Re: Flash for Canon 40D

"Just Shoot Me" <SpamStinks@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
today while shooting it was a little late in the day and one of the rooms I
was taking
pictures of was very dark even tho it had a window.
the room was so dark that the camera would not take the picture with out
flash.
I beefed up the ISO to 1600, 30 second shutter speed and still nada.

I love the way a long exposure will make even a dark window look bright
but for the first time I was unable to do it. I could go earlier in the day
but would love
to know if there was a way to get that window bright.

I wondered if the 580EX II would allow me to add just enough light to get
the camera to work
and make it look like I did not use a flash. if not I think it would be a
nice feature - even if only for me :).

as i wrote this I was thinkinking that perhaps if i opened up the apeture
the camera
would have been able to work in the dark room hmmm.
it was set at f11.

If the camera's light meter is set to average the entire
scene, that bright window light doesn't really do much.
You'll probably have a lot more of the scene, such as in
the corners and at the back of the room, in very dark
shadows. The overall effect is that the camera doesn't
think there is much light at all, even though part of it
might be well enough lit.

Set the camera light meter for spot metering. (I am
assuming it has that functionality. If not, get up
close to the well lit part of the scene to use the light
meter.) Take a reading from some part of the well lit
area that appears to be about middle gray to you. Lock
that reading in, and take a picture. Look at your
results (or at a histogram) and adjust up or down as
desired. Or just bracket and see what you get.

To brighten it up with a flash and yet not make it look
like a typical harshly lit flash exposure, use just about
the same technique to see how much natural light there is,
and then try to add just about an equal amount with the
flash, but do it by diffusing it all around the room.
You might want to put the flash on manual and do this
by experimentation. Regardless, the trick is to get as
much diffusion as possible. Cover the flash with a
diffuser, aim it away from the scene you are photographing
and get only light bounced of the walls or the ceiling.

If you do that just right it is even possible to match
the inside light (mostly from the flash) with that bright
window and make it so that objects seen through the window
are also exposed correctly (more or less, depending on what
you want the effect to be).

--
Floyd L. Davidson <http://www.apaflo.com/floyd_davidson>
Ukpeagvik (Barrow, Alaska) floyd@xxxxxxxxxx
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Flash for Canon 40D
    ... rooms I was taking pictures of was very dark even tho it had a window. ... the room was so dark that the camera would not take the picture with out flash. ...
    (rec.photo.digital.slr-systems)
  • Re: Want alternative ideas - dissappointed with Oly5060
    ... >>Just taken another set of indoor shots and find they are so dark even the ... My old Kodak 280 zoom never had a problem but too old and shots ... >>Any ideas on another camera that would cope with darker insides, ... you underexposed them or used the flash over too ...
    (rec.photo.digital)
  • Re: Want alternative ideas - dissappointed with Oly5060
    ... >>>Just taken another set of indoor shots and find they are so dark even ... >>>Any ideas on another camera that would cope with darker insides, ... you underexposed them or used the flash over too ...
    (rec.photo.digital)
  • Re: OT reversing cameras.
    ... discovery that it would produce a daylight type image of the completely dark ... could not see after minutes of dark adaptation. ... sensitive camera and fit that looking down from inside the back window ...
    (uk.tech.digital-tv)
  • Re: Flash for Canon 40D
    ... rooms I was taking pictures of was very dark even tho it had a window. ... apeture the camera would have been able to work in the dark room hmmm. ... get the camera to work and make it look like I did not use a flash. ...
    (rec.photo.digital.slr-systems)
Loading