strobe help

[rx2010]

I have recently purchased an SB-600 flash for my d90. I have been trying a lot of things that I have read about in regards to the flash, using it off camera, and so on. I absolutely can not figure out how to light my subjects' faces without blowing out the sky. No matter how blue the sky is or how huge and white the clouds are, every single time I use the flash to put some light on the subjects face I have a dull gray sky. I'm new at this so any help is appreciated.
thanks

[bpatrickcolt]

You may want to try using the camer's meter to determine the correct exposure of the sky, I usually put the camera into spot or center-weighted metering and point it at the sky in Program mode. This will tell you what aperature and shutter speed to use to get the sky exposed correctly. In most cases this will usually result in a high aperature and shutter speed combination. If the meter indicates a shutter speed greater than 200 (flash sync speed), you may want to put the camera into Shutter Priority and re-meter the sky. Once you have the sky metered, remember what the shutter speed and aperature setting were. Set the camera into Manual mode and set the shutter speed and aperature to the settings indicated when you metered off the sky and recompose. If you take a picture now your subject will probably be severly underexposed. That is where your flash comes in. Just fire off a frame with the flash and check your preview screen; adjust the flash's output up or down accordingly to expose your subject properly.

[zona5101]

when shooting in manual, your shutter speed will control your ambient light, your aperture will control your flash fill. So for a given flash to subject/flash power setting you will have an f-stop. Your shutter can be dialed up or down to get the ambient exposed the way you want it. Clearly you can exceed you flash sync speed so you use ND filters to bring it down.
If you shoot iTTL, you dial your flash comp up or down to increse or decrease the light output of the flash.

[inkista]

Originally Posted by zona5101

when shooting in manual, your shutter speed will control your ambient light, your aperture will control your flash fill.

Actually, more correctly, in manual flash mode (i.e., assuming your flash power/distance doesn't vary), your shutter speed affects only the ambient light, your aperture and iso affect both the ambient and the flash.

If you shoot iTTL, you dial your flash comp up or down to increse or decrease the light output of the flash.

However, in iTTL, your camera/flash metering combination will make adjustments to try and keep the proper exposure, so shifting your shutter speed/iso/aperture can, in essence, be transparent and have no effect on the flash illumination. This is the biggest difference between shooting in a TTL mode and in Manual with flash.

Highly recommend reading this article on Planet Neil:
http://www.planetneil.com/tangents/2...lash-exposure/

It's not always as simple as shutter speed = ambient, and aperture = flash.

Back to the OP's question, when you take a flash photo, you're combining two exposures: the ambient (i.e., what you get without the flash), and whatever the flash illuminates.

Chances are good that if you're blowing out the sky, that you're overexposing on the ambient. Take a picture without the flash, first, and get your iso/aperture/shutter speed where you want it for the sky. Then add flash to taste to lift the shadows on your subject. You'll probably want to use your camera's Manual mode to set your ambient exposure, because it's likely to be darker than the autoexposure system wants to make it.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: if you're not comfortable shooting in Manual mode and swapping stops among the iso/aperture/shutter speed settings, you may want to hold off on learning flash until you are. Because all flash is going to do is add two more settings (flash power and distance) into that juggling mix, and the way all those settings work and interact is more complex with flash than without. Get the basics of ambient exposure under your belt first.

[zona5101]

Originally Posted by inkista

Actually, more correctly, in manual flash mode (i.e., assuming your flash power/distance doesn't vary), your shutter speed affects only the ambient light, your aperture and iso affect both the ambient and the flash.


However, in iTTL, your camera/flash metering combination will make adjustments to try and keep the proper exposure, so shifting your shutter speed/iso/aperture can, in essence, be transparent and have no effect on the flash illumination. This is the biggest difference between shooting in a TTL mode and in Manual with flash.

Highly recommend reading this article on Planet Neil:
http://www.planetneil.com/tangents/2...lash-exposure/

It's not always as simple as shutter speed = ambient, and aperture = flash.

Back to the OP's question, when you take a flash photo, you're combining two exposures: the ambient (i.e., what you get without the flash), and whatever the flash illuminates.

Chances are good that if you're blowing out the sky, that you're overexposing on the ambient. Take a picture without the flash, first, and get your iso/aperture/shutter speed where you want it for the sky. Then add flash to taste to lift the shadows on your subject. You'll probably want to use your camera's Manual mode to set your ambient exposure, because it's likely to be darker than the autoexposure system wants to make it.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: if you're not comfortable shooting in Manual mode and swapping stops among the iso/aperture/shutter speed settings, you may want to hold off on learning flash until you are. Because all flash is going to do is add two more settings (flash power and distance) into that juggling mix, and the way all those settings work and interact is more complex with flash than without. Get the basics of ambient exposure under your belt first.

Inkista-
I've been meanting to express my appreciation for your level of knowledge and willingness to share that knowledge. There are few that are as well informed and I appreciate all you do for folks like me, to bring me along in my understanding. So thanks very much.

[Chip]

You've been given some great advice already. That planet neil site is very helpful.

I have the same set up as you.

To sum up: (1) camera in manual, flash in TTL; (2) meter for the sky - may need/want to underexpose the sky by 1-2 stops, to saturate the colors a bit and darken the sky; and (3) keeping the same settings, focus, recompose and shoot. The flash should do a pretty good job of exposing the faces properly. If not, just adjust the flash's output as needed.