Advice on Flash Photography Required...please

[Wirefox]

Ok I am going to strip down to my bare ignorance in public here so no tittering I am blushing already. I am about to take delivery of a Canon Speedlite 430EX MkII and a SB-E1 bracket. Now I know that this flash, through some clever jiggery pokery, will allow me to choose my camera setting and the flash will be set automatically to compensate for any shortfall in lighting....within limits. What I am unsure about is if I want to bounce the flash...how do I determine my camera settings since I will not get the same level of light from the bounce?

[Colin Southern]

if I want to bounce the flash...how do I determine my camera settings since I will not get the same level of light from the bounce?

That's the sheer beauty of ETTL II - you don't need to change a thing

The camera will fire a brief pre-flash right before the main flash and the camera uses this to work out how much power is needed in the main flash. So provided the flash has enough grunt, it'll make the adjustments automatically for you.

Canon EOS flash does take a bit of getting used to. Shots typically have a fairly neutral look to them to the point where some wish for more exposure. If your one of these then start by setting FEC (Flash Exposure Compensation) to +1 as a starting point.

N K Guy wrote (practically) a book on EOS flash, and made it available online. There's a lot of good stuff in it (and also a lot that probably won't be relevant), - well worth the investment of a few hours though. You can find it here. Also, I've got them pretty sussed (580EX II / wireless etc), so sing out if I can help with anything

[Wirefox]

Colin

As usual very clear and concise explanation. This is exactly what I wanted to know. I cannot wait to have play with this bit of kit. I kept getting a timeout on the link but I will try again later. I can well see me coming back for more advice. Right, I am off to unpack my new toys

Just out of interest I ordered my flash unit from CameraBox (I can mention suppliers? if not pls delete). I was amazed at the service. I ordered the kit via internet at 17:15 yesterday afternoon....I opened the door this morning at 7:15 to go to work and CityLink were on the doorstep with my flashgun Competitive pricing too.

[Colin Southern]

Looking forward to hearing how you get on with it