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As an adjunct to the Tangents blog, the intention with this forum is to answer any questions, and allow a diverse discussion of topics related photography. With that, see it as an open invitation to just climb in and start threads and to respond to any threads.
Having watched a Craftsy video by Neil, I more or less understand now how to deal with photographing a subject with a bright background by keeping to the max sync speed.
The part I am not quite getting is if the ambient is low for example...
I'm stood in front of a flower and the ambient has metered to ..
1/8th @ f/2.8 @ ISO 800
Now I know I cannot hand hold at 1/8th so would you increase the shutter to say 1/60th and let the flash do the rest in TTL
Comments
In the example you mention (flower), the ambient light isn't sufficient. So instead of going the usual way of properly metering for exposure, you just shrug a little, and switch you TTL flash on and let your flash take care of your exposure.
The drawback is the flash will only freeze within a certain distance. If your subject is within 10 feet or so it will freeze him/her but people further back are subject to motion blur. Not a good technique to use if there is dancing in the background. If you are steady and there is not much movement then it is OK. A little background movement will go unnoticed as the focus is on the subject/s.
I took this at 1/15, the ambient was at least two stops underexposed. I swept the camera pressing the shutter. Notice that the T shirt and card on the table look OK. The xmas tree and background is blurred. You could get some nice effects at events after you get your key shots. I'm still working on it. Of course with high ISO capable cameras these it is easier to bring in ambient in a low lit situation.
You have to raise your Iso
I created a couple of example images for you . Both images S.O.C with a little Colour Correction
1st w/o flash just enough ambient exp F2.8 1/160 @ 1600 Iso
2nd image with Bounced Flash same ambient exp