Blacklighting Flash Help

[jakes#onedodgeangel07]

I am pondering on buying the [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Canon 430 EX II Speedlite Flash[/FONT] but i'm not sure its the right one for the job. i donot have an external flash and i want to know what if this is the best one for my canon rebel XSi SLR camera?

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] i have had problems during my sessions with the internal flash "blaring" and i have heard if you put that flash in the sky it creates a diffused light is that so?
[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]i have a photo business that i started about a year ago and i don't have a studio i just shoot on location and i am wondering if this flash could help me with backlighting. i live in texas and need to know what kind of advertisement do you use besides blogspot to get sessions and people interested?[/FONT]

 

[KmH]

First and foremost is to project, and convey professionalism at all times.

Not using the appropriate capital letters when you post doesn't do that.

From your post I'm guessing you do retail photography, like kids, families, seniors, etc.

The best advertising for that type of photography business is good word-of-mouth (WOM) from satisfied clients, since the majority of your market is local. A business page on Facebook would generate more local WOM than a blog. You also really need a web site

The camera's pop-up flash also causes 'red eye' because it is so close to the lens axis. Getting a shoe mounted flash up higher helps some, but the lighting can still come up kind of flat, so the goal is to get the light off of the came entirely. That is called off-camera-flash, or OCF.

Visit www.strobist.com for a wealth of OCF info.

 

[jakes#onedodgeangel07]

Thank you for your advice and i will take it

I guess you could say i do retail photography and its not in a studio so i am basically shooting at the morning hours for the best lighting.

I do not like the flash for that reason of "red eye". I have a friend that has the same camera I do and she had an external flash on her camera and had the flash directed towards the ceiling (at this point she was shooting inside) and she said she uses it to let the light diffuse and make the picture less harsh and more soft on people and their surroundings.

Is that true?

 

[IgsEMT]

I do not like the flash for that reason of "red eye"

It means you don't know how to use your flash.

she said she uses it to let the light diffuse and make the picture less harsh and more soft on people and their surroundings.
Is that true?

Yes, but there's more to the story.
The purpose of PROPER lighting techniques is to make your image look well exposed and not make it seem very obvious that it was lit by flash units.

Based on your post, and ONLY based on your post - you need to learn lighting and why its important to use lights.

 

[KmH]

I have a friend that has the same camera I do and she had an external flash on her camera and had the flash directed towards the ceiling (at this point she was shooting inside) and she said she uses it to let the light diffuse and make the picture less harsh and more soft on people and their surroundings.

Is that true?

Only in part. Having the light coming only from above can give people 'racoon eyes', or dark eye sockets. Portrait photography is mainly about people's eyes.

Another issue is light scatter. In other words bouncing the light off a ceiling offers less control over light going to places you don't want it to be.

Not all ceilings are flat and not all ceilings are white. Light bounced off a colored ceiling picks up that color and gives a color cast to the entire scene.

The last issue to consider is the Inverse Square Law of light. Light falls off as it has more distance it has to travel. when you bounce the light it has to go up, and then back down, essentially doubleing the distance the light has to travel. Light falls off as a square function. If you double the distance, only 1/4 as much light gets there. If you make the distance x4, only 1/16th as much light gets to the subject. You can only increase the output from the flash so much.

Of course, there are no ceilings out there in the park, and that is where OCF comes into play.