Let there be light! Pt. II - You ask, we answer

Village Idiot

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I know certain people had fun with this and others got questions answered and learned a lot, so let's try again.

Got a question about lighting? Anything ever nagged you about it? Don't like it because it seems to hard?

Ask a question and you'll get an answer. Now's your chance to get some info on something you've always wanted to know about.
 
Here's one for ya.

How would one achieve a super high contrast effect using only speedlights?

In what situation? Outside? Inside? Backdrop? White or black?

High contrast how? Between the subject and the environment? Underexpose the ambient and light the subject with several speed lights so that you get lots of highlights without blowing out any detail.

It depends on what you're trying to shoot. Example?
 
Outside, bright overhead sunlight. No reflectors, just speedlights, and using the popup flash to fore the strobes.

You can try and underexpose the ambient.

If you're shooting with strobes that allow wireless ETTL, you can use high speed sync.

Shoot at the lowest possible ISO and at a high enough shutter speed so the ambient it maybe one or two stops underexposed then fire the strobes to expose "properly" You'll get a darker more dramatic background with a properly exposed subject.

Like these?



They were shot at about 3:00PM while it was still sunny out. I completely underexposed the surroundings while underexposing the sky by about two stops. One 580EX II was fired with a shoot through umbrella at camera left. The only light falling on the subjects is from the speed light, so that's why half of their faces are dark, even though it was still bright out.

1/200 which is the x sync of my camera and f/10 to kill the ambient. Adjusted the strobe's exposure to match this.
 
I'v got one for you-explain to me what it means to shoot at my camera's max sync speed and how I would program this. I've got only optical slaves, and sometimes I can't get them to fire.. I'm using on-board flash to fire them at 1/16 power, which works about 3/4 of the time.

Thanks.
 
I'v got one for you-explain to me what it means to shoot at my camera's max sync speed and how I would program this. I've got only optical slaves, and sometimes I can't get them to fire.. I'm using on-board flash to fire them at 1/16 power, which works about 3/4 of the time.

Thanks.

Max sync = x sync. Just another way to say it.

x sync is a property of the camera. It's the maximum shutter speed you can use while getting the entire flash pulse in an open frame. If you shoot faster, you'll get a bar across the exposure from where the shutter wasn't fully open when the flash fires.

Understanding the Flash Sync Speed - Digital Photography Tips and Techniques
The maximum flash sync speed is the fastest shutter speed at which the entire image sensor can be illuminated by flash pulse. From the brief description of the focal plane shutter operation above, it is easy to understand that a single flash pulse cannot completely light the whole frame when the shutter speed is too high. Most modern digital SLR cameras have maximum flash sync speed of ~1/250 of a second. A few camera models (e.g. Nikon D70(s), D50) have maximum flash sync speed as high as 1/500s.

Now this is somewhat correct. Cameras like the D70, D50, D40, Canon 1D, etc... have electronic shutters. They electronically turn the shutter on and off at higher shutter speeds which nulls the above. You can shoot at 1/4000 and still get light from the flash with these cameras.

Opticals can be finnicky. What conditions are you generally shooting in?
 
noob alert!


What is TTL, and what is the difference between the differnt type of TTL's? I have heard of eTTL and TTL II, are there any others?


/end noob alert
 
I know that TTL is "T"hrough "T"he "L"ens metering. Means the flash is metering for what the camera "sees", using the camera's meter.

Someone else will need to expand on the other stuff.
 
noob alert!


What is TTL, and what is the difference between the differnt type of TTL's? I have heard of eTTL and TTL II, are there any others?


/end noob alert

Through The Lens.

I means the camera meters the flash exposure through the lens and automatically adjust the flash power to exposure properly.

E-TTL = Evaluative TTL. It uses the same evaluative metering sensor that's used for ambient.

E-TTL II is the upgraded version. According to Wikipedia:
E-TTL II now incorporates lens-to-subject distance information in its calculation (where available) to assist in determining an approximate guide number for flash output. The flash metering system is also no longer linked to the AF system, where in the old E-TTL metering bias is given to the selected AF point. Rather, E-TTL II compares the ambient and the pre-flash light levels of the scene to determine where the subject lies. This gives the photographer flexibility to lock focus and recompose the scene without fooling the flash metering system. 'Hotspots' (areas of high reflectance) that will normally throw off the flash metering system are also ignored in the calculation.
 
I know certain people had fun with this and others got questions answered and learned a lot, so let's try again.

Got a question about lighting? Anything ever nagged you about it? Don't like it because it seems to hard?

Ask a question and you'll get an answer. Now's your chance to get some info on something you've always wanted to know about.

Hi, Village. Thanks for doing this. I have an Alienbees b800 with a shoot through umbrella and I'm ready to expand a little. I'm looking at another b800, but with a softbox. Do you think this is a good route? Eventually, I'd like to have a few more, but do you think this would be good for a two light setup, or is my money better spent elsewhere?

Thanks,

Ryan
 
Max sync = x sync. Just another way to say it.

x sync is a property of the camera. It's the maximum shutter speed you can use while getting the entire flash pulse in an open frame. If you shoot faster, you'll get a bar across the exposure from where the shutter wasn't fully open when the flash fires.

Understanding the Flash Sync Speed - Digital Photography Tips and Techniques


Now this is somewhat correct. Cameras like the D70, D50, D40, Canon 1D, etc... have electronic shutters. They electronically turn the shutter on and off at higher shutter speeds which nulls the above. You can shoot at 1/4000 and still get light from the flash with these cameras.

Opticals can be finnicky. What conditions are you generally shooting in?


I'm usually shooting around the house if I'm using the external flashes... Portraits of the daughters....
 
OK, here's one, when shooting a group of 20 people, would I be better shooting through an umbrella or bouncing off the umbrella?

Equipment is limited, I have one monolight and two speedlights.
 

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