Wedding/Indoor photography

[snowshine]

Hi
After reading Colin's answer in the "Noisy wedding photography" thread, www.cambridgeincolour.com/forums/thread12584.htm, I would like some help to understand another issue, hence starting this new thread. I have noted his advice about other suggestion on that thread[IS,Tripod,Holding the camera ect..]

So when using high ISO in indoors, try to push up the EC on the camera [a general guidance I understand].

If I am using an external Flash [Canon 430EX II],

1. What should be the ideal distance, flash to the body of the camera attached on a hand grip?

2. If Camera EC is pushed up should one use the flash exposure compensation to decrease the Flash Exposure Compensation or just leave the flash as default at 1:1?

3. The Canon 430EX II has a diffuser that can be pulled out and flicked onto the face of the flash. Is that diffuser is adequate or better be bounced off a wall or a ceiling?

4.Should set the camera white balance to flash?

I am sorry to put so many questions in single thread and if I get answer any would be greatly appreciated.

Warm Regards [My camera is a Canon 40D]

[Colin Southern]

Hi Arun,

1. What should be the ideal distance, flash to the body of the camera attached on a hand grip?

Ideally, one wants to impart a direction of light across the faces of our subjects, but that's almost impossible to do without bouncing the flash sideways -- so if you're just just using the on-camera flash as a fill flash then the only real benefit in getting it away from the axis of the lens is to reduce red-eye (or possibly influence background shadows). So the short answer is "as far away as you're comfortable holding it"

2. If Camera EC is pushed up should one use the flash exposure compensation to decrease the Flash Exposure Compensation or just leave the flash as default at 1:1?

I believe that Canon and Nikon cameras work differently in this regard. With Canon, the flash system will expose what it percieves to be the foreground, leaving "all the rest" to the ambient metering. If the ambient is pushed then there is little that the flash can add (remembering that both the ambient light and flash light are cumulative). Having just said that though, I wrote the lesson on high-ISO shooting on the assumption that folks wouldn't be using flash - so if they ARE, then one could rely on the flash solving some of the problems anyway (so in other words, no need to push the exposure quite as far in the first place).

3. The Canon 430EX II has a diffuser that can be pulled out and flicked onto the face of the flash. Is that diffuser is adequate or better be bounced off a wall or a ceiling?

"Diffuser" is actually a bit of a misleading term. For soft lighting what we need is a large light source (ie a diffuser close to the subject) - what you have on the flash is more a "spreader" that spreads the light over a wider angle (as in when you're shooting a group with a wide angle lens) -- it does absolutely nothing to diffuse the light (other than what may be reflected by virture of it bouncing off of objects in the room that may be hit by the wider angle the light is being spread over).

4.Should set the camera white balance to flash?

It depends on what the ratio of flash to ambient is, and what colour temperature the light is. If in doubt, your best bet is to shoot at least one reference shot with a grey card. Sorry, but there's no easy answer to this one. In a worst-case-scenario one needs to add gels to the flash to balance the light.

Sorry this is a bit rushed - daughter is nagging me to take her to school!

[rpcrowe]

I bounce my flash and use a Stroboflash Camera Flip bracket with a Canon Off-Camera Sync Cord (even though my 7D will trigger my flash). I modify my flash with a Joe Demb Flash Diffuser Pro (www.dembflashproducts.com). I don't shoot weddings anymore but there are a couple of shots which could be of a type for wedding coverage...





The adjustable Flip-It portion of the Flash Diffuser Pro allows shooting in areas in which the ceiling is too dark or too high for bouncing and or outdoord where there is no ceiling...

[snowshine]

Colin Thank you very much.
I am away from home [attending a wedding away from my home ] and hence the delay to acknowledge your answer.
You have been very helpful as ever.

Warm Regards

[Colin Southern]

Colin Thank you very much.
I am away from home [attending a wedding away from my home ] and hence the delay to acknowledge your answer.
You have been very helpful as ever.

Warm Regards

You're very welcome Arun,

The best thing - as always - if for folks to get out there and start shooting - and then (perhaps with our help) see what works best.