Flash Help!

Clawed · Apr 30, 2009

Overread said:
In manual mode you have all 3 settings (ISO aperture and shutter speed) under your direct control - thus the meter is no longer the exposure your trying to meet, but the exposure your going to get from the settings you have.

edit - ETTL is auto flash metering - the flash will auto meter the scene with a preflash (taken right before the shot but after you press the shutter) and then adjusts the power to meet a correct exposure based on the settings dialed into the camera.

Wow, this makes perfect sense to me now (thanks to your easy to understand explanation).

So, using ETTL pretty much takes the guesswork out of it huh? Is it pretty spot on most of the time? When wouldn't you want to use it?

Montana · Apr 30, 2009

I doubt it was your exposure compensation moving...LOL. Your meter was moving as you swing your camera around because it is metering different scences depending on where you are pointing the camera. When using flash, the meter isn't important so much. You will be using flash, so no need to "center" your meter. If you do center it, you are metering for ambient light, and not considering flash output.

I suggest you get the camera manual and the flash manual out and read them again. Not being a jerk, being serious. Read the manual.

Samanax · Apr 30, 2009

Clawed said:
However, can you expand upon what you said above about Aperture controlling flash exposure? I am assuming this means a larger aperture opening would allow more flash to reach the sensor?

Yes. For more info, check out the following:

Lighting 101: Balancing Flash And Ambient Part 1

Lighting 101: Balancing Flash And Ambient Part 2

Dragging The Shutter

Dragging The Shutter Revisited

Clawed said:
Also, with a flash unit is the flash output the only thing you can control? Or are there other manual controls worth using?

The flash zoom feature. The 430EX can be adjusted to control the width of the flash to either cover the lens you're using or as a creative control.

Clawed said:
I think what I am having a hard time understanding is metering and then knowing how to adjust my settings (on the flash or camera) to achieve the results I am looking for.

Exposure Metering

Flash Photography Techniques

Flash Photography & Lighting - More Articles

Clawed · Apr 30, 2009

Montana said:
I suggest you get the camera manual and the flash manual out and read them again. Not being a jerk, being serious. Read the manual.

Montana, I appreciate your help and I will indeed go back and read the manuals (which I have done already) but I feel that I also need to understand concepts first before I can figure out what the manual is saying.

Samanax: Thank you for the relevant links as usual, I will read EVERY one of them

Overread · Apr 30, 2009

just remember that like the camera meter the flash meter can be tricked and somtimes it won't meter how you want - there is flash exposure compensation like there is exposure compensation (you can set it on flash or camera and I foget which overrides the other but one does override the other).

bdavis · Apr 30, 2009

Clawed said:
Great tips, thank you!

However, can you expand upon what you said above about Aperture controlling flash exposure? I am assuming this means a larger aperture opening would allow more flash to reach the sensor? Also, with a flash unit is the flash output the only thing you can control? Or are there other manual controls worth using?

I think what I am having a hard time understanding is metering and then knowing how to adjust my settings (on the flash or camera) to achieve the results I am looking for.

I actually think you pretty much got it. It allows more flash to enter the sensor because its a larger opening.

For example: If you take a picture of someone at 1/200 sec @ f/5.6 and they look a bit underexposed, one of the ways you could brighten them up is by opening your aperture to f/5 or even f/4 and so on until they look perfect. The same is true if they are a little blown out by the flash, if you dont want to change your flash power, then you can stop down your aperture to lessen the effect of the flash on them.