Technique for using 430X with high ceilings

[davideglasgow]

Shooting with: Digital Rebel XS, EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS, Speedlite 430EX II


I'm going to be attending a retirement party for a coworker this week. It's being held in the standard conference room/banquet facility, so the ceilings will be too high to bounce a flash off. So what's the best technique for capturing shots that aren't completely washed out from a direct flash (flash direction, settings, etc.)? It will be similar to a wedding where there's probably some shots from a distance and some close up. I doubt the lighting will be sufficient for shots without flash, and even if they are, it would probably be something like f/2.8, ISO1600 which proves difficult.


ETA: lens

[TakahiroW4047]

Have you thought about shooting David Hobby's style with "on-axis fill"? (Canon version anyhow, he shoots Nikon).


It's about using hand held speedlight away from camera body as key lighting (your 430EXII), and the on-axis flash (can be the pop-up flash) to light up the shadows. This creates dimension and a nice "3D effect" as he puts it, and creates real depth in the portraits as opposed to a 2D flat look (you can see great examples on link below).


Here's an introduction post, andthis articletalks about how he used it on assignment.


The way he sets it up, even though it's off camera it still relies on TTL via cord. So once you have the settings right you can just go "Run and Gun" as he puts it []


*edit* - You also would want to diffuse your key light to reduce specular highlights and get softer lighting. Handheld, I would recommend Lumiquest SBIII (or SBII)

[andnowimbroke]

You could always buy a light diffusing-thingy that attaches to your flash if there is nothing else to bounce off of without giving you a crazy color cast.. If you want to stick with what you got, pull the white card on your flash up about a third with the flash pointed up and see if that doesn

[andnowimbroke]

Edit: skip what I typed and listen to the other dude. I must type slower than I thought.


You could always buy a light diffusing-thingy that attaches to your flash if there is nothing else to bounce off of without giving you a crazy color cast.. If you want to stick with what you got, pull the white card on your flash up about a third with the flash pointed up and see if that doesn

[davideglasgow]

Thanks for the idea...going to take a look at it. Although I think using off-camera flash could be involved for this amateur.


I should have added...what do professionals do? You always see photographers at evens with high ceilings (awards shows, wedding receptions, etc.) or no ceilings at all (red carpets, sporting events) that have their flashes mounted on-camera. I assume these pictures must come out looking great. Or do they just live with the direct flash look?

[andnowimbroke]

Pros take their 1dsIII and add noise in post to make it look authentic

[andnowimbroke]

Speedliting.com is a good source too. Has a new hour long video near the top of the page to help with some basics

[TakahiroW4047]

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Edit: skip what I typed and listen to the other dude. I must type slower than I thought.

And here I was thinking..."wait a minute!! I don't think that I'm that bad!!" haha []

Although I think using off-camera flash could be involved for this amateur.

It's "off-camera", but technically exactly the same as having it on camera because it's connected via the TTL cord. So the only difference is that you will be holding it out left and high with your left arm and the camera in your right hand. The direction of the light is the only thing that changes.


The difficult part is the initial settings. You are compensating your popup flash to be about 1-2 stops below whatever your 430exII decides to be proper lighting. For details on that, reading the manual would probably be a good place to start.

I should have added...what do professionals do? You always see photographers at evens with high ceilings (awards shows, wedding receptions, etc.) or no ceilings at all (red carpets, sporting events) that have their flashes mounted on-camera. I assume these pictures must come out looking great. Or do they just live with the direct flash look?

I'm only speculating here, but Award shows and Sporting events are typically well lit as is. So I'd think the flash is used more for fill than as key (specular highlights are relatively non-existant when used as fill). If it is used as key it may be more along the lines of "Mediocre photos, rather than No photos at all" (not always).
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