I think im still not understanding how my flash works

[MohaimenK]

That is of course whilst keeping flash power output, aperture, shutter speed and distance of flash from the subject the same for each exposure and only varying the ISO between shots.

Yup just like that. everything same, in M mode with with various ISO I'll make sure it's set to 1/4 or 1/8 on M mode on flash or whatever mode I go with, it'll be constant through the whole thing

 

[Robin Usagani]

Derrel, this is what happened:

Camera 5D, Flash head pointed up in a pretty low celing house (my house).
I had the Aperture, ISO and shutter set to where I was almost to 0 on my light meter. The room is lit barely from light behind me. I had my flash on ETTL. The shot is fine. Now, since I am shooting my triple girls one by one, I wanted consistencies with the output and decided to set the flash to manual to the lowest power. It surprised when I saw on my preview screen that my photo is about 1 or 2 stop over exposed at the lowest setting. But when I used ETTL it was perfectly exposed.

 

[MohaimenK]

OK, so I found my mistake with the ISO. It's the shutter speed that doesn't matter with flash.

Four Flash Photography Basics we must know

"Changing aperture or ISO changes flash exposure for Manual flash, but not for TTL automatic flash."

So I must have had my flash at TTL mode which is why it didn't change a whole lot in the picture. So I admit I was wrong.

 

[Robin Usagani]

Wow Mo. Really, dont do the test. Use your common sense. Flash is just like anyother light source. The only difference is that it is not constantly lit. This shouldnt even be a discussion. It is a slam dunk. Of course changing the ISO would affect it. Dont bother testing it. You cant seem to stop to amaze me.

That is of course whilst keeping flash power output, aperture, shutter speed and distance of flash from the subject the same for each exposure and only varying the ISO between shots.

Yup just like that. everything same, in M mode with with various ISO I'll make sure it's set to 1/4 or 1/8 on M mode on flash or whatever mode I go with, it'll be constant through the whole thing

 

[o hey tyler]

...and it only took 78 posts.

 

[Tbini87]

Holy cow, my head is killing me after trying to follow this thread. I think I am even more confused about using flash than when I started! I should probably just start my own thread with some questions, but since a lot of you guys seem to be interested in the flash debate could you offer some quick pointers to a flash newb?

Should I start in TTL with my SB-600 so that I don't have to try to do things manually? I am looking for the simpler, quicker, easier approach to using flash for now.

I think I generally want as much ambient lighting as possible when using flash (at least for now). So when shooting (according to some of the linked articles in the thread) it sounds like I should be using a lowest possible f-stop number (wide aperture) and bump the ISO to a higher number? This will let in more ambient light quicker right?

What is the -/+ exposure button used for? Is it dealing with the Subject or simply overall exposure of the image? Is there a way to play with that to add more ambient light? If it were for the subject it would seem that you could make that - a few stops and get a lot more ambient light in. It probably doesn't work like that since that would be too easy.

Any help in clearing up some of my questions would be great. I think these might be questions that beginners who read this thread would certainly have. Thanks.

 

[scovellephoto]

my sagestion is buy a book called speedlights and speedlites one of my teachers co atherd it and itl teach you all you need to know on how to run a speed light

 

[kundalini]

Holy cow, my head is killing me after trying to follow this thread. I think I am even more confused about using flash than when I started! I should probably just start my own thread with some questions, but since a lot of you guys seem to be interested in the flash debate could you offer some quick pointers to a flash newb?......

I'd suggest starting your own thread with your own questions. Much like Kate Middleton, this thread has been royaly screwed.

 

[o hey tyler]

Much like Kate Middleton, this thread has been royaly screwed.

ZING

 

[Tbini87]

Holy cow, my head is killing me after trying to follow this thread. I think I am even more confused about using flash than when I started! I should probably just start my own thread with some questions, but since a lot of you guys seem to be interested in the flash debate could you offer some quick pointers to a flash newb?......

I'd suggest starting your own thread with your own questions. Much like Kate Middleton, this thread has been royaly screwed.

Bummer, there were soooo many people ready to explain these things just a few pages back! Oh well.

 

[Robin Usagani]

Holy cow, my head is killing me after trying to follow this thread. I think I am even more confused about using flash than when I started! I should probably just start my own thread with some questions, but since a lot of you guys seem to be interested in the flash debate could you offer some quick pointers to a flash newb?......

I'd suggest starting your own thread with your own questions. Much like Kate Middleton, this thread has been royaly screwed.

NO way.. she is a virgin!

 

[o hey tyler]

Holy cow, my head is killing me after trying to follow this thread. I think I am even more confused about using flash than when I started! I should probably just start my own thread with some questions, but since a lot of you guys seem to be interested in the flash debate could you offer some quick pointers to a flash newb?......

I'd suggest starting your own thread with your own questions. Much like Kate Middleton, this thread has been royaly screwed.

Bummer, there were soooo many people ready to explain these things just a few pages back! Oh well.

Yeah, well after the same thing has been explained several times over the course of this thread, I know MY patience is wearing thin.

 

[KmH]

It's the shutter speed that doesn't matter with flash.

I just made it to this rodeo and have only read the last page, but shutter speed sure as hell does matter when using flash. Not only does the shutter speed control the ambient light exposure, you also must be aware of your camera's x-sync, and FP sync speeds.

Not exactly shutter speed, but you also have to consider which shutter curtain you are going to sync the flash on.

 

[GeorgieGirl]

Yeah, well after the same thing has been explained several times over the course of this thread, I know MY patience is wearing thin.

You know who has a lot of patience???

 

[GeorgieGirl]

Doctors.