Flash photos

[cgipson1]

okay, well then 2.8 aperture, i just want a indoor lens that wont break the bank. can you explain or link a "how to" for shooting at low aperture?

correct me if i am wrong but the lower the aperture the better the background blur right? but can create out of focus photos?

Best link in the world for this question! Online Depth of Field Calculator

Here is your T2i at 3ft. from the subject at 1.8 on a 50mm



Please notice that the DOF (depth of field = Area of sharpness) is .07 feet (.84") so less than ONE INCH of sharp focus area..... at 3ft from your baby. Which partial inch do you want in focus?

 

[kundalini]

Sorry sactown024, don't mean to highjack your thread, but I would like to make a point for paige.

Was flash used in this photo? If so, does it look horrible? Does it look unnatural? How would it be improved with regard to lighting?

Here's another. Same questions apply.

And one last example.

 

[Derrel]

Oh, come on man...seven one-hundredths of a foot is like, what...I mean, that might as well be a country mile's worth of DOF...whaddaya' tryin'a be...some kinda' alarmist!?

 

[cgipson1]

Oh, come on man...seven one-hundredths of a foot is like, what...I man, that might as well be a country mile's worth of DOF...whaddaya' tryin'a be...some kinda' alarmist!?

hahahaha... sure! A sharp nose here..... a blurry ear there... it doesn't matter at all, as long as you get that killer bokeh, right?

 

[paigew]

I think most people prefer to shoot when they want to... rather than relying on the vagaries of so-called "Natural" light! You really seem to have a bias against flash... do you even use flash?

I also think people want to shoot when they want to. So if my baby is sleeping on the couch I want to know how to use the lighting in that room. If he is about to stand up in the kitchen I don't want to have to run and get my studio lighting kit so that everything is 'perfect'. I want to know how to take a nicely lit photo where ever I am. Plus 'real life' isn't perfectly lit and I don't always want 'perfectly lit' photos. I think it is so intimidating when people come here to learn how to take a decent photo and people tell them they need ALL.THIS.STUFF to do it. You don't need all that crap to take a good photo. That is all I'm saying. I am glad I figured that out before I bought the backdrop stand, the backdrop, the props, the seamless papers, the lights, etc.

As for my 'credentials', I have a speedlight, and have watched neil van niekerk webinar about it. I experiment with it, but not nearly as much as I would like to. I have gotten shots I love that I couldn't have gotten without it. Are those my favorite photographs...no. I am excited to learn studio lighting in the future but I do not think it should be the first thing you learn.

 

[paigew]

I am a guy.... but i was going to get the 1.8 either way and i want to learn flash so i was going to use the newborn for that, if they come out bad it is still good practice i can then always go back to no flash and use the 1.8 aperture.

well if you want to learn flash then by all means learn it! But obviously you have so much to learn that your photos would probably be tons better if you concentrated your efforts on learning how to shoot in manual first.

 

[paigew]

Sorry sactown024, don't mean to highjack your thread, but I would like to make a point for paige.

my novice guess would be:

1) flash. I think it looks unnatural. A completely lit foreground with a dark (night) background. The light just ends , there is no depth or light wrapping around the subject. Not sure how you can fix this, this is the main reason I don't like flash. (really hoping this is flash here and I'm not going to be embarrassed later )

2) no flash; you have some depth/shadows although they seem a little harsh. Main light source (sun? window?) coming from image left. I suppose you could have bounced flash here to try and trick me. I really think using a stuffed animal is completely different than using a person. Fuzz is not the same as skin.

3) flash. Looks nice! I don't have the pleasure of having my models 'hold still' in order to use off camera flash (which I am guessing this is)

 

[cgipson1]

I am a guy.... but i was going to get the 1.8 either way and i want to learn flash so i was going to use the newborn for that, if they come out bad it is still good practice i can then always go back to no flash and use the 1.8 aperture.

well if you want to learn flash then by all means learn it! But obviously you have so much to learn that your photos would probably be tons better if you concentrated your efforts on learning how to shoot in manual first.

I disagree with this also! YES.. everyone should learn to shoot in manual! But until they learn it, it is slow, and babies aren't! You have split seconds to capture expression and such on newborns... that you will miss if you are messing around in Manual. Aperture Priority is the way most PRO's shoot.. and there is a reason for that. It is fast, and it is accurate. For high speed needs, shutter priority is best.. but that is for sports, not newborns. All learning manual does is teach you the relationship between shutter, aperture and ISO in a way that is easier to see, and to learn. Flash.. yes, use manual... anything else, only if you're are trying learn manual!

 

[cgipson1]

I think most people prefer to shoot when they want to... rather than relying on the vagaries of so-called "Natural" light! You really seem to have a bias against flash... do you even use flash?

