Thanks for the excellent contributions above everyone! I'm really pleased this has prompted some insightful responses and thinking about HSS matters
Originally posted by Brooke Meyer I dug around for some things I could show comparing HSS to plain old sync. Looked through events I covered with on camera flash
Those are vibrant and lively images .... getting the ambient under control and bringing out the subjects with flash has worked a treat. F8 and F11 are good apertures! I do believe that if you need to get the best bright ambient/flash ratio possible you should use ISO 100, 180thsec (or 1/200th for K1), then set aperture for the desired background exposure level .... then use Manual flash on full power and place the subjects the correct distance for this power. This should provide more power and effectiveness than HSS, which you have no doubt already realised and do regularly.
So I do agree with you on the cost / power equation. The only thing though is that a lot of people don't want to shoot their images at F8 or F11 nowadays; they want to use their 70-200 zooms at F2.8 and copy all the Sony YouTubers
..... of course its a compelling effect when done well, but its going to involve expense to get that sync speed broken and flashes HSSing.
Originally posted by Brooke Meyer But you are a troublemaker because I looked up the YN-585 and its $76 at B&H. I might have to get a pair.
I'm glad to have troubled you ....
but equally glad that you are prepared to consider those alternatives. As far as the Manual vs P-TTL thing goes, we probably come at it from opposite perspectives ..... you haven't needed P-TTL because Manual works well for you ...... I haven't needed Manual because P-TTL works well for me. I still think that ideally it is desirable to have both available for the situations in which they each suit better.
Originally posted by WPRESTO These are really interesting, and fine quality family images. They remind me of what pros get by having an assistant holding a ver large silvered reflector to fill shadows.
Thankyou! I'm glad you like the photos .... unfortunately none of my 'assistants' is ever going to hold anything much for me when we're all out and about, so its plain old direct on-camera flash a lot of the time .... but it doesn't have to look like the stereotypical look that it so often is portrayed as.
Originally posted by WPRESTO it appears that the camera has slightly desaturated the background colors close to the little girl, creating a sort of halo or aura of near-grey tones.
I have seen this, yes, and I'm not sure what it is really .... a possible processing artifact? I may have done some levels adjustment layer work and brushed possibly ....Although generally one great benefit of flash and ambient balancing at the point of capture is that processsing is minimised and exposures are spot on.
Originally posted by Class A It seems to me that your photos are working well because you make very good use of the natural light and use HSS flash as subtle (and sometimes less subtle) fill light. In other words, the dimension of the subjects, the interesting shadows, etc. all come from the natural light.
Thats a good analysis, yes. Its not always planned or a conscious effort, but you're right, its best when the shape of light can come from the angle of the sun and the direct flash only has to reduce contrast and bring up the shadow side of the face. And yes, sometimes its not so suble! (I'm not always one for subtle when it comes to flash
). The one with the ball being thrown up and the deep blue sea in behind is a good example .... it looks like a stock photo for Bryan Petersens book "Understanding Flash Photography", with me just having read off the correct distance to place the girl for 'correct' flash exposure!
But the point perhaps is that it
makes a photo that wouldn't exist without flash ..... at least not if you wanted all those elements in place as they are. Without flash there is no way you could control the DR sufficiently in order to expose the backgrouind nicely and still have the subject placed under the overhang in deep shadow.
A good example of what you're referring to is the last one with the scooter ..... there you can see the nice side lighting from the sun, with the ambient exposed for those highlights, and the HSS flash bringing up her right side to balance.
Originally posted by Class A I spotted only one image where you may have used artificial light (or a reflector) from an off-camera angle to give dimension to the subject.
Thats the close up portrait with the green foliage background (our garden) .... that background is reduced from full afternoon sun by around 1.5 stops, and she is lit by an off-camera RF60 with softbox and the on-camera AF-540FGZ triggering flash in Master Mode.
Originally posted by jpzk definitely will give it a good go ... children visiting here soon; plenty of outdoors shots to be taken! But I will "practice" ahead of time, of course.
Yes, get a teddy or doll out .... they make patient models while we mess around and fiddle endlessy with the settings and adjustments ! I hope you have a fun time photograping them, and let us know how it got on.