# Flash in sunlight?



## Kevmeister! (Feb 20, 2012)

So in the beginning of this video, bigger faster stronger film clip featuring Rick Schaff , you can see a photographer with a flash unit and a big diffuser. Now I don't know if he is using the flash but if he does, does anyone know why he needs in when there is enough sunlight.


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## neuroanatomist (Feb 20, 2012)

Fill light. Overhead light means shadows under eyes, nose, etc. A flash fills in those shadows.


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## pdirestajr (Feb 20, 2012)

Really the only time to use the dreaded pop-up flash is in bright sun- like what Nero said, to fill in eye shadows.

Off camera flash in bright sun will also allow you to underexposed the scene- to get a rich background sky, then light foreground subject to blend with the ambient light.

This you can say is the original HDR effect!


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## dryanparker (Feb 20, 2012)

neuroanatomist said:


> Fill light. Overhead light means shadows under eyes, nose, etc. A flash fills in those shadows.



+1

I can't view the video referenced for some reason, but I will say you may be surprised how often flash is used in broad daylight, particularly by professionals. There's something to be said for the dramatic look that can be achieved with on or off-camera flashes during the day.

Try this: 1) Mount on-camera flash and set to ETTL mode. 2) Shoot in Aperture Priority mode. 3) ISO 100-400 depending on your sunlight, lower is better. 4) Evaluative metering. 5) Adjust your aperture so your shutter speed is between 1/250 and 1/200. 6) Fire away and let me know how it goes!


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## neuroanatomist (Feb 20, 2012)

Kevmeister! said:


> ...a flash unit and a big diffuser.



BTW, that's a flash unit and a dinky, little, tiny diffuser.  

With diffusers, the larger the area, the softer the light. The guy in the video is using a Lumiquest Softbox, about 5"x7". For on-camera use, I've got a Lumiquest Softbox III, about twice the area (actually, I usually use it with the flash on a bracket, connected with an OC-E3). For off-camera, I use a pair of 430EX II's in Lastolite 24" Ezyboxes, and a Paul C. Buff Einstein 640 monolight in a 48" octabox. Now _that's_ a diffuser...


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## scottkinfw (Feb 20, 2012)

I would also add this. If you have time, try adjusting the power output from your flash. You will find that you can get some really remarkable results.



dryanparker said:


> neuroanatomist said:
> 
> 
> > Fill light. Overhead light means shadows under eyes, nose, etc. A flash fills in those shadows.
> ...


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## D.Sim (Feb 20, 2012)

dryanparker said:


> neuroanatomist said:
> 
> 
> > Fill light. Overhead light means shadows under eyes, nose, etc. A flash fills in those shadows.
> ...




If you were to go that way it would be easier to shoot in Shutter Priority - Tv - and set your shutter speed to 250. 

Personally I prefer shooting in manual - expose for the ambient light then adjust the flash power to fill in the subject. Takes a lot of fiddling but the results come out nicer, imo


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## briansquibb (Feb 20, 2012)

Flash can also be used to overcome the ambient light rather than infill. This allows the photographer to overcome the high contrast and panda eyes that bright sunlight gives.

Below is a picture that was taken mid morning with 3 flash - one left(main light) and one right (infill) from flash on stands with 42inch umbrellas and a handheld flash bounced off the snow. The umbrellas are placed as close as possible to the subjects to get maximum light on them - just outside the frame.

The huge amount of light on the subjects allowed me to reduce the exposure to the ambient ( was shoooting in manual) to the point where it looks like moonlight. This was taken on a sunny day in the shade.

In post this converted to monochrome with grain and vignette added


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## dryanparker (Feb 20, 2012)

D.Sim said:


> If you were to go that way it would be easier to shoot in Shutter Priority - Tv - and set your shutter speed to 250.
> 
> Personally I prefer shooting in manual - expose for the ambient light then adjust the flash power to fill in the subject. Takes a lot of fiddling but the results come out nicer, imo



Certainly true! Tv works well here. Probably an easier jumping-off point for those trying it out, actually. Just how my mind thinks I guess!


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## briansquibb (Feb 20, 2012)

dryanparker said:


> D.Sim said:
> 
> 
> > If you were to go that way it would be easier to shoot in Shutter Priority - Tv - and set your shutter speed to 250.
> ...



