif?