Comments on: bouncing flash behind me

By: Neil vN

Neil vN — Thu, 26 May 2011 15:01:45 +0000

Hello Neil,
I find this article really beautiful … I must say that with my Nikon D200 increasing the sensitivity over 500 ISO, the photos start to look bad.
Are there other solutions?
Thanks in advance.
Edy Trigona Genoa Italy

Hi there Edy

If your ISO becomes the limiting factor, then you have a few choices:
– you are going to LOVE the Nikon D700, or
– get a more powerful flashgun, or
– use faster lenses.

Those three decisions will affect your flash exposure with bounce flash – ISO, power, aperture.

The other control – distance – isn’t something we can really affect most of the times with bounce flash, unless we use start using umbrellas and other light modifiers which we can bring closer.

Neil vN

By: edy

edy — Thu, 26 May 2011 13:51:50 +0000

Ciao Neil,
trovo questo articolo veramente stupendo…..devo dire che la mia nikon d 200 aumentando la sensibilita’ iso sopra 500 la foto e’ gia’ pessima.
Ci sono altre soluzioni?
Grazie in anticipo.
Edy Trigona Genova italy

By: Neil

Neil — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 06:17:39 +0000

Nan .. hi there ... If you're going to use such a shallow depth of field, you need to make sure that everyone's face is i the same plane of focus. As for wedding receptions, I most often use wider apertures ... and usually in the f3.5 - f2.8 region .. sometimes faster. It depends on how much depth of field I need. It's usually not much .. just the subject needs to be sharp. I have no idea what you mean by: Does a high ISO eliminate focal blur, and digital noise as well. To bounce your flash behind you, you HAVE to have a speedlight that can swivel and rotate. But you have to have that any way. Neil vN

By: nan sanders

nan sanders — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 23:10:23 +0000

but you say bouncing the flash behind you—is the flash turned backwards ? /

thanks!

By: nan sanders

nan sanders — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 23:07:43 +0000

i have a question about depth of field for groups (even just 4 people)in the same shot.
What about everyone being in focus at f2.8 or so? Also what about dance floor shots
at such low f stops? Does a high ISO eliminate focal blur, and digital noise as well.

Thanks. Great info and I just ordered your book from Amazon.

By: Neil

Neil — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 07:31:26 +0000

Rob .. since ISO affects manual flash exposure and ambient light equally, adjusting the ISO doesn’t affect the balance between manual flash and ambient. If you increase your ISO, it makes both your manual flash and ambient light brighter.

However, in TTL mode, the flash follows your settings. In other words, the camera will reduce the amount of flash to what it deems to be correct. So if you increase your ISO setting, the ambient exposure will be affected, but not the flash exposure.

So you have it correct there .. in large rooms or someplace where I need to help the TTL flash exposure, then I will increase my ISO.

Neil vN

By: Rob

Rob — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 18:03:19 +0000

So in the example above it sounds like you are adjusting your ISO to affect the camera’s sensitivity to the light being created by the flash and cast on to the subject. How does that apply to the ambient/background of the shot? Is it a balance? I’ve read nearly every article on your website regarding flash in the last few days. I remember reading that in TTL mode, really the only way to control flash is through the flash exposure compensation adjustment. Is ISO adjustment in this scenario mainly to compensate for larger rooms/high ceilings?

I think I understand it in theory in a perfect world, the hardest thing for me to learn I guess is knowing when to tweak the theoretical values depending on the environment. But I guess that comes from experience!

By: Francisco

Francisco — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:16:59 +0000

Ok, well, thanks anyway.

By: Neil

Neil — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:49:36 +0000

Amanda … you’re right. At some point it just isn’t feasible to bounce flash like that and then you have to come up with alternatives. The best in terms of how “pretty” the lighting will look, is off-camera flash held up by an assistant.

Neil vN

By: Amanda Tang

Amanda Tang — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:25:07 +0000

what do you do when you are in a banquet hall and the wall are drapped with fabric and your ceilings are high-vaulted or colored red. I encountered that and…. yikes! At times, I just had my assistant shadowing behind me with a fill. Is there a better approach?

Thanks!!!!!!