430ex - how do i start?

R

RobbieW

Guest
Hi

I have my first outdoor photoshoot on sunday and have been fortunate to borrow a 430EX for the weekend. The problem is I am very confused, I am likely to do most of my shots using either full manaul or appeture priority. I have been trying to understand the manual and by the looks of it full auto, i.e ETTL is a good starting point, am I correct in this thinking?

WIth ETTL it shows the focal length that my lens is set to and also an indicator of how strong it will be i.e. 9m or 13m. However if I twist the lens slightly (i think its called bounce flash) this information disappears, is this beacuse the indicator is only based on direct flash?

Does anyone have any ideas on whats best to use? I did hear one recommendation that its also best to set the flash exposure compensation down a couple of increments as this would only be used as a fill in bright light.

Any help would be appreicated,

Thanks

ROb
 
Assuming that you want to use the flashgun for fill-in flash, I suggest you turn the flash output down by say 1 stop. You could also try -2 stops. It's worthwhile experimenting beforehand if you can. After all it's just a few (million) 1s and 0s...

Don't worry about the zoom function. You're right in that it only works when the flash is not being used in bounce mode. Since the light will be scattered over a wide area when it's bounced off a ceiling or similar surface. it is to all intents and purposes, redundant in that mode.

HTH

Mark (Kiasmum's hubby).
 
Thanks for your help, its a case of stepping into the unknown, which can sometimes be a little scary!
 
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