alain_martinez Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 Hello, I was trying to experiment this past Saturday trying to create back light while the bride was dancing with her husband for the first time. I had a dedicated 580EX on my camera, and I had an assistant holding another 580EX off to the side-behind the bride. The problem is that I could not get the secondary flash to fire 1 stop above what my TTL was reading at all. I had it juced up 1 1/2 stop over, and still nothing, it looked even all the way around. My TTL was taking total control of the other Flash as well. I did not to go Manual on the flash, I really like the 580's TTL. I tried putting the other 580 on M, but it won't let you while on Slave. so after this long story, do you have any solutions for this that does not involve taking more powerful strobes light stands and the whole works. In simple terms, is there a way of creating a back light with two 580's or one 580 and a 550EX, while shooting TTL? Thank you very much Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiva Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 Pocket Wizards will assure that your flash fires; they have the highest reliability factor for a wedding situation. Google Pocket Wizard and read if the other solutions are not working for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sean_r2 Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 You can certainly set a slaved 580 to manual. It's unforgiving at crunch time, but you need to hold down the Mode button for a couple seconds until the M flashes with your setting. In reality it's just a second or two. In practice with every moment counting, it feels like ten hours. For ratios with two 580s, you can get a STE2. I have one and it works great, but I haven't tried it during a crunch time situation yet. Would rather just have my flash on bracket and maybe a slave on a stand somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wulf... Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 You can separately set the FEC on the other 580 also. It adds up on top of what you set from the master. Not sure if it can go over +3 this way or not. Never tried it. What Sean said is true also. You just have to hold the mode button down for a couple of seconds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allen_d. Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 This is most effective and much easily accomplished using an older manual flash like an older quantum (doesn't have to be a digital model) with pocketwizards. I'll attach an example that shows from this setup.<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allen_d. Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 You can see the reflection of the light on the floor, but it also adds dimension to the dress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edrodgers Posted January 5, 2007 Share Posted January 5, 2007 I do not use exposure compensation on the flash in this situation, but use flash ratios on the 580s, and it works well for me. 2:1 or 3:1 works pretty well.. Back lighting this way is tricky though. The TTL might get hosed if the back light creeps into the frame. For back lighting, I have good success with a 580EX on camera set to TTL, and a Quantum T5D for the back light set to Auto (Thyristor). If I'm shooting at F8, I'll set the Quantum to F11 for a nice silver lining. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alain_martinez Posted January 5, 2007 Author Share Posted January 5, 2007 Actually I have a small correction to make, the second flash I was using was a 550EX. Can that still be done? I have some of the new Pocket Wizarards, but they don't work with TTL. I'll try it with the other 580, but I usually give my other 580 to my assistant photographer. I do love that silver linning though, I think it makes all the difference in the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edrodgers Posted January 5, 2007 Share Posted January 5, 2007 I have no experience with the 550EX, but it does have wireless ratio capability, so I think it should work with a 580EX master. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill.akstens Posted January 5, 2007 Share Posted January 5, 2007 I agree with Ed above that doing this successfully with the ETTL Canon flashes is very tricky. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the flash ratio you set is controlled by what flash light comes back to the camera through the lens from the entire scene, not just the subject. So a 2:1 ratio is not a 2:1 ratio on the subject, but a 2:1 ratio across the entire scene which might include an entire room depending on focal length of the lens. It really depends what's in the room, how those objects reflect flash, and if any slave light spills back toward the lens directly. Hard to control all that, but definitely worth experimenting and practicing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alain_martinez Posted January 5, 2007 Author Share Posted January 5, 2007 Oh yeah the focal length will definitely make a difference. FYI I was trying those shots with a 70-200 2.8 IS, with the hood on of course, and almost at 200 focal length. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now