TV only works for infill and you lose control of the DOF whilst keeping the background correctly exposed


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## Kevmeister! (Feb 20, 2012)

Wow, Thanks everyone!
Here's another question, say I wanted to test this out ( not having any human subjects since i will be wasting alot of time ) how would you replicate such a situation ?

I have in mind to put a watermelon (or something round and similar with a cap on it so the "eyes" will be shadowed and then trying to light up the dark part of the "eyes" ( I may put a sticker there to see if I get good results). But should the sun be facing the face or the back? 8)


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## tbadowski (Feb 20, 2012)

Why not get a cheap styrofoam wig stand? it's more anatomically correct, and you can add hair/hats etc.

(if you want to paint it, use water based paints- oil based will melt the foam)


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## TexPhoto (Feb 21, 2012)

As others have said, fill flash is a great way to improve daylight photos. Personally I like to dial in -1 to my flash compensation and leave it there. This seems to work great for fill flash.

One thing to keep in mind is turning on the flash ussually means dropping your shutter speed to the max flash sync speed. So if you are out shooting with your 85mm f1.2, and of course in A priority and locked in at 1.2, turning on the flash can suddenly turn all your photos bright white, terribly overexposed! But it's not the flash. It's that you were shooting at 1/2000 or so and now the flash forces you to 1/250.

Another thing to try is when the main problem is dark eyes, and under the nose, flip the camera upside-down. This puts the flash on the bottom when it will do more good. Would look terrible as the only light source, but looks good as fill. Tough shooting position if you do not have a vertical grip.


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## Orion (Feb 21, 2012)

Kevmeister! said:


> So in the beginning of this video, bigger faster stronger film clip featuring Rick Schaff , you can see a photographer with a flash unit and a big diffuser. Now I don't know if he is using the flash but if he does, does anyone know why he needs in when there is enough sunlight.



IF you are outside, it would be best to have the sun behind the model so as to lewt YOU control the light that hits her, and to have the background illuminated well, and have the sunact as a hair light, etc. . .

a flash is there for fill AND to seperate the model from the background . . usually you would leave the background a bit less bright than the model, but that depends too. Your flash would be set to a low power setting and you would use lowest ISO outside . . tops would be 200.

There would be no fear of uneven shadow found under the eyes with the sun to the back of the model (no squinting eyes too) . . . you would rather need a reflector placed in from of her or on the ground so that when you fire the fill flash it would overcome the shadow formed by the ridges on her face. If you place the flsh low enough so that the shadows would be angled away, and have the sun behind her head, it would simply mean you take a test shot and see how the placement of the flash coincides twith the formations of shadows on her face . . and learn from there. take the flash OFF the camera (work with distance), and try not using a diffuser too, or get a larger one, and place large white reflectors (rectangular) one to each side of the model slightly behind her angled towards the camera. . . .


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## cgardner (Feb 21, 2012)

In backlighting (i.e. sun directly behind the subject) the face is in the same light as it is in open shade — skylight.

Skylight has two components, a dominant downward direction which models the face and a omni-directional one which creates a wrap around fill effect. In terms of cause and effect skylight and a LightSphere or StoFen in a small indoor room are similar: a downward modeling vector and fill coming from many other directions.

What the photographer in the video is doing by adding flash from near the axis is canceling out the natural directional modeling of the skylight with flat flash. The net effect is the same as a direct flash shot indoor in front from near the camera — flat — but it will look better overall than an indoor flash shot because of the rim lighting effect of the sun. 

Had the photographer put the flash on a camera-flip bracket over the camera the cause and effect would change. Whenever a flash is moved off axis it's role changes from even fill which lifts everything, to key light which creates a modeling highlight pattern. When raised 16-18" above the lens the downward angle of the flash will create the same "mask" pattern of highlights in a full face view as the key light in a centered "butterfly" pattern where the nose is pointed at the overhead key light. 

With a backlit subject the nose will also be pointing at the brightest part of the skylight also creating a faint "butterfly" pattern on the face. But during most daylight hours the skylight angle is so high that the brow will shade the eyes. The solution to that problem is to *lift the face up into the skylight to get the skylight's "key" component into the eyes — before adding any flash.* In other words before adding flash outdoors pose the face into the skylight as if you were shooting with window light using the directional component as key light.

The easiest way to get the face up into the light is to bring along a short 3 step ladder, get the camera and flash several feet over the head of the subject then say, "Hey look up at me..." The camera/face angle winds up similar to what you'd see in the viewfinder on the ground, but now the eye sockets will be well lit rather than shaded. The same thing happens at the beach in a situation like the video. The model down by the water line is several feet below the photographer higher up on the beach so the vector of the flash, even though it is near the axis winds up downward relative to her eye line. 

