Angry Photographer gives good advice on flash ...Not

Pistnbroke

It seems the angry photographer is having a fest on the two topics photographers cannot handle Photoshop and flash.
Well I leave photoshop to the wife and I do the flash.
Now if you want to do flash you put an iTTL gun in the shoe, keep the camera in landscape and off you go ..That wonderful Nikon technology does the rest ....so I pointed this out ..
QUOTE


Its just not true that you cannot take great flash photos with the flash in the shoe/ You must keep the flash over the lens. Even in the days of Hassleblad when everyone had a CT 45 alongside the camera I had mine bracketed to be right over the prism. As soon as you take the flash from above the lens you make side shadows . Difficult to remove particularly with patterned wallpaper behind. To keep the flash over the lens you need one of these
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Compact-Universal-Flash-Arm-Bracket-Grip-Holder-style-4/261883973572?hash=item3cf9804fc4:g:zg4AAOSwqu9VJnkS
Not one of these which are junk
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Multi-Angle-Quick-Flip-Off-Camera-Flash-Bracket-for-Digital-SLR-Cameras/302581319751?epid=1240278921&hash=item4673408847:g:AaIAAOSw575Zf7wU
That will always keep your flash over the lens. (preferably a short SB400)
Fat man makes the point about two exposures so you want to maximise the ambient. Set camera to auto iso but make base iso 200 ..when flash goes on this jumps to 800 so flash is less and ambient is more.
Use manual ..rubbish ...auto iso 200-6400 min 1/60 f8 FP 1/320 and as soon as you go into room lighting it will go to 1/60 800 iso F8 ..no need to touch any thing just turn the flash on and off.
Has worked for me for 30 years and thousands of weddings go try ....

What do you do think for non studio locations?

FF is here

Searcy

While I see his point I think "rules" like this assume we are all trying for the same type of shot.

Nikoniser

Actually that was one of the first AP videos where I agreed with everything he said, and he really laid off the bad language, although it was still a bit meandering, he is 100% correct - the best way is to shoot in Manual, let TTL on the flash set the exposure. Control Ambient using the aperture and shutter speed. "Every flash photograph is a double exposure"

Pistnbroke

true but he does not address the issue of side shadows which ruin most in shoe photos and using auto iso 200/ 1/60/ f8 is what it will always revert to so no need to consciously go manual

KnockKnock

Funny. He could have made his points in 60s. But I learned something. The flash duration: 1/10,000/s.

I learned through trial and error that auto ISO and slow-sync had its limits with the speedlight. The only way I could control ambient light was to choose my ISO manually. Set it higher, and I get more/better ambient depth light. I'll have to rethink shooting full manual with these concepts.

PB_PM

Shooting manual is the way to go for staged shots, but for anything else it's just a pain.

Pistnbroke

I think if you tell someone that the only way to use flash is to take the flash off the camera using a cable or remote then you are adding in complication. Where will the shadow fall ? If the background is a long way behind the subject OK but for most it is not . Then you want dial twiddling and thinking to set it up ,,,no no
I often set up a mini studio at events ..flash brollies etc but I put old optical triggered flash in the brolly (CT 45)triggered by the pre flash and stick a flash on the camera for the true exposure.
Still I hope you liked the flash bracket .......

Searcy

PB_PM said:

Shooting manual is the way to go for staged shots, but for anything else it's just a pain.

I'm not claiming manual is superior or anything but I've shot manual for so long that I don't know any other way to shoot. Then again I rarely use a flash either as it's just not allowed in runway photography.

One thing I do think is odd is the idea that shadows are the enemy. If used right I think shadows tell half the story.

PB_PM

I am talking about manually setting flash power, not manual mode on the camera, just in case that wasn’t clear.

Pistnbroke

KISS let the computers do the work.
Shadows yes for arty stuff but you don't want a groom making his speech with a huge side shadow ..A studio degree portrait for example would not be acceptable with a side shadow....looks incompetent on my part. Why in our studios do we arrange the lights front and high and light the background?
If people are frightened of flash then to get them started all they need to be told is to put the flash in the shoe .ittl and keep it landscape . crop later..move up from that.