Shooting (portrait) with an off-camera flash

[abhaypatny]

I have been reading on internet about ways to achieve good results with off camera flash specifically portraits. Here is what I understood :

!. Start with a background selection that matches with the mood of the final picture)
2. Once background is selected, decide whether you want to have it bright or dark or just as it is
3. Accordingly do a meter reading using your in-camera meter (I dont about light meter) keeping in mind the maximum sync speed of your flash which is 1/200 for my flash.
- Set camera to shutter priority and set shutter to 1/200
- Get meter reading for selected ISO value, e.g say you got f/4
- See now if you want to underexpose the background then decrease aperture to f/5.6 or 8 etc. and reverse for overexposure
4. Now that you have your camera set for background, ask your subject to be in frame where you want
5. Take a test shot and see the amount of lighting on his/her face
6. Now place your off camera flash to the place and angle where you like
7. Adjust the power settings of flash to the exact amount you want your subject to have

Thats it !
(Disclaimer : I have not tried the technique yet )

This is what I understood, please provide your comments and suggestions
If this is how you practice or understand

(moderators please move this to other section if you think so)

[John Hendry]

yes all sounds good, but practise makes perfect.

I would also take into consideration the avalable lighting as a bright sunny day which will influence your image due to light range.

Glasgow wedding Photography

[zona5101]

In step 3... to change the relative brightness or darkness of the background you will alter your shutter speed - not your aperture. If you are at your max shutter, the only way to go is down (slower). Lowering the shutter will allow more ambient light to be captured.
Also you have said nothing about setting your flash or triggering your flash. How your flash triggers (manual or ittl/ettl) will influence how you choose your aperture. Your aperture and the power setting on the flash are the key elements to getting the proper exposure.

[abhaypatny]

Originally Posted by zona5101

In step 3... to change the relative brightness or darkness of the background you will alter your shutter speed - not your aperture. If you are at your max shutter, the only way to go is down (slower). Lowering the shutter will allow more ambient light to be captured.
Also you have said nothing about setting your flash or triggering your flash. How your flash triggers (manual or ittl/ettl) will influence how you choose your aperture. Your aperture and the power setting on the flash are the key elements to getting the proper exposure.

I used Aperture because, Shutter can not be decreased from 1/200 and changing aperture from f/4 to f/9 will reduce ambient light (correct me if I am not wrong)

Flash is off camera and manual and will be triggered by radio trigger

and flash power I suppose will be based on hit n trial as its manual not TTL

[zona5101]

Originally Posted by abhaypatny

(correct me if I am wrong)

i already did.

[autofocus]

In step 3... to change the relative brightness or darkness of the background you will alter your shutter speed - not your aperture.

Bruce is 100% correct on this. Do your radios support TTL?...or manual flash settings only?

[zona5101]

More on your step 3:
Metering the ambient: In most cases you do not care what the ambient meter reading is because you are exposing for flash. You will pick a desired fstop and adjust your flash power output to match the fstop. (Or conversely, you set the flash power and then adjust fstop to the proper exposure.) You can then vary the shutter speed to influence the amount of ambient light influencing the shot. However, in cases where you want to match the ambient with the flash you are going to take an ambient reading and then adjust your flash output until it matches the f-stop determined in the ambient reading. You need a flash meter to do that…or shoot and adjust , shoot and adjust etc...

[Nakean]

Ok everyone is giving great info here but it can become a bit convoluted with all the possible settings. Here's what you can do as a starting out point. First if shooting outside place your subject between yourself and the sun so the sun is at their back.
Second set your camera for f/8 1/200. Check the image. If the background is too dark you can slow the shutter a bit....1/160 or 1/125. until the background is just right. You want it just a tad darker than usual because you want your subject to stand out.
Set your flash at either 1/2 or 1/4 power for good recycle speed. I hope you are using an umbrella or some sort of light shaping tool or these figure won't work at all. Now of the flash is too bright go to f/9, or f10, or f11. If the flash is not bright enough go to f7.1or f6.3 or f5.6. Try this and let me know how it goes. Everything on my website is shot with either canon 430exII flashes or Nikon sb-28's Nakean Photography West Seattle Wedding and Portrait Photographer

Good luck!