With the face up into the skylight, modeled with a skylit butterfly pattern the next step is to add flash in a way that will not cancel that soft modeling from God's own softbox. The logical way to so that is to add the flash from the same 45° downward angle the "key" component of the skylight is hitting the raised face. That's where the flash bracket, and the ladder come into play.

If the lens of the camera is about 8ft off the ground (to get the subject looking up and skylight in the eyes) and the flash is 16-18" higher than the lens the flash and the skylight angles will be a similar 45° relative to the eye line. The net effect is very similar to using an umbrella as key light centered over the camera - brighter and more parallel (collimated) light rays in the center from the small flash source, with more diffuse omni-directional light from the edges.

This defies conventional wisdom and terminology of any flash used in sun as being "fill" flash, but the role of light sources change depending on their direction. In back light the sun becomes the "hair" light not the "key" in lighting parlance. Before adding flash the skylight is both "key" creating the highlight pattern on the face, and "fill" from its 360° wrapping of the subject. Flash added from ground level which winds up level with the chin will act as flat even "fill" raising everything the camera sees. But when the flash is move off axis it's role changes to one of modeling the face by creating highlights — the role of the "key" light.

Where does the fill come from in that backlit / raised "butterfly" flash on bracket scenario? The same place it did before the flash was added — the wrap around fill component of the skylight, not the flash which is now raised and creating the overlapping flashed highlight pattern. *When the flash is raised the shadows the flash does not hit remain as dark as they were before the flash was added.*

The lack of fill when flash is moved off axis and becomes the frontal "key" light becomes obvious when the flash is moved to the side instead of up which results in a noticeable and unflattering dark shadows on the nose and other parts of the face. Those distracting harsh dark shadows are not seen in the butterfly lit / full-face view because both skylight and flash are "key" lighting the entire front of the face. The nose shadow falls out of sight under the nose, and the sky-only filled darker sides of the face work in a good way to frame and slim the appearance of the front planes of the face. Butterfly / full-face is a strategy which works quite well outdoors if: 1) the sun is kept directly behind the subject and off the face and front of clothing, and 2) the flash is raised so it hits the face at a 45° downward angle relative to the eyes with face tilted up to get the skylight into the orbits. 

What you don't have with any single flash scenario, indoors or outdoors, is independent control over the lighting ratio. Indoors with a StoFen the distance to ceiling and reflectance of the room is what creates the spill fill that lightens the shadows. Outdoors the "spill fill" comes from the sunlight bouncing off the sky. It is more predictable (3-stops below sunlight in incident strength) but given the short range of digital sensors not bright enough to make shadows look "normal" if the sunlit parts are exposed below clipping at "Sunny 16".

So if you want control over the lighting ratio, indoors or out, you need independent "key" and "fill" sources. If in the backlit situation above you were on a step ladder with subject looking up and flash 16" above the lens you'd get a flattering pattern on the face but rather dark shadows on the sides where only the skylight reaches. But if you were to place a second slave flash at chin level just in front of the ladder to create flat even fill you could dial in whatever tone you desired for the mood of the lighting with the lighting ETTL lighting ratio. The fill at chin level and centered will be "neutral" in the sense that it will not change the modeling the skylight and raised "key" flash is creating. The only difference you'll see after exposure is adjusted for the addition of the fill in the highlights is lighter, softer looking shadows. 

What modifier size difference will does on a cause and effect level outdoors where there is no ceiling bounce isn't seen in the shadows it is seen in the highlights. Direct flash because it is a small source creates very small distinct "catchlights" and specular glare. If you set up a lighting pattern and change only the variable of modifier size outdoors you will observe as the modifier gets bigger the catchlights in the eyes reflecting it also get bigger and the reflections off the cheekbone become larger and less specular also, unless the skin is oily. So size matters, but mostly for the rendering of the highlights — diffuse highlights look "softer" than specular "hard" edges ones perceptually. * The clues a shot is flash lit don't come from the fact the shadows are dark as much as the fact the face is covered with specular hot spots on the cheeks which are lower than those seen in natural lighting from above. *

Indoors when modifier size is increased more and more of the light from the larger footprint bounces off the ceiling and walls. Just consider how a LightSphere, while very small, can light up a room like an overcast day with flat even light. A bare bulb flash will do exactly the same thing. Diffusion and soft shadows are a function of how many directions the light comes from and the relative strength of the vectors. If the light from all directions is more or less equal you get flat lighting (no modeling). As the the light becomes more dominant from one direction on the front side it becomes the "key" modeling component over the base "fill" being bounces around the room or off the sky. Indoors even when direct flash is used there is some "spill fill" effect. The more the diffuser increases the footprint of the flash the more light is spilled vs. hitting the subject directly and it creates more diffuse lighting on the objects and faces it hits.

