Flash when photographing people outdoors

[abarickman]

I saw a wedding photographer today with a bride and groom in the park. He was shooting with a 70-200mm F2.8 and I noticed that he was using flash. It was middle of the day and it certainly was not needed. I understand why he was using it can anyone make any suggestions on how to use it? I shoot almost completely aperture priority and when I do I find that my flash does not act as I would expect. I read up on it once but can't recall why that was. It has to do with how ETTL works with AV mode. If anyone knows please post. But my real question is do you use flash outdoors for casual portraits? If so how do you use it specifically?

[Samanax]

Originally Posted by abarickman

I saw a wedding photographer today with a bride and groom in the park. He was shooting with a 70-200mm F2.8 and I noticed that he was using flash. It was middle of the day and it certainly was not needed. I understand why he was using it can anyone make any suggestions on how to use it? I shoot almost completely aperture priority and when I do I find that my flash does not act as I would expect. I read up on it once but can't recall why that was. It has to do with how ETTL works with AV mode. If anyone knows please post. But my real question is do you use flash outdoors for casual portraits? If so how do you use it specifically?

You use flash outdoors for fill flash.

The information found on this web site has helped me understand and use on-camera flash much more effectively.

And this web site has been indispensable for off-camera flash information.

[inkista]

Originally Posted by abarickman

? I shoot almost completely aperture priority and when I do I find that my flash does not act as I would expect.

In Av and Tv mode, Canon cameras/flashes are programmed to assume you're using the flash as fill. Exposure is metered off the ambient light, and the flash is only powered enough to bring things up to the ambient level. If you want to overpower the ambient, you need to shoot in P or M mode, or use the custom function in the camera to force a shutter speed of 1/200s.

A more detailed description is here:
http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-f...html#confusion

[abarickman]

Thanks Inksta. I'm still not sure what I am doing wrong. I tried using AV and ETTL and it was blowing out the background and the subject? I set my camera at F8, AV and the flash on ETTL. Ideas?

[abarickman]

OK I did some testing with a doll on my deck, yes my wife looked very confused when I headed out there. It seems that it was doing this because it would not go below 1/250, the sync speed. Which means its not that useful on a sunny day? Am I missing something?

I was able to get the desired result by going to manual and then adjusting until my camera meter read -2EV. This controlled the ambient but not the flash exposure which is what I am looking for. If I turned on high speed sync in manual I could work with shutter speeds faster than 1/250th but when switched to AV it did NOT allow shutter speeds faster than 1/250th? This surprised me.

[Jim Bryant]

You might want to shoot at the lowest ISO setting.

Originally Posted by abarickman

OK I did some testing with a doll on my deck, yes my wife looked very confused when I headed out there. It seems that it was doing this because it would not go below 1/250, the sync speed. Which means its not that useful on a sunny day? Am I missing something?

I was able to get the desired result by going to manual and then adjusting until my camera meter read -2EV. This controlled the ambient but not the flash exposure which is what I am looking for. If I turned on high speed sync in manual I could work with shutter speeds faster than 1/250th but when switched to AV it did NOT allow shutter speeds faster than 1/250th? This surprised me.

[trelaflip]

Many wedding photographers will set the camera in AV mode and use a low depth of field.
AV just makes things faster so your not fiddling with shutter speed and end up missing a moment. With the flash they will usually keep it in ETTL and set it in Hyper/Quick sync mode so it will fire with shutter speeds over 1/200.

The objective is to just get a little bit of fill and make it look like there wasn't a flash being used.

[inkista]

Originally Posted by abarickman

If I turned on high speed sync in manual I could work with shutter speeds faster than 1/250th but when switched to AV it did NOT allow shutter speeds faster than 1/250th? This surprised me.

Remember, Av is setting your shutter speed to whatever it thinks is the appropriate exposure for your aperture for the ambient light. If you increase your iso or open up your aperture, you'll get a higher shutter speed. If you have the flash's high-speed sync mode turned on, you can can get a higher shutter speed in Av, as long as that shutter speed is ok for the ambient. Ambient exposure rules didn't stop working just because you attached a flash. If, however, you're stuck at the sync speed, the likely culprit is that you didn't have high-speed sync turned on.

If your camera is in Manual mode, and you want to control the amount of ambient illumuniation, use the aperture/shutter speed/iso to set the meter where you want the ambient to go. If your flash is in eTTL, use the flash's FEC setting to change the amount of flash illumination; if your flash is in M, use the flash's power setting. This isn't all-in-one exposure, any more. You have two different separate exposures that you're combining in the shot: the ambient and the flash.

[sftl99]

I've got a question along these lines. If I were to start using fill flash outdoors, would you recommend a diffuser? What power would you typically use? 1/16 - 1/8 maybe?

Oh, and when I say "diffuser" I just mean one of those cheap plastic caps that sits on the top of the flash.

[inkista]

Outside, without any walls to bounce off of, an omnibounce stops being a diffuser, and just robs you of light. A softbox might work, but remember, the size of your light source determines the softness of the light.

Asking what power setting to use is like asking what iso/aperture/shutter speed to use. It depends. On your camera settings and on the distance of your light to your subject, and on what effect you want. I'd say don't dither about it, just try it and see.