canon 430 ex ii

[ryanlikealion]

I bought one of these 6 months ago and just can't get into using it. I'd like to find a way of justifying the fact i own a flash gun otherwise its going to end up on ebay!

Anyone got any ideas for projects around the house involving flash.

I bought speedliters guide a couple of months ago which works well as a manual but i dont find the photos in it particularly inspiring. Anyone know of any impressive flashgun work that demonstrates its abilities.

[OsmosisStudios]

What camera body do you have? what have you been doing with it thus far?

[Tzetsin]

Well, its not so easy as all that. You see, natural light photography uses a certain skillset, but when you use flash, now you've changed almost ALL the rules. Nothing really behaves the same when you use a flash. That is until you actually learn how to use it.

I'm no flash guru, hardly even a flash USER, but when I need flash the 430exII is the bomb. Key words here are "when I need flash" This isnt going to be all the time, so its really up to you to know your equipment and know its limitations.

The fact that you can even mention ditching the flash is proof enough for me that you dont know what your camera and lenses are capable of yet. Don't get rid of it, instead, start really learning the limits of your other gear.

To really see the power your flash will give you, just take a few pictures of your family indoors. Take a couple shots without the flash on, then put it on and point the flash at the roof. Take a few shots with the light bouncing off the roof (or the wall) and you should immediately see the difference in image quality the flash makes. If you dont like the results, then you are definitely doing something wrong.

A couple things that will really screw you when using flash that you'll have to watch out for is your flash exposure compensation. If this isn't set right your images will either be too bright or too dark. The other thing is your white balance. If you use the flash, set the white balance to flash, or the colors will really suck. (not permenent if your shooting in RAW, but catastrophic if your shooting in .jpg)

That flash will make the difference between a crappy blurry under exposed and noisy as hell image from an image with perfect color saturation and razor sharp features.

This image represents two images taken in virtually the SAME location with the same camera and lens. The only difference being one was taken with available light, and the other taken with flash (430exII) Notice the definite increase in detail between the two. Had I a flash at the time of the first image, the image would have been much more successful.

Untitled-1-740.jpg

[BigFuzzy]

First off, +1 to everything Jason/Tsetsin said.

If you want to see what can be done with only one, you can start by looking at things like Strobist and neilvn.com. Also, flickr has many many photos taken with only one strobe (several groups related to using one flash where you can find lots of good images, many with 'just' a 430).

As for myself, I have a 430ex (not the II version) and a Vivitar 285. I use the 430 most of the time (though i'm doing a lot more 2 light set ups lately).

Not tooting my horn (much) but I believe I've done some nice stuff by just using my 430ex and I've included some samples below.
I will say, however, you really really need to look into getting your flash off-camera (strobist is great for that) to really take advantage of it.

This used one 430 flash off camera shooting through an umbrella on two of the shots, and direct flash on the one with harsh shadow:


This one was shot with the flash ON my camera.


And my avatar was shot with my 430 placed just above my head and a little to the camera left


All of thse, though maybe not amazing photos, do show that quality work can be done with one single non-top-of-the-line flash and basic set-up. Key, however, is you have to know what you're doing.

One last one.. this shot with a small softbox


Don't give up.. just put in a bit of effort and you'll see large gains.
Plus you'll be able to choose what sort of lighting you want to use when photographing something and NOT be limited by your lack of skill/knowledge of flash.. that, to me, is the key. With knowledge of flash, ALL light becomes available light.
Good luck... and use DPS..we can help though you do have to make your own effort.

[karen_s]

Originally Posted by ryanlikealion

Anyone got any ideas for projects around the house involving flash.

The standard water drop photo comes to mind.
Room photography, making things look like they do in magazines.
Lifestyle portraiture. You know, people or pets around the house kinda thing.
Self portraiture if you can't find any willing subjects.
Product photography. Any household item will do.
Flash to stop action in the dark, like BigFuzzy's jump shot.
Play with form. Use the light to create dramatic forms, lines, and shapes using household objects like lamps or bowls or something.
Food photography.

Along with Big Fuzzy's work (I do mean that, I like your work), you might also find some inspiration from Zack Aries. He does some nice work with lights. (He sometimes works with just one, even has a workshop devoted to the idea.)

[BigFuzzy]

Originally Posted by karen_s

Along with Big Fuzzy's work (I do mean that, I like your work), you might also find some inspiration from Zack Aries. He does some nice work with lights. (He sometimes works with just one, even has a workshop devoted to the idea.)

Thanks for your kind words.. and YES Zach Arias... I even own his One Light video.. duh!, how could I forget him?! Nice catch Karen.

[ryanlikealion]

Thanks for these replies suggestions. My intial post makes me cringe a little because it represents that stopping at the first hurdle mentality!!!

I love most of these shots and am surprised at the effects you can get from flash.

I've recently bought an ettl chord which i plan to play with it. The rooms i am going to be working in wont be good for bouncing off walls because they are coloured walls although i do have a reflector.

As for soft boxes could someone recommend one. I've made some sort of light softening thing out of cardboard and tissue paper that i slot onto the end of the flash gun - is this a similar thing??

[SteveGarner]

Look at Strobist.com - there is a full course on off camera lighting.
Or neilvn.com/tangents - excellent info on using a speedlite on camera bouncing the light using the swivel head.
All of my flash photos have been lit using one or two speedlites.

[ArmySoldier777]

Originally Posted by SteveGarner

Look at Strobist.com - there is a full course on off camera lighting.
Or neilvn.com/tangents - excellent info on using a speedlite on camera bouncing the light using the swivel head.
All of my flash photos have been lit using one or two speedlites.

A very very good course. I'm about to order my first off camera flash, and that site has atleast un-confused a lot of things for me so far lol.

[inkista]

This is just me, as I tend to prefer ramp-up learning, as opposed to jumping into the deep end learning, but I'd recommend starting out with neilvn.com's Tangents before the Strobist. The Strobist assumes you've already mastered single-flash on-camera bouncing and the like.

Walk before you fly. Learn all the tools in the arsenal, so that you can fit the method to the task at hand. What you'd need for a studio/location editorial shoot is not what you need for run'n'gun event shooting.

I'd say start with the black foamie thing. It's a very easy technique. Added gear to your 430EX II would cost you about $1. And it looks fantastic. And you won't be drowning in arguments/information overload about triggering systems AND lighting principals at the same time. Start with a single on-camera flash. When that's not enough, then go hit off-camera.

One more word of caution: before embarking on flash photography, I highly recommend being comfortable shooting in M mode on the camera and thoroughly sussing iso, aperture, and shutter speed. Because with flash, you're going to just be adding flash power and flash-to-subject distance, and flash/ambient balancing into the mix. This is a more complex way to think about the light than simply "where does the needle on my meter go?"