I also think people want to shoot when they want to. So if my baby is sleeping on the couch I want to know how to use the lighting in that room. If he is about to stand up in the kitchen I don't want to have to run and get my studio lighting kit so that everything is 'perfect'. I want to know how to take a nicely lit photo where ever I am. Plus 'real life' isn't perfectly lit and I don't always want 'perfectly lit' photos. I think it is so intimidating when people come here to learn how to take a decent photo and people tell them they need ALL.THIS.STUFF to do it. You don't need all that crap to take a good photo. That is all I'm saying. I am glad I figured that out before I bought the backdrop stand, the backdrop, the props, the seamless papers, the lights, etc.

As for my 'credentials', I have a speedlight, and have watched neil van niekerk webinar about it. I experiment with it, but not nearly as much as I would like to. I have gotten shots I love that I couldn't have gotten without it. Are those my favorite photographs...no. I am excited to learn studio lighting in the future but I do not think it should be the first thing you learn.

Cool.. but I made my living with for about seven years... little bit of difference there! 90 percent of the shots I take have flash... I don't use it on landscapes for hopefully obvious reasons!

 

[cgipson1]

Sorry sactown024, don't mean to highjack your thread, but I would like to make a point for paige.

my novice guess would be:

1) flash. I think it looks unnatural. A completely lit foreground with a dark (night) background. The light just ends , there is no depth or light wrapping around the subject. Not sure how you can fix this, this is the main reason I don't like flash. (really hoping this is flash here and I'm not going to be embarrassed later )

2) no flash; you have some depth/shadows although they seem a little harsh. Main light source (sun? window?) coming from image left. I suppose you could have bounced flash here to try and trick me. I really think using a stuffed animal is completely different than using a person. Fuzz is not the same as skin.

3) flash. Looks nice! I don't have the pleasure of having my models 'hold still' in order to use off camera flash (which I am guessing this is)

Flash stops moving subjects better and sharper than shutter speed ever will, off camera or not!

 

[Derrel]

Learn to shoot GOOD bounced flash, and also some simple OCF with umbrella...OCF being off camera flash. A GOOD electronic flash unit is VERY handy...it can bring light to darkness, 24/7, indoors or out...at home, or on the road...with a DIGITAL SLR, it's a pretty easy matter of setting the flash to "X" output, shooting a shot, and then making a correction or two, and getting the right exposure pretty quickly. With the more-costly, $450-$589 priced "top-end" speedlights from Canon, Nikon, or Metz, the evaluative TTL metering is pretty good. With a bit of practice and some study, a new mom ought to be able to get GOOD shots of a baby within a couple of weeks' time.

 

[cgipson1]

Learn to shoot GOOD bounced flash, and also some simple OCF with umbrella...OCF being off camera flash. A GOOD electronic flash unit is VERY handy...it can bring light to darkness, 24/7, indoors or out...at home, or on the road...with a DIGITAL SLR, it's a pretty easy matter of setting the flash to "X" output, shooting a shot, and then making a correction or two, and getting the right exposure pretty quickly. With the more-costly, $450-$589 priced "top-end" speedlights from Canon, Nikon, or Metz, the evaluative TTL metering is pretty good. With a bit of practice and some study, a new mom ought to be able to get GOOD shots of a baby within a couple of weeks' time.

Exactly... straight flash is harsh... modify some way, and you can do wonderful things with it!

 

[o hey tyler]

I disagree with this also! YES.. everyone should learn to shoot in manual! But until they learn it, it is slow, and babies aren't! You have split seconds to capture expression and such on newborns... that you will miss if you are messing around in Manual. Aperture Priority is the way most PRO's shoot.. and there is a reason for that. It is fast, and it is accurate. For high speed needs, shutter priority is best.. but that is for sports, not newborns. All learning manual does is teach you the relationship between shutter, aperture and ISO in a way that is easier to see, and to learn. Flash.. yes, use manual... anything else, only if you're are trying learn manual!

If you are suggesting the OP learn flash, then I don't see why you disagree with Paige. Using flash in manual mode is the only way to do it. As I read it, she was suggesting that they familiarize themselves with manual mode before using flash.

 

[o hey tyler]

Cool.. but I made my living with for about seven years... little bit of difference there! 90 percent of the shots I take have flash... I don't use it on landscapes for hopefully obvious reasons!

Okay, so you shoot 90% of your shots with flash. Cool. That doesn't mean that everyone needs to. I shoot maybe 20 - 30% of all my photos with flash. Everyone is different.

 

[paigew]

Flash stops moving subjects better and sharper than shutter speed ever will, off camera or not!

Yes but to get the subject to stay where you want so that the flash hits them. It is just not practical for the type of photography I currently shoot. I look forward to learning off camera flash sometime in the near future. My whole point is that you do not 'need' to know studio lighting to take newborn photos of your own baby. It is far more important to spend these months learning how to take a photo.