External flashes

[ogreenlee]

i use a gary fong, too, but i'll probably just use my slide on diffuser. that thing really stands out. it works great, though.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

You can't bounce off of the sky. Unless you're going to bounce off a wall, reflector, or something similar to get a larger (and, thus, softer) directional light source, you'd be better off aiming the flash directly at the subject and turning the power down about 1 and one-third stops. Pointing your flash up to the sky will just drain your batteries and cause longer recycling times.

But perhaps you can bounce it off of people - or at least that's what someone tried to do off of me at DL a couple of days ago! I was walking down mainstreet and was bemused by someone using their bounce flash in vertical mode (any mode outside actually). Next thing I knew I was blinded!!! The person kept having to take the picture over and over for some reason. It was a very nice, big flash though!

 

[GrillMouster]

But perhaps you can bounce it off of people -

LOL
I actually do that sometimes. The funniest was at my brother-in-law's wedding reception. I quickly positioned my wife's grandmother and bounced my flash off of her dress. I was taking a portrait of my wife and our three month old baby in his little tux.

I always look for people wearing white. I know some wedding photographers who always have their assistants wear a white shirt. One has a jacket made with a white lining for an emergency bounce reflector.

 

[MICKEY88]

I was walking down mainstreet and was bemused by someone using their bounce flash in vertical mode (any mode outside actually). !

I use my flash outside all the time..

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

LOL
I actually do that sometimes. The funniest was at my brother-in-law's wedding reception. I quickly positioned my wife's grandmother and bounced my flash off of her dress. I was taking a portrait of my wife and our three month old baby in his little tux.

I always look for people wearing white. I know some wedding photographers who always have their assistants wear a white shirt. One has a jacket made with a white lining for an emergency bounce reflector.

LOL - I bet your wife's grandmother had warning though so she could close her eye's!

I use my flash outside all the time..

Well, there is always one in the crowd!

I use one outside too but I'd bet you point it at your subject or have a bounce card or a diffuser or someone with reflective clothing to bounce it off of - something. And you aren't pointing it 90 degrees opposite of your subject without one one of those items.

I'd also bet you can flip your flash your flash so it bounces off the ceiling (or sky) whether shooting vertical or horizontal! (you picked up the F58AM didn't you? - Such a cool flash!)

 

[GrillMouster]

LOL - I bet your wife's grandmother had warning though so she could close her eye's!

Haha! It was one of those moments where I was so focused on what I was doing that I was oblivious to where I was or what/who was around me. In that moment I wasn't thinking of my mother-in-law as a person, but, rather, a prop. It's like, in my head, I was in a studio, and she was a reflector on a boom stand. I looked at my wife & child through the lens, saw that I needed directional light, put the camera down from my eye, looked around for something white nearby, grabbed my mother-in-law, pulled her nearby, turned her around, so I could use her back, got back into position, aimed my flash head, and took a couple shots. My mother-in-law had absolutely no idea what I was doing when I grabbed her. Poor thing, I think for a moment there she thought I was trying to include her in the shot, so she wall really confused when I stoppd her short of being in the frame and turned her around so her back was facing us. My father-in-law and other friends/relatives who were there busted out laughing and saying "brilliant!" after I took the shot and they realized what I was hurriedly doing without saying a word. I immediately took another shot with straight flash, then showed them all the image on the LCD screen, so they could understand what I was doing and why I didn't want direct flash.

 

[MICKEY88]

LOL - I bet your wife's grandmother had warning though so she could close her eye's!



Well, there is always one in the crowd!

I use one outside too but I'd bet you point it at your subject or have a bounce card or a diffuser or someone with reflective clothing to bounce it off of - something. And you aren't pointing it 90 degrees opposite of your subject without one one of those items.

I'd also bet you can flip your flash your flash so it bounces off the ceiling (or sky) whether shooting vertical or horizontal! (you picked up the F58AM didn't you? - Such a cool flash!)

I use the gary fong of course...LOL

Actually I haven't picked the F58AM up yet, but it's on my short list of things to buy.

 

[xipetotec]

Okay, so I have a Canon Rebel XTi. I love it. I've read all about DoF, focal length, f-stops. Whatever and it's helped....

But how, or can I even, turn off the quick flash my camera let's off BEFORE taking a picture? I'm assuming it's measuring focus in a room or whatever, but it can be disconcerting for subjects I'm taking pictures of when my camera lets out a bunch of mini flashes before actually TAKING the picture.

Not to mention at DISNEY, the characters think I've already taken the picture....

 

[Frantasmic]

there is something wrong with your auto-focus. The flashes are the cameras attempt to find something to focus on. So, either the program you've selected as your camera function isn't working properly, or the parameters you've set for your flash aren't correct.

Actually, someone else had this problem earlier this year and the experts figured out what the problem was (it was an inadvertant program setting I think) and once corrected, it worked.

I'll try to see if I can find that thread.

 

[disneyboy2003]

Try switching your camera out of the "Auto" mode (the green box setting), and perhaps try the "P" mode (P is for Program).

