Low Lighting shooting help
Hi dudes and dudettes,
I’d like to get some advice if I could. My friend is a promoter and his own band is playing at a gig he’s putting on next week. I jokingly mentioned me taking photos and he actually seems keen on the idea.
I’m getting decent at photography during the day, but I fail miserably at low light shots. I was shooting at a wedding last week and the ISO auto defaulted to 6400 and the images looked very grainy.
So, I’ve bought a 430EX II flash to use, but considering this is a metal gig there’ll be a lot of drunk people who won’t want a constant flash going off so I’d like to use it sparingly (although if you guys know of online guides on how to learn flash photography/settings it would be great!).
Everyone is going to be jumping around, headbanging, moshing etc which is going to be difficult due to shutter speed vs low light etc. I usually shoot at a shutter speed of 1/500 – 1/1000 or so due to wanting close to still movement, but I understand that’s going to be next to impossible in such light. A bit of motion blur would be OK (for some shots, ie intentional motion blue, not “oh man I screwed that one up”) but I’d like to avoid it if I could.
So, my gear on the night will be a Canon 650D, a L 24-105, the 430EX II and a 18-55 kit lens if I need it. Does anyone have any advice on this type of shooting?
Greatly appreciated
Low Lighting shooting help
1/200 s is the max sync speed for your camera. You can use a faster shutter by enabling high speed sync (but that lowers your output power significantly).
Low Lighting shooting help
Yes - HSS drops your power/brightness/range by about 1/3.
Low Lighting shooting help
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Busted Knuckles
While I am on the topic, does anyone know if the 270II can be used as a Master/Controller. I have used the flash on the t3i to trigger the slaves, but the 5dIII doesn't have a built in flash.... If not, how far up the Canon line do I have to chase to get a flash that is act as a master/controller?
The 270EX II is slave only. Used to be you had to go to the 580/600 to get a master flash (or ST-E2 if you skipped the flash part). But now, you only need to go as high as the bottom - the new 90EX functions as a master, for $150! It is limited in both range and functionality (12-16 ft, no HSS support for remotes, etc.), but it's cheap and does the basic stuff.
Low Lighting shooting help
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Squidy
Now my concern is it'll be too bright and it won't look like a night club gig
That's why there's Flash Exposure Compensation - just dial down the flash a bit...
Low Lighting shooting help
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Squidy
Oh so the flash lowers itself judging by how much light the shutter lets in? Wow, didn't know that but it makes sense now
Not exactly. FEC lets you adjust the flash exposure relative to what the E-TTL II flash metering decides is optimal. Nothing to do with the shutter, per se - aperture and shutter speed control the ambient contribution to the image. At 1/1000 s in a dark environment, ambient contribution will be close to nil.
If you're relying on automatic flash exposure, it will determine flash intensity for the foreground subject based on the preflash reflected back from the subject (assumed to be at the selected AF point, or in the center if no point is selected). That's what FEC changes.
Might want to read Syl Arena's excellent book, or NK Guy's, and/or spend some time over at:
http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03...g-101.html?m=1
Low Lighting shooting help
A thought - assuming flash is allowed, when you use flash to overcome the ambient, you may be able to avoid killing the ambience at the same time. Consider gelling the flash blue, magenta, etc., which will boost the overall light but blend in with stage lighting.