[Ash]

Thanks once more, Ash.

So, what you are saying is to use the flash remotely, at least to its full power, no compensation, while adding a diffuser to "tenderize" the harshness of the flash?
As for the background, you would meter for that, ever so slightly underexposed, to bring out the subject and show more details/textures.

Yes, and you may need to adjust the FEC according to the metering by your camera/lens combination to get the right exposure - always check your histogram after the shot to see that the highlights are registering in the right half-to-quarter of the graph at least. (That's the way I work anyway to minimise noise and avoid clipping).

This of course would also depend at what distance you are from your subject, right?
I was using a DA*16-50/2.8 and was rether close to the subjects, at 50mm focal length.

Do you ever meter ON the subject first?
Just thought I'd ask a potentially stupid question.

JP

I lock metering with AE-L and get focus right before firing. Sometimes I just focus and shoot and the exposure generally comes out right if I'm spot metering (on the subject). Centre-weighted most of the time, and when matrix metering I'm careful not to blow highlights in the subject since I'm trying to reduce background intensity, e.g:


This diffused off-camera flash setup should work fine too with 3 people in the frame as long as the flash isn't too far away or coming in from too far to one side - illuminating the person closest to the flash well but not the other two.

[Ash]

Something just came up in my ol' brain and I had to ask yet some stupid questions:

Will all that said about flash use for fill-in ... do I have to set the built-in flash as "controller" whilst the remote flash would be the "slave" ?

And ... one more st&%d question: will the built-in flash contribute to the exposure if used that way?

And ... if I'd used a little plasticy GaryFong diffuser on the built-in flash to avoid too much light from it, would it help at all or would it actually block the signal transmitted to the slave (if that is what happens with the proper setup)?

Cheers.

JP

Forget the contribution the popup flash makes in the exposure, it's not going to be anywhere near as powerful as your 540. But if the results come out with unusually too much front flash, just switch off the on-board flash by changing it from master to control flash in the wireless flash menu setup on the camera. Any diffuser on the control flash will diminish its range, so use it judiciously, but why use it (a diffuser) at all if it (on-board flash) contributes little to the illumination of your subjects?

[jbinpg]

Nice shot. Would work better if the male (you?) were also in focus. Are the females sisters? Their faces have similar features.

Jack

[jpzk]

Nice shot. Would work better if the male (you?) were also in focus. Are the females sisters? Their faces have similar features.

Jack

Thanks Jack.

Yeah ... I goofed a bit with focus for the man in question (one of my daughters' BF actually - not me! ) and yes, you got it right ... sisters!

I could have easily stopped down but that day, I had this thing about getting as many shots at F2.8 as possible, along with the flash, and see what this would result in.
I got the effect of the blurred background, but obviously, I could have used a smaller paerture with almost the same effect.

Thanks for pointing this out! Appreciated.

JP