Speedlite

[sactown024]

Hey again! I was playing with my speedlite last night and I found out it can be activated with with on camera flash (duh) but was curious if when i use it this way is my on camera flash lighting the photo also or is it just sending the signal to the speedlite and the speedlite does all the lighting?

Also I am doing portraits this weekend and was thinking about using the speedlite off camera for first time, will one light be enough (I dont have umbrella, just a stand) and does anyone have a good starting point for settings (assuming its a nice day), the spot i picked is very shady.

 

[SCraig]

Hey again! I was playing with my speedlite last night and I found out it can be activated with with on camera flash (duh) but was curious if when i use it this way is my on camera flash lighting the photo also or is it just sending the signal to the speedlite and the speedlite does all the lighting?

Also I am doing portraits this weekend and was thinking about using the speedlite off camera for first time, will one light be enough (I dont have umbrella, just a stand) and does anyone have a good starting point for settings (assuming its a nice day), the spot i picked is very shady.

Nikon cameras with built-in speedlight commander mode can be set up either way. I don't know how Canon handles that.

 

[sactown024]

yeah I was curious if there was a way to toggle that... i guess the user guide will answer that...

 

[SCraig]

I don't have my camera here so this is from memory, but I go into the Commander Mode menu (I have it on a shortcut menu so I don't remember exactly how to get there). From that menu you can assign the channels, and the exposure compensation on each channel. Change the exposure compensation for the on-board flash to "Off" and it will still control the speedlights but NOT fire when the shutter is open.

 

[Designer]

Also I am doing portraits this weekend and was thinking about using the speedlite off camera for first time, will one light be enough (I dont have umbrella, just a stand) and does anyone have a good starting point for settings (assuming its a nice day), the spot i picked is very shady.

One light can work quite well if it is set up properly. Watch for too much light in spots, as this will yield very "harsh" lighting conditions.

You can also use the built-in light for "fill". You can modify the speedlight with a diffuser or bounce it off a large reflector. You can also modify the built-in flash with a small diffuser or "bounce card". There are commercial modifiers available, or you can "jury-rig" a homemade device.

 

[KmH]

Your profile shows that you use a Canon T2i. IIRC, that camera does not have an equivalent to Nikon's CLS or Commander mode.

If so put the off camera flash in manual mode and set the power level to 1/4 to start.

When using strobed light the lens aperture controls the strobed light exposure, and the shutter speed controls the ambient light exposure.
Start with the lens aperture at f/8. If the subject is to dark, open the lens aperture a stop. If the subject is to bright close the lens aperture a stop.

Set the shutter speed to your camera's fastest X-sync speed.

Set the ISO to it's lowest native setting.

You don't say what lens you plan to use.

 

[TCampbell]

I would strongly encourage you to at least pick up a shoot-through umbrella. You could alternatively get a reflecting umbrella. A "shoot through" typically costs about $10 (CHEAP!) and basically creates an instant "soft box" effect. Instead of the light originating from the small point of the flash, it seems to originate from the entire surface area of the umbrella. A wider light source creates highlights and shadows that have gentler edges and smoother transitions instead of the harshly defined shadows you get from a pinpoint light source.

Keep in mind that when using any form of diffuser, the light should be fairly close to the subject (while still being out of frame). If you back up a light too far, then it starts to look more like a pinpoint light source again (even when you're trying to diffuse it.)

If you use your on-camera flash to trigger the off-camera flash, then yes... your on-camera flash is contributing to the light in the shot. You could put a small card or reflector in front of the on-camera flash to bounce the light sideways (toward the speedlight) and block it from hitting your subject. That way you get the light to trigger but avoid having the camera's flash put light where you don't want it.

 

[Derrel]

The T2i does not have remote speedlight command capability, but the T3i does...so...remotely firing a Canon speedlight by using ther T2i's pop-up flash would mean that you would need to use an optical slave trigger on the speedlight, in order to get it to synchronize with the pop-up flash. All in all, using off-camera flash for the very first time, on a two-person portrait set...sounds a bit dicey to me.

