Assistance Needed

[george013]

Yes, I plan to shot this event in M... The light should be consistent.

I meant

I have played with ISO and I did't find adjusting it controlled the ambient light.

.

George

[KimC]

Yes that's what I did, and found. I did find if I dropped my shutter significantly (45) then that did have an impact on the ambient light, but I'm not using a tripod so it's too risky. My camera is on Manual and my Flash TTL and I shoot Nikon. I wish ISO would control the ambient light. Do you have additional thoughts George?

I meant .

George

[AlwaysOnAuto]

Kim - I've always been happy (too easily pleased?) with my D7000 + SB600 shots when used as fill for such situations as you're going to be facing. They always have a 'natural' light look to them, not a flash in the face look.

[george013]

Yes that's what I did, and found. I did find if I dropped my shutter significantly (45) then that did have an impact on the ambient light, but I'm not using a tripod so it's too risky. My camera is on Manual and my Flash TTL and I shoot Nikon. I wish ISO would control the ambient light. Do you have additional thoughts George?

I just tried. Camera in M and changing iso solely is changing the ambient light and the flash. Probably you had it in a non-M position by accident.
If you don't have some distance behind your subject you might not see a difference. Not sure about that.

George

[KimC]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts Alan.

Kim - I've always been happy (too easily pleased?) with my D7000 + SB600 shots when used as fill for such situations as you're going to be facing. They always have a 'natural' light look to them, not a flash in the face look.

[KimC]

Nope, it's on Manual. I was in a tight room... that may have something to do with it. This will def be something I will check out when I get there today. Thank you

I just tried. Camera in M and changing iso solely is changing the ambient light and the flash. Probably you had it in a non-M position by accident.
If you don't have some distance behind your subject you might not see a difference. Not sure about that.

George

[KimC]

Thanks to everyone who offered their thoughts and guidance. I greatly appreciate it. This really is a great forum
:-)

[rpcrowe]

Shoot several shots of the group from approximately the same camera angle and shoot them as fast as your flash will recycle. Then, you can switch heads or eyes between shots to eliminate closed eyes or bad expressions.

Actually for a group shot like you are proposing, I like to use a camera mounted on a tripod and a remote (wired or electronic) shutter release. That way I can look directly at the group while shooting and perhaps spot any irregularities.

[DanK]

I have played with ISO and I did't find adjusting it controlled the ambient light.

It should, provided a few conditions are met--in particular, that the background is not close to the subjects. Here's how it works. Say you are shooting at my default: 1/60, f/4.5, ISO 400. The ETTL meter determines when the total scene illumination is sufficient and shuts the flash off. Now, assume that the ambient light is roughly uniform throughout the room. The flash illumination is NOT uniform: it decreases with the square of the distance. So the flash, unlike the ambient light, illuminates the foreground (your subjects) more than the background. The higher the ISO, the less light the flash has to provide, so the smaller the differential between foreground and background.

On the other hand, if the people are close to the wall behind them, the effect may be trivial.

[Geoff F]

Just one additional thought. For larger formal group shots it sometimes helps to stand on a chair, or similar, with care, to get a bigger group of faces looking at you instead of those at the back being hidden by the front row.

[rpcrowe]

Kim, I recently fell and injured both thumbs when my hands hit the ground. The joints at the base of the thumb were hurt so badly that I could not take the screw cap off of a plastic water bottle.

Believe it or not, I was able to handle the camera + flash better using the bracket than just holding the camera and flash without the bracket.

I don't have a scale handy but, I would guess that the bracket weighs about a pound. However, holding the unit is easier with my injured hands than holding the camera/flash alone (despite the increase in weight).

[loosecanon]

Using a small flash softbox makes a real difference, and a second flash to one side to give a little modelling, even if bounced from a ceiling is good.

Take photos before people eat - when the table is tidy and cutlery and glasses are not spread everywhere. You are the photographer, TELL the guests to look at the camera to make eye contact - if some don't co-operate embrass them by reminding them that you are making a record of XXX's special day.

For groups sitting round a table be above them, and yes for large standing groups get higher. Take a lot of pictures of any groups, so if nessary you can clone a head of someone who has their eyes closed etc.. Often the third onwards photograph is best as people relax ofter the first flash.

Finally I find lightroom selective adjustments excellent for removing the effect of the flash fall off..

[NorthernFocus]

My wife and I attended a wedding today. The photographer was a young lady widely considered the best in town (granted Anchorage only has a population of 300k). She shot the entire (indoor) wedding, reception, and various group photos without any flash at all. And she was even shooting a noisy Canon

Just sayin...

[Mike Buckley]

And she was even shooting a noisy Canon

Canon cameras don't have a quiet shutter mode?

[DanK]

Canon cameras don't have a quiet shutter mode?

Some do. I don't know about the most recent models, but in the past, the less expensive ones didn't.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[NorthernFocus]

Canon cameras don't have a quiet shutter mode?

I was refering to image noise, not shutter noise. Actually it was impressively quiet shooting. I never got a good enough look at the camera to see a model number. She had two cameras and as best I could tell one with a 24-70 f2.8 and the other with an 85mm wider aperture.

[Mike Buckley]

I was refering to image noise, not shutter noise.

The emoticon at the end of my question about quiet shutter mode was intended to indicate that I understood that. It didn't work at least for you and DanK.

[DanK]

The emoticon at the end of my question about quiet shutter mode was intended to indicate that I understood that. It didn't work at least for you and DanK.

It does now that I am on my computer. It didn't work on Tapatalk on my iPad.

[KimC]

Thanks for this additional information Dan -- made perfect sense to my brain! I pretty much ended up shooting around your guidelines, bit faster shutter and slightly higher ISO. I did use compensation on my flash. And yes, in a larger area, the ISO def controlled the ambient light.

It should, provided a few conditions are met--in particular, that the background is not close to the subjects. Here's how it works. Say you are shooting at my default: 1/60, f/4.5, ISO 400. The ETTL meter determines when the total scene illumination is sufficient and shuts the flash off. Now, assume that the ambient light is roughly uniform throughout the room. The flash illumination is NOT uniform: it decreases with the square of the distance. So the flash, unlike the ambient light, illuminates the foreground (your subjects) more than the background. The higher the ISO, the less light the flash has to provide, so the smaller the differential between foreground and background.

On the other hand, if the people are close to the wall behind them, the effect may be trivial.

[KimC]

Best we could do was smaller group shots Richard -- it was even tighter than thought - place was packed with tables and chairs and about a foot for walking space in-between. Not ideal for sure.

Shoot several shots of the group from approximately the same camera angle and shoot them as fast as your flash will recycle. Then, you can switch heads or eyes between shots to eliminate closed eyes or bad expressions.

Actually for a group shot like you are proposing, I like to use a camera mounted on a tripod and a remote (wired or electronic) shutter release. That way I can look directly at the group while shooting and perhaps spot any irregularities.