[DAZ]

Thanks DAZ.

That is quite a set up you are proposing !
There is no way I can come up with that many flashes, so I will have to do with a single one (AF540FGZ) on the K7.
I've taken a look at the pumpkin party and they (photos) all look very well exposed and very sharply in focus too.

I guess it is always a matter of practicing and going full manual under the circumstances; I really want to be able to get very thin DOF AND good subject exposure/focus, but don't we all?

Cheers.

JP

Your welcome and thanks. Sorry I wasn’t of more help. I was in a big room and in a small room you can even do more. You have 2 flashes. The AFS540 and the flash on the camera that you can use to either provide some light and/or use to control the 540 wireless. Experiment and see what you can get. You maybe surprised and pleased with what you can do. In the room I was in I was at 400 ISO f/4 1/50s. I could have gone down to 80 ISO f/1.4 1/80s and would have had to turned down the flash to keep the same exposure. In a small room even a small flash can do a lot. When I was using the on board flash I had to turn it down to -2 (as low as it would go) so I sill had power if I had wanted to use a diffuser (you can get some that help a surprisingly amount for very little money) on the on board flash. You can do a lot with inexpensive stuff.


The most important thing is to have fun and learn.


DAZ

[hoanpham]

Jpzk,
The diffuser in the flash head is not the same as umbrella or a reflector. Soft light is depend on the size of the light source. You can use white door blades as reflector and place your subject close to it. Since the door cannot move closer, the subject has to move. In my sample, the right door blade served as main light source, the left one as minor to give the contour of the face.

White reflection reduce to 1/4 of full power. Reflection of reflection is about 1/64 of power. You have two flashes, that's a very good beginning.

[jpzk]

Just as an update of the Christmas season pictures I have taken, using flash:

It worked wonderfully until I "accidentally" pushed on the Green button, a few times, while the camera was set to Av and ended up with quite a few pics taken at a very high ISO, resulting in not so flattering results: noisy!!
I am talking about HIGH ISO, such as 6400 !!

All of the pics taken properly, using flash according to the tips provided from members on this thread, were quite good, as long as I had not pushed the Green button.

All in all, I am starting to get the hang of this, just starting!

Thanks for all of the suggestions here.

JP

[hoanpham]

Be careful. Once you got it, addiction follows...
You wont go anywhere without 2 flashes, radio triggers, umbrellas, snoot, grids, color gels, light stands, in addition of 4-5 lenses...

[jpzk]

Be careful. Once you got it, addiction follows...
You wont go anywhere without 2 flashes, radio triggers, umbrellas, snoot, grids, color gels, light stands, in addition of 4-5 lenses...

Little chance for me getting hooked on flash photography though.
I've been struggling with this for so laong that I just don't think it's my bag o'beans!

But, it's nice to be able to do just a little bit more when needed.

Cheers.

JP

[sterretje]

It worked wonderfully until I "accidentally" pushed on the Green button, a few times, while the camera was set to Av and ended up with quite a few pics taken at a very high ISO, resulting in not so flattering results: noisy!!
I am talking about HIGH ISO, such as 6400 !!

Just switch auto ISO off; in my (not so) humble opinion, it's the mother of all evil when it comes to flash.

[jpzk]

Just switch auto ISO off; in my (not so) humble opinion, it's the mother of all evil when it comes to flash.

Turn it off ... in Av ... how ?

((Beginner's question from a so-called veteran).

JP

[Anvh]

Turn it off ... in Av ... how ?

((Beginner's question from a so-called veteran).

JP

Press the ISO button on the K5 and select ISO you want with the rear wheel.
If you want Auto ISO again press the ISO button and the green button.

With the K10D and K20D you can use the OK button since it doesn't have ISO button.

No idea how it goes wit the other cameras

[Mike Cash]

I have my Av set up so the rear wheel is ISO. Shooting M42 lenses all the time I really have no use for two wheels, so when shooting in M mode the front wheel controls shutter speed and aperture is done on the lens. In Av mode the shutter speed is automatic, the aperture is on the lens, and all I need to vary is the ISO, so it is easy and convenient to set up to do it with the rear wheel rather than use the ISO button.

[jpzk]

Press the ISO button on the K5 and select ISO you want with the rear wheel.
If you want Auto ISO again press the ISO button and the green button.

With the K10D and K20D you can use the OK button since it doesn't have ISO button.

No idea how it goes wit the other cameras

... just after I posted my question on how to turn the ISO off ... I realized that I already knew how to do it !!

What happened is that I pushed the ISO green button and never even thought of pressing the ISO button thereafter.

JP