Once you grasp the how the roles of light sources change based on angle relative to subject its easier to sort out the cause and effect of what each actually contributes and how best to combine them to achieve the desired look.


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## dryanparker (Feb 21, 2012)

Impressive commentary!

Judging by the question the OP raised, I think we may have overcooked it. My "Try this" bit...


dryanparker said:


> 1) Mount on-camera flash and set to ETTL mode. 2) Shoot in Aperture Priority mode. 3) ISO 100-400 depending on your sunlight, lower is better. 4) Evaluative metering. 5) Adjust your aperture so your shutter speed is between 1/250 and 1/200. 6) Fire away and let me know how it goes!


...was meant to be elementary for those who haven't thought to use flash in daylight. That's certainly not the only (or best) way to do it, but it should get the ball rolling.

There are some brilliant people with decades of expertise following this forum. I would simply encourage everyone to be mindful of our audiences!

I'm a scratch golfer, but I wouldn't begin by teaching a newcomer how to hold a 3-yard fade against the wind with a 8.5-degree driver! In good time, my friends.


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## cgardner (Feb 21, 2012)

A simpler strategy in sun is:

1) Put subject's back to sun, keeping it off the face

2) Using the camera in M mode at ISO 100 at sync limit (1/200 - 1/250th) find the aperture that keeps all the sunlit parts of the subject under clipping in the playback BEFORE adding flash. if you start from a baseline of "Sunny 16" adjusted for the sync limit (i.e. f/11) it should only take a couple quick test shots to nail the ambient highlights 1/3 stop below clipping. 

3) Turn on the flash also in M mode. Start at 1/2 power. Take a shot and evaluate, using clipping warning on the front of the subject. Adjust the power until white clothing and the face are about 2/3 stops below clipping. In other words raise power until you see clipping on front in white clothing then back off the flash two-clicks.

What you will wind up with is the white parts of clothing the rim light of the sun hitting retaining detail 1/3 stop below clipping in the 245-250 eye dropper range with the flash lit side of the same white clothing 1/3 stop darker, 2/3 stops below clipping. If the subject isn't wearing white have them hold a small crumpled 3D white rag next to the face where both the sun from behind and the flash from the front will hit it to use with the clipping warning.

Use all manual controls with flash indoors and out to eliminate the camera changing the base ambient and flash exposure is ways you don't expect and can't predictably control. 

If your shooting distance allows manual control of the shutter will allow you to shoot in HSS predictably. Change the workflow to first selecting the aperture you want for DOF and blurring the background, then find the shutter speed needed to keep the ambient lit highlights below clipping before adding the flash.

Using two flashes with one a bracket at fill will increase the range of the flash in HHS mode because the off axis key flash will have the fill added beneath it. The limiting factor for range with HHS is the ability of the fill flash to reveal the shadow detail at full M power. I've tested my 580ex flashes and found that about 10ft is the limit for shooting distance / filled shadows with a dual direct flash HHS scenario.


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## briansquibb (Feb 21, 2012)

cgardner said:


> A simpler strategy in sun is:
> 
> 1) Put subject's back to sun, keeping it off the face
> 
> ...



Fpr a beginner eTTL mode would be a LOT simpler


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## dryanparker (Feb 21, 2012)

briansquibb said:


> Fpr a beginner eTTL mode would be a LOT simpler



+1


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## cgardner (Feb 21, 2012)

ETTL and Manual flash are really no different in terms of adjustment and workflow. With both you take a shot, see how it turned out, and adjust the flash power as needed. FEC and a manual power adjustment on the flash do exactly the same thing: change the flash duration. When FEC is adjusted on the flash rather than the camera the same dial is used. 

The difference between Manual and ETTL is that with ETTL if the subject moves and the scene reflectance changes so does the exposure. The metering zones on the viewfinder are simply not precise enough to get it exposure correct.

