At last I have control of my strobe! Picked up the triggers today at the Calumet store in Cambridge, and I'm indeed grateful. The ability to fire remotely AND have full control of all of my flash functions (including reduced power) will be revolutionary. Consider this fact alone: when firing only the power necessary to balance a shot (often 1/4 power or below) the flash takes almost no time to recharge, so I can take rapid fire shots! Amazing.
This photo is certainly nothing spectacular (except for its subject of course!) but it illustrates a challenge I've already discovered: when attempting to balance by first taking a meter reading and metering the camera as if taking a picture without flash, what if the meter reading comes through as impossible to shoot without a tripod, such as in Sharon's dark office tonight? Clearly, the flash then becomes the dominant source of light and not just a balance fill. I'm trying to figure out what the rules would be in this case, because I imagine this is common problem to 90% of parties, receptions or indoor events.
Also, why is everything so much more grainy in dark lighting conditions such as here:
Oh boy! Welcome to the fun stuff! Now your challenge will be to find the best times to shoot available light, and the best times to supplement or replace entirely.
ReplyDeleteWhich triggers did you end up getting?
Shooting partial power is what I do whenever possible. Don't forget that your flash has a limit to duty cycle -- even though it will recycle quickly, you can melt the flash with long sequences of flashes. Your manual should speak to the number/power/timing.
I don't worry about balancing the flash unless there is some other light I want to be part of the photo (a sunset in the background, a lamp, a window, etc.) When you cannot reasonably meter with available light, then you have to control the flash to get all the lighing effects you want. (Have you read about "motivated light"?)
Looks like the photo of Sharon is at ISO 400. To my knowledge, the "film" sensitivity setting is the only factor in how grainy the picture looks
Great work, Seth, and I'm excited for you on this next stage of your photo journey!