What is wrong w/this flash method?

I've posted this elsewhere, but many minds, many views..

 

Been doing a good bit of experimenting recently with flash techniques. I am

specifically interested in candids and "getting ready" shots.

 

As I read more and more, I keep seeing the same thing (more or less), to wit:

 

- Camera on manual set to..

- Meter ambient - 1 to -1 1/2 EV

- Flash bounced, EV dialed in as needed ( In addition, I'm using a flip-it.)

 

I am assuming, and perhaps wrongly, that by "meter" the photogs mean the

camera's meter. I find it difficult to imagine they would be using a Sekonic

all the time. It seems that this way, the photog would spend a lot of time

adjusting settings.

 

So if the camera's meter is what they are using, what is wrong with:

 

- Camera set to A or AV /w Rear Sync

- Flash, still bounced, set to TTL. (EV dialed in as needed)

 

Assuming that the ambient meets the 1/focal length rule for shutter speed, what

is the difference? What is the flaw in this method?

 

I've tried this method in a variety of lighting from florescent to daylight, and

the results seem pretty good. I've also placed a victim... er.. subject in the

role of "getting ready" and those results look pretty good.

 

I know that testing isn't the same as a live shoot, but it would seem to lessen

the amount of work a little bit.

 

I now stand ready to be chastised for my unfathomable ignorance.

Use what works for you. :)

 

If a photographer has told you to meter the ambient, they are, in fact, suggesting that you

use an independant hand-held light meter. Now, if you're shooting digital, you can

probably just as easily make use of your histogram and LCD to get a sense of the

exposure of the room; but if you're still struggling to get your exposures accurate, a

hand-held meter may be helpful to you.

 

My recommendation would be to always shoot manual. The ONLY way to maintain

complete control over your exposure (from shutter speed to aperture to ISO) is to shoot

manual. With manual you can still shoot TTL if you want to, dialing the power up or down

depending on how much additional light you want to throw into the image -- this may

also be impacted by your flash, since flashes and TTL systems will vary.

 

There is no one right way to do this. Figure out what works for you and produces the type

of light you're looking for in your images. :) I sounds like you're already happy with the

images you're creating!

Do what obtains the best results for you. I still use a hand meter and shoot manual camera & flash >> to get the results I promise my clients.

If you connect a non-dedicated flash (at least for the Canon system) you can shoot with the flash on AUTO..especialy works well for fill. You have 4 preset F stops on the flash head,,,check you ambient meter and fill accordingly,,,lot less time for sure.

The problem with shooting in AV with fill flash is that where it is fairly dark, your camera's meter may choose a long shutter speed. This is great for capturing lots of the background, but may cause too much blur, even with the flash.

 

You can tell by the sound of the shutter. Try it tonight. In a room lit by one or two bulbs, set the mode to AV, aperture to f4, whatever ISO you like, and fill flash. It'll probably go click....click.

I do use a handheld meter to determine the ambient light. You don't need to meter constantly. In a "new" situation, you check it once, or maybe at several places in the area, and that's it. And I don't necessarily set the camera the way the meter tells me. Depends on what I want to do with the reading/ambient. So I'm not adjusting settings all the time.

 

In the first examle, seems like the intent is dragging the shutter. In your scenario, there is nothing wrong except you aren't taking into account subject movement, and unless you are using high ISO, the probability of getting higher shutter speeds is low indoors. So stopping motion is what is missing there. Also, I find that unless I minus compensate the ambient when using flash, I tend to get overexposure. Ambient plus flash is additive.

One reason for using a separate meter is to use it as an incident meter instead of the camera's reflective meter. It's just easier to get an accurate representation of how much light there really is this way.

 

If there is plenty of light in the room, I have occasionally set my camera to Av, but with it dialed to -1.5 stops. Then use flash as as needed for the main light. Problems do occur though. The shutter gets way to slow in dark areas, or gets too high in bright areas, so that it wants to set something higher than the max flash sync speed. Also, sometimes the subject will be too well lit with the ambient light and streaking will be objectionable.

 

Most of the time manual is easier to keep track of.

Thank you for all of the information. I do apologize in that I think I may have made myself sound as though I just pulled the camera out of the box from Best Buy.

 

In my post I mentioned that the question assumed that I had adequate shutter speed. I did, however, fail to mention that I was shooting at 800 ISO on a Nikon D200 with the 85mm f/1.4 and an SB800 flash. No doubt that would have been nice for you to have known prior to giving your time. Sorry I left that out.

 

Again, thank you for the information. A bit more work is clearly needed on my part.

The reason I shoot manual is to be able to control both shutter speed and aperture. I'm ususally shooting wide open and then I adjust the shutter speed to determine the amount of ambient light in the image. If you shoot in A mode, the camera is going to select shutter speed based on the flash exposure and you might end up with cave shots.

Daniel--you mentioned that you had the 1/focal length rule covered. In my mind, this is separate from subject motion. If you had a 28mm focal length lens on the camera, you can get away with 1/30 shutter speed, and may, but if the subject is moving, you'll still get blur. If a subject is moving really fast, and across the plane of the scene, you'll get blur even at 1/250. Also, in your example, the 85mm becomes a 127mm, so you'd have to use 1/125th. If you are photographing in a room that light filled, why the flash? For getting ready shots, it would be great if you didn't need flash, because that just alerts the subjects to your presence. On the other hand, many women get ready in rooms where they've pulled all the shades down for privacy, and not only do you end up with very dim lighting, even if you could shoot without flash, the dark eye sockets would be a problem. This is where it wouldn't make sense to use aperture priority, and you might as well go with a lower ISO and let the flash do the work.

I still shoot 1/15 @ f4.5.. for most indoor dancing, etc. It's the flash that "freezes" the image. Bouncing a flash, with a fairly large white card @ Auto f8, should do the trick. Depends on the room/ceiling/ambient exposure, also.