With M control of flash you get the the point of correct exposure and stay there regardless of subject movement as long as the flash > subject distance stays the same. The results are more consistent and predictable. 

As for it being easy to learn? When I was a beginner 40 years ago manual was the only option. It was very simple to understand. At any given flash > subject distance only one power level will produce correct exposure. That's pretty easy to grasp no, even without instant replay. 

If you try manual flash and use it a few times you come to realize that when you put your lights at the same distances the exposure always is the same. My standard indoor portrait set-up is to use my 580ex flashes in M mode at 1/2 power. I shoot from 8ft with fill on my bracket with the key light placed 5-1/2 ft from the nose of the subject — measured with my arm span. The result it the key light winds up 1 stop brighter creating a 2K+1F:1F 3:1 lighting ratio (reflected). The exposure is always f/8 at ISO 100 because there are no camera controlled variables. I can set up and shoot in minutes without the need for testing or trial and error. 

Manual is perhaps less convenient in appearance, but if you understand how it works it is actually more convenient. For example I shot over 300 head shots for a church directory with my pair of 580ex flashes. I tried ETTL ratios but every change in subject clothing and skin tone caused the metering to change the exposure requiring FEC adjustment to get back to correct exposure. By comparison with manual flash once the flash distances were set to the subjects to record the full tonal range I was able to change subjects and not need to twiddle the dials. Every face, white, black and yellow was expose perfectly as were the black suits and white shirt collars. The backgrounds on all the shots matched perfectly. Why? Because I was in control, not the camera.


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## Freshprince08 (Feb 21, 2012)

dryanparker said:


> neuroanatomist said:
> 
> 
> > Fill light. Overhead light means shadows under eyes, nose, etc. A flash fills in those shadows.
> ...



This can be used to pretty cool effect! I tend to use HSS so I can still keep shutter speeds high if required. Yes you lose flash power however if I'm close to the subject that isn't often an issue. I try to expose for the sky/background first, either using Aperture Priority or eyeballing it with Manual - this is usually at least ~2 stop underexposure on what the camera meters. I then use flash to light the subject, usually set to eTTL, and use flash exposure compensation to get the effect I want... ideally with off-camera flash but a Speedlite mounted on the camera works well too.

The pic below would have had the sky washed out without flash (1/4000sec @ f4, ISO 400)




20110918_Maria_Hussein_Reg_Recep_00741 by double-take-photography.com, on Flickr​


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## briansquibb (Feb 21, 2012)

cgardner said:


> ETTL and Manual flash are really no different in terms of adjustment and workflow. With both you take a shot, see how it turned out, and adjust the flash power as needed.



Not quite so simple when taking a picture of something moving - such as children, pets, sports



cgardner said:


> FEC and a manual power adjustment on the flash do exactly the same thing: change the flash duration. When FEC is adjusted on the flash rather than the camera the same dial is used.



Not quite so simple when the flash is not to hand



cgardner said:


> The difference between Manual and ETTL is that with ETTL if the subject moves and the scene reflectance changes so does the exposure. The metering zones on the viewfinder are simply not precise enough to get it exposure correct.



But good enough to get close when the subject goes from sun to shade - especially when using spot metering on the subject



cgardner said:


> With M control of flash you get the the point of correct exposure and stay there regardless of subject movement as long as the flash > subject distance stays the same. The results are more consistent and predictable.



So not that often then - at a wedding you wont get the time to take siting shots



cgardner said:


> As for it being easy to learn? When I was a beginner 40 years ago manual was the only option. It was very simple to understand. At any given flash > subject distance only one power level will produce correct exposure. That's pretty easy to grasp no, even without instant replay.
> 
> If you try manual flash and use it a few times you come to realize that when you put your lights at the same distances the exposure always is the same. My standard indoor portrait set-up is to use my 580ex flashes in M mode at 1/2 power. I shoot from 8ft with fill on my bracket with the key light placed 5-1/2 ft from the nose of the subject — measured with my arm span. The result it the key light winds up 1 stop brighter creating a 2K+1F:1F 3:1 lighting ratio (reflected). The exposure is always f/8 at ISO 100 because there are no camera controlled variables. I can set up and shoot in minutes without the need for testing or trial and error.
> 
> Manual is perhaps less convenient in appearance, but if you understand how it works it is actually more convenient. For example I shot over 300 head shots for a church directory with my pair of 580ex flashes. I tried ETTL ratios but every change in subject clothing and skin tone caused the metering to change the exposure requiring FEC adjustment to get back to correct exposure. By comparison with manual flash once the flash distances were set to the subjects to record the full tonal range I was able to change subjects and not need to twiddle the dials. Every face, white, black and yellow was expose perfectly as were the black suits and white shirt collars. The backgrounds on all the shots matched perfectly. Why? Because I was in control, not the camera.



