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03/24/2006 07:42:06 PM · #1 |
I have a serious problem taking pictures of people, particularly when using flash. And I need to learn soon, as my daughter may be going to a prom in about a month.
Here are a three examples. All were taken in my family room, which has a vaulted ceiling, which at this point in the room is at about 9-10 feet. I used a Sigma EF-500 DG ST flash, bouncing it off of the white ceiling. I have not done any editing to these photos yet, except to resize. Simply, they look like crap. If i didn't bounce the flash, they would look crappier, what with shadows behind the kids and all. Ignoring the composition (especially the rabbit coming out of Bobby's head), please tell me what I am doing wrong. I need to learn to use my equipment properly before (or at least while) I work on the composition.
  
- I read things about X-Sync of 1/250, but it seems like whenever I use teh flash, I always get a 1/60 shutter speed. I have no idea what X-sync means.
- The sheet of paper in 74 languages that came with my flash doesn't tell much. The flash has 3 switch settings "TTL", "Mh" and "Ml". Any ideas what these might mean and which I should use?
- How should I set the camera? Program mode, Aperature priority, shutter priority, manual?
- There's a little plastic flap that pulls out and down over the front of the flash, almost like a diffuser. Should I use that?
- Should I get something like the Omnibounce or the Lightsphere. Do they serve essentially the same purpose? I'd rather not spend the money on the Lightsphere until I have a clue what I am doing.
Are there any websites or books that I should be reading? I have no clue and I really need to get one.
Message edited by author 2006-03-24 19:44:39.
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03/24/2006 08:11:34 PM · #2 |
| Way too dark and far too many shadows on her face in the first one. With such a high ceiling, you're losing tons of light in the distant bounce. Why not choose a room with a lower ceiling? Alternative? Shoot in daylight with more natural light, and if needed, fill flash. Lose the brick background too. If you must have a busy background, get them away from it and shoot with a wider aperture to blur the BG. Best bet, get them outside. Don't worry about posing. Get them to talk together, get them feeling natural. Tell some jokes and make them laugh. Capture some natural expressions. Good luck. |
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03/24/2006 08:32:23 PM · #3 |
A little more information about what settings would help to figure out what you are doing wrong. The flash has lots of power to bounce off a 8-12 ft ceiling if you have the correct F-stop setting. If you are shooting in programme mode the camera should select a setting that should work. If you are in aperture priority or manual mode use a setting of 5.6 or more. (more meaning F-4, F-2.8 or F-1.8) This will brighten up the photo but give you less depth of field. The shutter speed is not all that important. The camera will have a minimum recommended and and a maximum setting. Also make sure you have the flash set to ETTL mode. Check the manual for the correct settings. The photos you posted could be saved in Photo Shop, or some other editing software.
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03/25/2006 02:13:40 PM · #4 |
I will totally take these down if you want me too, I know some people get cranky about others posting edits of their work. However, I wanted to show you how the exposure could be corrected using Photoshop. All I did was to open the photo up in Photoshop and go to Shadow/Highlight. It's that simple. It's always better to underexpose than to overexpose, as you usually end up losing "data" when you overexpose. One more tip, when you shoot a portrait (the one of the two of them), make sure you shoot in portrait i.e. vertical as opposed to horizontal. That way she won't look like just a head! ;)
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03/25/2006 02:29:57 PM · #5 |
I did a quick adjustment in levels and curves, took about 10 sec, and this si the result..
ofcourse I will remove it if you want me to.
If you are not used to shooting with flash, make sure you take all pictures in RAW, that way you can adjust exposure, whitebalance and much more, so the image shot may be dark and ugly, but after adjustment it can look perfect.
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03/25/2006 02:35:51 PM · #6 |
I use the same camera and flash you do so I know they can work together. It looks like you are letting the flash measure how much light it will need, then tricking it by not sending the amount of light it wants to send straight at the model that it measured off.
You can continue to bounce but increase the light you are bouncing off the ceiling my switching the flash mode to manual and increasing the output, and using manual mode in exposure of course. This is the most certain way if you have the time, and you have patient models, or can set everything up ahead of time. Shoot, look at histogram, adjust settings, rinse lather repeat.
If you dont have the time you need to difuse the light while reducing it as little as possible, while using FEC or just good old Exposure Compensation to bump up the exposure. I love my Omnisoft, it lives on my camera and takes up very little space in my bag. Lots of people love the lightsphere but I am not convinced that it suits the way I shoot.
