Got me my very first flash! Now what?

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roe1and

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It came in the mail today all the way from China! Got me a Yongnuo YN460. And now I can't wait to get home tonight to try it. However, I've NEVER used a flash before and am hoping for some guidance.

My hobby is taking close up pictures of pressed/dried(or not sometimes) flowers. Examples below, more here . So now there are a few things that I am wondering about:

Where would I position the flash? I was thinking just off camera(with the close up stuff it'll probably be right next to the camera) basically pointing directly at the subject using the built in diffuser? Or perhaps I'll build myself a softbox? Anyway my other flash should be here next week or so so then eventually I'll have 2 flashes one on each side of the camera fairly close to the subject.

White balance. Do I set this to 6500K and am I correct in assuming that my issues with colours being off will be no more?

Tiny aperture? I suppose I'll just have to fiddle with this one but what about the shutter speed? Does it even matter? My guess is not much so will 1/100 be ok?

And I'm guessing I'll have to move my subject away from my background it I want to keep the back as dark as possible...? At the moment I'm using a piece of black cloth for a backdrop.

Any thoughts welcome.

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For subjects like this I'd be using a ring flash - not what you've bought.
 
There is no benefit to using flash in your above set-up. In fact IMHO it will just cause severe shadow problems. If you are working "in the studio" then you are better to use diffuse naturel light and a long shutter @ f16 or smaller for the required DoF.
You could get similar style pictures in the "wild" using F16 and short, but sync'ed, shutter speeds for the same blacked background look. This would require a longer macro type lens so you can use the flash, maybe off camera, without the lens getting in the way.

For very large flowers with great depth it may be worth looking at focus stacking to get all of the flower in focus without sharpness losses due to diffraction (sets in at around f16 on your 7d).
 
Natural light is not really an option. Not only is the window in my "studio" quite small but it will be winter soon. So far I've been using an 500W light that I bought from B&Q just pointed at the ceiling. But that doesn't work very well. I use custom WB but the colours are never what they are supposed to be when I shoot this way. My exposures are anything up to 8 seconds. That is also a pain. as I have to use the 10 second timer to make sure the camera doesn't move then I get out of the room so I can't shift my weight on the carpet and move the tripod or the flower. I'd really like to cut down on all this drama.

So that leaves me with buying a flash. I may actually get myself a ring flash at some stage. But the 2 flashes I bought now was cheaper that what a semi decent ring flash will cost me.
 
This is based on my 40D.. so check the synch speed of the 7D.

Set the shutter speed to 1/200th (the 40D synch at 1/250 but I allow a bit of leeway). Use the aperture and the flash power settings to adjust the exposure.

Get creative with the YN-460.. A4 paper can make a useful bounce card that can be bent, rolled and folded to bounce the light where you want. I'm building up a collection of mount board sheets for desktop shots - the coloured sides make useful backdrops and the white reverse is another excellent bounce card.

How are you triggering the flash? an extension cord or with a wireless remote system?
 
roe1and said:
Natural light is not really an option. Not only is the window in my "studio" quite small but it will be winter soon. So far I've been using an 500W light that I bought from B&Q just pointed at the ceiling. But that doesn't work very well. I use custom WB but the colours are never what they are supposed to be when I shoot this way. My exposures are anything up to 8 seconds. That is also a pain. as I have to use the 10 second timer to make sure the camera doesn't move then I get out of the room so I can't shift my weight on the carpet and move the tripod or the flower. I'd really like to cut down on all this drama.

So that leaves me with buying a flash. I may actually get myself a ring flash at some stage. But the 2 flashes I bought now was cheaper that what a semi decent ring flash will cost me.
Click to expand...


In that case you need 2 large diffusers, 1 either side of the flower, close to the subject (no further than the narrowest part of the diffuser) in the hope that any shadows will be minimal. Softboxes are ideal, you can then do a clam shell type set-up. Have a look at "Flash in the Pan" in the advertisers forum.
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=244521
 
I'm just going to whack it in slave mode and see what I can do. I'n just waiting for the people in the office to b****r off home so I can make a soft box out of paper or something. I'm still stuck here for an hour!
 
Get a light tent, it will really help, then just place one flash either side and disable the onboard flash or at least put a diffuser over it.
 
I fiddled a bit last night and I'll definitely need either a light tent or 2 soft boxes. And Only later found out that I need to put my camera flash on Manual! But so far I'm loving the experience. I just put the WB on flash and the colours are spot on! Brilliant
 
Steveblackdog (really nice guy, used to bump into him at MR events) is producing some really nice low cost tabletop set-up guides.. have a look here for a cheap diffuser set-up that will probably to the job for you.
 
I am a complete flash noob and what I usually do is this:

Set my camera in AV mode, set the aperture I want. If I'm using my 17-40, I tend to just stick to f/4, unless I want more DOF. If using my 85, I'm usually on the good side of f/2.8.

I set the flash on Ettl mode, and away I go. If I find I need my subject zapped a bit more, up goes flash exposure compensation. If I want more ambient (or less), I alter the exposure compensation on the camera. if I need more shutter speed, I'll up the ISO.

It's a pretty good way of getting this done because there's a lot of clever technology doing all the hard work for you, keeping things simple, while still giving you creative control. It's also much less to remember than if all of the settings are in manual.
 
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trencheel303 said:
I am a complete flash noob and what I usually do is this:

Set my camera in AV mode, set the aperture I want. If I'm using my 17-40, I tend to just stick to f/4, unless I want more DOF. If using my 85, I'm usually on the good side of f/2.8.

I set the flash on Ettl mode, and away I go. If I find I need my subject zapped a bit more, up goes flash exposure compensation. If I want more ambient (or less), I alter the exposure compensation on the camera. if I need more shutter speed, I'll up the ISO.

It's a pretty good way of getting this done because there's a lot of clever technology doing all the hard work for you, keeping things simple, while still giving you creative control. It's also much less to remember than if all of the settings are in manual.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately the OP is using a manual flash that doesn't have ettl..
 
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