Dont see anything easier than slapping a flash on top and start shooting. Add extra flash is dead easy too - stick the flash on a stand and start shooting. eTTL is like using fully automatic - you will get a decent picture every time - just what a beginner needs.


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## cgardner (Feb 21, 2012)

No argument from me that ETTL is a better choice in run and gun situations where subject — flash distance is constantly changing. But the context of this thread is the guy in the video shooting portraits. For that task and any other where the subject — flash distance doesn't change there results will be more consistent with manual power.

I know how to use both and have taught how to use both and studio lighting for years. I think everyones should master both so they will know when each is the best tool for the task at hand.

I've helped a lot of beginners with flash and the biggest hurdle is getting them past the notion that FEC = 0 is the "correct" exposure and if the camera does not produce optimal results at FEC=0 it somehow got the exposure "wrong". More often than no less than optimal results with ETTL flash are the result of composing the shot with something in the foreground that reflects the light and "fools" the metering.

The other confusing thing about ETTL mode and FEC is the lack of feedback regarding what % of total power is being used by the flash. For example if the flash is firing at 50% of capacity (i.e. 1/2 power) in a situation at FEC=0 increasing FEC to +1 will max it out at 100% and increasing FEC to +2 or +3 will have no effect. But there's no feedback to tell you that.

The quickest route to optimal exposure I've found is to rely on the clipping warning which tells me when and where content is losing detail. That way regardless of whether I'm using ETTL and FEC or M power settings I can look at the playback and know whether the point of optimal exposure is at the distance I want it. Regardless of how the power is regulated the physics are the same: the exposure will only be correct at one distance.


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## briansquibb (Feb 22, 2012)

I guess we are going to have to agree to disagree - I do a LOT of multi flash shooting, nowadays with eTTL I can get set up and do shots in minutes that would have taken hours to set up manually.

I dont stick to FEB=0 anymore than Exposure Compensation = 0

I dont run out of flash power either, 5 x 580 is enough to overpower anything and get such fast recycle time I can shoot on H. 

However for beginners with a single onboard flash IMHO the simplest and most effective way is to use eTTL.


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## Seanlucky (Feb 29, 2012)

pdirestajr said:


> This you can say is the original HDR effect!



Realistically, "keyshifting," is the opposite of HDR. In fact, you are lowering the contrast between your sky and subject, therefore needing less dynamic range to capture detail in highlights and shadows.


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## Del (Feb 29, 2012)

briansquibb said:


> I guess we are going to have to agree to disagree - I do a LOT of multi flash shooting, nowadays with eTTL I can get set up and do shots in minutes that would have taken hours to set up manually.
> 
> I dont stick to FEB=0 anymore than Exposure Compensation = 0
> 
> ...



Although I agree with everything you say, especially when using multiple speedlights, but I think it is important to learn how to use the flash properly too. I just picked up my first flashgun a few weeks ago, have had fun using both on and off camera & wireless ETTL, but I stumbled across some Scott Kelby training videos on YouTube as well as stuff from Joe McNally, and I have to say that using M mode with flash is not as difficult as I originally thought even for a beginner like me.

For example, most of the pro's set ISO=100, typically use apertures of f5.6 or f8, with shutter speeds of 1/125, 1/160 or 1/200, then play with the flash power output depending on distance to subject etc. It is a good way to learn


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## briansquibb (Feb 29, 2012)

Del said:


> briansquibb said:
> 
> 
> > I guess we are going to have to agree to disagree - I do a LOT of multi flash shooting, nowadays with eTTL I can get set up and do shots in minutes that would have taken hours to set up manually.
> ...



Are you getting muddled between M mode on the camera - which is the normal way unless you just want some infill - or M mode on the flash which means every flash has to be set indiviually??

Not so convinced about 'most pro's set iso-100' as that depends entirely on the amount of ambient light so want in the photo, likewise the shutter speeds which seem on the low side unless you are dealing with stationary subjects


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## wickidwombat (Feb 29, 2012)

I really wish ettl would display the flash power being used so you knew how much headroom you still had


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