I think the best idea might be to work at the EDGE of large, open shaded areas, so the FACES and eyeballs and eye sockets of the people will have some LIGHT in them!!! You do not want to work as much "in the shade" as you do where the shade meets "the light" or "the open".

If worse comes to worse, you can always use a flash on-camera,m right in the hotshoe, or the pop-up flash, to provide direct, on-axis fill-in flash. COntrary to what some say, there is nothing wrong with using on-axis fill light. On-axis fill is in fact, the traditional way to light people!!! The secret is to have the flash set to a "minus" setting, so that the output level of the flash is at LEAST two full f/stops below the exposure that the ambient daylight provides, and which is the so-called main light source.

The simplest way to do the above is to figure out the "right" exposure, and shoot in Manual exposure mode, at like 100 ISO, 1/200 or 1/160 second, and f/5.6 to 7.1, somewhere in there, and then to use the Flash EC (flash exposure compensation) button and set the flash to Minus 2.5 or Minus 2.7 f/stops (Minus EV or Minus Exposure Value of 2.3,or 2.5,or 2.7),and use the flash right in the hotshoe. The flash will basically be providing FIll-in illumination for only the shadowed areas, and will also be giving a bit of what I call "eye sparkle".

 

[fmw]

My advice is never to use on-camera flash for anything ever unless it is a ring light being used for its intended purpose. Even if your off camera flash has a slave function, using the on-camera flash to fire it is likely to degrade your final image. I suggest you find a way to synch your flash unit with your camera shutter directly.

In order to soften light, you need to make the light source larger. That is why photographers use umbrellas tents and other such devices for portraiture. You can get that done with a large reflector also - perhaps a sheet of white foam core would get the job done. Since you have no fill light, you should place the foam core a little high and off center aimed at the subject. Then you point the flash away from the subject and at the foam core. A second foam core board could act as a fill by reflecting some of the light onto the shadow side of the subject.

 

[Tony S]

OP, come back and let us know which specific camera and flash you are using.............. the guessing game is getting too involved. lol

 

[sactown024]

I am using a T2i camera with a Yongnuo 560II speedlite.

Derrel are you saying that if i use my on camera to activate my off camera flash they wont fire at the same time? unless i have a slave trigger? When you say use my pop up flash as a fill insetad of off camera, would i be better off just using my speedlite on camera at a low setting?

 

[pgriz]

The pop-up flash in your camera model is not programmed to communicate with an ETTL flash off-camera. So you need something to sent the signal to the flash when used off-camera. The most basic is a simple radio trigger which tells the flash to fire. More complicated is the "commander" add-on which encodes the instructions to the flash in infrared so that the ETTL flash can understand and synchronize itself to the camera. Or you use an ETTL cord (max range about two feet) to use the ETTL flash off-camera (but within two feet of the camera - these are intended to be used with the flash on a bracket, with the cord used to establish ETTL control).

However, for fill purposes, Derrel's advice is bang-on. Given that the fill set up the way he recommends is only filling in the shadows, and only just a little, the fact that the flash is on-camera is not a big issue. If you will be using the flash on-camera at full power, then the direct flash glare will give a pretty harsh light, but that's not an issue when supplying fill.

 

[sactown024]

if I am using it as fill, should I be using the Speedlite or the popup flash? I will buy a trigger in the near future and a shoot through umbrella, once I do should I still be using the popup flash as fill or just keep it off and rely on the off camera.

 

[Village Idiot]

if I am using it as fill, should I be using the Speedlite or the popup flash? I will buy a trigger in the near future and a shoot through umbrella, once I do should I still be using the popup flash as fill or just keep it off and rely on the off camera.

Most triggers sit in the hotshoe, which doesn't allow the pop up from opening.

 

[TCampbell]

If the flash is on the camera and pointed straight at the subject you'll get marginal lighting.
If the flash is on the camera and bounced off a white ceiling, you'll get good lighting.
If the flash is off the camera and diffused (appears to originate from a very wide source and not a pinpoint) then you can get great lighting.

I will use an on-camera flash to fill shadows and weaken their intensity when the majority of light is coming from someplace else -- but not as a primary lighting source.

High-end bodies don't even have a pop-up flash. The camera makers realize that the primary customers of those models would not use it.