Keeping the histogram loaded to the light side is the only way to get acurate color rendition, so don't count on editing to save your bacon. Get the exposure right in the first place, and editing wil be simple
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03/25/2006 02:50:15 PM · #7 |
Thanks everyone. I realize that I can use Photoshop to fix my problems on these particular shots. But, that's not my issue. I do appreciate your edited shots, but, what I am looking for is: what am I doing wrong now, so that I can take later photos correctly? I don't want have have to rely on post processing. I'd like to have them mostly correct when they come out of the camera. I'm hoping that my unedited shots aren't the best I can hope for (pre-editing), and that's why I made my original post. Do I bounce? Do I diffuse? Both? How should I set the camera? What shutter speed/aperature combination works best for prom type pictures (these are from the junior formal)?
Like I said, composition-wise, I see everything I did wrong here, and I can fix that. First being letting my daughter go to the dance with a guy 15" taller than she is (he's our neighbor, they went as friends). Her potential prom date (the new guy who just asked her out and is joining the Marines in three months) is only about 8" taller, so that will work out better.
Message edited by author 2006-03-25 14:53:21.
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03/25/2006 03:05:19 PM · #8 |
| The best title for a thread ever. |
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03/25/2006 03:16:30 PM · #9 |
Originally posted by larryslights:
Thanks everyone. I realize that I can use Photoshop to fix my problems on these particular shots. But, that's not my issue. I do appreciate your edited shots, but, what I am looking for is: what am I doing wrong now, so that I can take later photos correctly? I don't want have have to rely on post processing. I'd like to have them mostly correct when they come out of the camera. I'm hoping that my unedited shots aren't the best I can hope for (pre-editing), and that's why I made my original post. Do I bounce? Do I diffuse? Both? How should I set the camera? What shutter speed/aperature combination works best for prom type pictures (these are from the junior formal)?
Like I said, composition-wise, I see everything I did wrong here, and I can fix that. First being letting my daughter go to the dance with a guy 15" taller than she is (he's our neighbor, they went as friends). Her potential prom date (the new guy who just asked her out and is joining the Marines in three months) is only about 8" taller, so that will work out better. |
I got the LightsphereII and I love mine and it was the best $50 I have ever spent! Here are some samples of what it did for me: Lightsphere samples
I, like you am still learning but have pretty much tried to keep my camera on manuel while practicing so I can learn. I make notes of the different settings and how they came out. Before the lightsphere my best flash shots were bounced either off the ceiling or I taped a peice of notecard to the top of the flash and angled it at about 45 degrees so it didn't hit the subject square but bounced back to them.
Hope that helps.
Deannda
You have a lovely daughter
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03/25/2006 03:21:37 PM · #10 |
Originally posted by Neuferland:
I got the LightsphereII and I love mine and it was the best $50 I have ever spent! Here are some samples of what it did for me: Lightsphere samples
I, like you am still learning but have pretty much tried to keep my camera on manuel while practicing so I can learn. I make notes of the different settings and how they came out. Before the lightsphere my best flash shots were bounced either off the ceiling or I taped a peice of notecard to the top of the flash and angled it at about 45 degrees so it didn't hit the subject square but bounced back to them.
Hope that helps.
Deannda
You have a lovely daughter |
Thanks, Deannda. Did your shots improve exponentially once you got the Lightsphere? Were you in the same boat as I am? Do I just need to say "The heck with it!" and pony-up the 50 bucks?
And I actually have two lovely daughters. They get their loveliness from their mother.
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03/25/2006 03:25:02 PM · #11 |
Originally posted by larryslights:
Thanks, Deannda. Did your shots improve exponentially once you got the Lightsphere? Were you in the same boat as I am? Do I just need to say "The heck with it!" and pony-up the 50 bucks?
And I actually have two lovely daughters. They get their loveliness from their mother. |
I can say the lighting improved, as for the actual shots............ :)
I feel more confident with my camera now that I know lighting is not going to as problimatic as it was before. I'm still figuring it all out but the lightsphere has made a dramatic difference in how I look at a situation now and how I look at different locations compared to before.
Deannda
Pony up the money, it's worth it
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03/25/2006 04:38:09 PM · #12 |
You can learn an awfull lot by reading the camera/flash manuals and experimenting. That is basically how I got forward with my camera. Nothing beats just shooting at different settings and comparing the results.
Post processing is a necessary part of the process. I don't think there are many people who do not post process their photos. Nothing that comes out of the camera is perfect. I post process every photo which I want to print or post, there is no way around it.
Message edited by author 2006-03-26 04:10:04.
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