In "Auto" mode, the camera assumes that every dark scene requires flash. That's why it's always popping up and firing a bunch of seizure-inducing pre-flashes.

In "P" mode, YOU make the decision about when to use the flash. So if you think the scene in front of you doesn't require a flash, the flash won't pop up. If you DO need the flash, press the lightning-bolt flash button near the front of your camera, and the flash will pop up.

"P" is sort of an advanced auto mode. You get to choose the ISO, flash, auto-focus point (there are 9 to choose from), etc. The camera automatically chooses the aperture and shutter speed.

In "Auto" mode (the green box), the camera chooses everything for you, so you're depending on the camera to know (or guess) what kind of picture you're taking (ex. fast-action sports, low-light concert, daytime snapshot, etc). The "Auto" mode is best for daytime, well-lit scenes.

Hope that helps.


BTW, the flash also does not automatically pop-up for the "Tv" (shutter priority), "A" (aperture priority), or "M" (manual) modes.

 

[sanschag]

As the PP stated, in the creative zone modes (P, Av, Tv, M), the flash will not pop up automatically. However, from the original post, it sounds like you are wanting to use the flash and just eliminate the pre-flash(es). There are three things that might be going on:
1) Red-eye reduction: With red-eye reduction turned on, the flash emits a series of preflashes to cause the subjects pupils to close, thereby minimizing red eye. This can be turned off.
2) Autofocus assist: The Rebels use the preflashes to assist/enable autofocus in dark situations. I don't recall if this can be turned off. (I think it can.) If it's turned off, you may have problems autofocusing. When using a shoe-mount flash, it can make use of the dark red assist light which is far less annoying.
3) Flash metering preflash: All Canon SLRs use a preflash to meter for the flash. However, this will fire right before the shutter opens and should not normally be distinguishable from the main flash. There is no way to turn this off unless you use a shoe-mount flash in manual mode. (The way to really see this is to set second-curtain sync and a long shutter speed. You will see 2 distinct flashes, one right before the shutter opens and one right as the shutter close. Also, any flash you see in the viewfinder will not be the main flash, since it only fires when the mirror is up and the shutter is open.)

 

[C&B Young]

2) Autofocus assist: The Rebels use the preflashes to assist/enable autofocus in dark situations. I don't recall if this can be turned off. (I think it can.) If it's turned off, you may have problems autofocusing. When using a shoe-mount flash, it can make use of the dark red assist light which is far less annoying.

We recently learned the hard way (while at Disney World) that if you're using the on-board flash you cannot disable the pre-flash. So in situations where we had to use the flash, we had to put up with the annoying "strobe" effect of the pre-flash. Which is why next time we'll bring the external flash along!

 

[GrillMouster]

The pre-flash that the camera uses to determine exposure is usually so quick that it's practicaly imperceptible from the final flash. You described a rapid burst of mini-flashes. That is usually either low-light focus assist light or red-eye reduction. Turn off those options in the menu and see if it helps.

I just noticed that sanschag said the same thing.

 

[VVFF]

We recently learned the hard way (while at Disney World) that if you're using the on-board flash you cannot disable the pre-flash. So in situations where we had to use the flash, we had to put up with the annoying "strobe" effect of the pre-flash. Which is why next time we'll bring the external flash along!

On my 50D this feature can be turned off...I would imagine yours would be the same way. It's in the custom features menu.

 

[C&B Young]

On my 50D this feature can be turned off...I would imagine yours would be the same way. It's in the custom features menu.

Sorry, I was referring to our Rebel XS which we had with us at the time. We were trying to get a shot inside Spaceship Earth, when you pass the caveman scene there's hidden writing on the opposite wall. Never did get the picture though. Only time I think we even wanted to use flash during the trip, apart from MNSSHP character pics.

 

[VVFF]

Sorry, I was referring to our Rebel XS which we had with us at the time. We were trying to get a shot inside Spaceship Earth, when you pass the caveman scene there's hidden writing on the opposite wall. Never did get the picture though. Only time I think we even wanted to use flash during the trip, apart from MNSSHP character pics.

Serves you right trying to use a flash on a dark ride!

 

[C&B Young]

Serves you right trying to use a flash on a dark ride!

Oh please, it was Spaceship Earth! I wouldn't use it on Pirates of the Carribean or anything like that.

 

[VVFF]

Oh please, it was Spaceship Earth! I wouldn't use it on Pirates of the Carribean or anything like that.

What's the difference?

 

[C&B Young]

I'm sure the Imagineers wouldn't have put something on a wall in the darkness if they didn't want you to discover it.

 

[GrillMouster]

We recently learned the hard way (while at Disney World) that if you're using the on-board flash you cannot disable the pre-flash. So in situations where we had to use the flash, we had to put up with the annoying "strobe" effect of the pre-flash. Which is why next time we'll bring the external flash along!

So you can't switch the on-board flash to manual mode? I can do this with my Nikons. I can see where pre-flash would be necessary for TTL, but why on earth would the pre-flash fire if you have the onboard flash in Manual?