Lighting for indoor portraits!

[CarlukeDave]

I was taking a few portraits at my sons birthday party today, they were taken indoors, I had my jessops afd300 flash on, diffused with a piece cut from a milk carton.

I was having difficulty in getting a quick enough shutter speed, as it was mostly kids and they wouldn't stay still for long. I was bouncing the flash, as it appeared to harsh when pointed straight at the subject, even when diffused.

I was shooting at f4.5, ISO 800 or 1600 on Av mode.

The main problem was that the pictures were blurred, due to the slower shutter speed. Is there anything I can do to counter this, or is it simply a case that the cheap Jessops flash isn't up to it?

I've not had time to upload the pictures yet, but I will do later to demonstrate what I mean.

Thanks for any advice.

Dave

 

[CarlukeDave]

Would I have been better shooting fully manual, or on Tv and selecting a higher shutter speed.

I wish I'd tried a few of these things at the time!

 

[Cheez]

On the 30D, custom setting 3 sets the sync speed of the flash to 1/250 in AV, then set your aperture, leave the ISO at 100, that should stop the blurred shots. If you are a Nikon user this info should be in the manual.

HTH

Jim M.

 

[silverJON]

I was having difficulty in getting a quick enough shutter speed, as it was mostly kids and they wouldn't stay still for long. I was bouncing the flash, as it appeared to harsh when pointed straight at the subject, even when diffused.

The light from a flash lasts a maximum of 1/500s. It's really, really short and will freeze virtually any motion, even with the camera on a spin dryer in an earthquake. If there's any motion blur, it's from ambient light.

If you want to just use light from the flash, set the shutter speed to the max sync speed (between 1/125s and 1/250s, depending on camera). This is the fastest that the camera is prepared to shoot with the flash, because it can't guarantee that it can synchronise the shutter and flash properly at shutter speeds higher than that.

If you want to allow some ambient light in as well, then normal rules about shutter speed apply - don't allow a shutter speed any longer than the focal length of the lens, eg. using an 18-55mm lens at 55mm, 1/60s is the longest exposure you can use where you stand a chance of a sharp shot with no motion blur.

With flash, perhaps you can afford to go one stop longer than that - but longer than about 1/30s, you'll start to get some blur and weird fluffy halos round your subject where the ambient light and flash light don't quite cover the same parts of the image.

ISO 200 should be fine with an external flash at close range. f4.5 is also OK but be aware that your depth of field isn't going to be as good as at, say, f8. f8 @ ISO 400 ought to be fine without underexposure, if you're shooting indoors with a flash.

Remember that the aperture and ISO control overall exposure (the effects of both flash and ambient), and shutter speed just controls ambient light - so, by juggling, you can change the balance. Bounced flash, though, should produce a nice enough light that you won't want to allow any ambient in anyway - in which case, set shutter speed to max sync speed and then play with aperture/ISO.

or is it simply a case that the cheap Jessops flash isn't up to it?

I doubt it'll have much trouble with children indoors.

I've not had time to upload the pictures yet, but I will do later to demonstrate what I mean.

Do!

Sorry if I've stated anything obvious, but I hope this is helpful to other people too.

 

[CarlukeDave]

The light from a flash lasts a maximum of 1/500s. It's really, really short and will freeze virtually any motion, even with the camera on a spin dryer in an earthquake. If there's any motion blur, it's from ambient light.

If you want to just use light from the flash, set the shutter speed to the max sync speed (between 1/125s and 1/250s, depending on camera). This is the fastest that the camera is prepared to shoot with the flash, because it can't guarantee that it can synchronise the shutter and flash properly at shutter speeds higher than that.

If you want to allow some ambient light in as well, then normal rules about shutter speed apply - don't allow a shutter speed any longer than the focal length of the lens, eg. using an 18-55mm lens at 55mm, 1/60s is the longest exposure you can use where you stand a chance of a sharp shot with no motion blur.

With flash, perhaps you can afford to go one stop longer than that - but longer than about 1/30s, you'll start to get some blur and weird fluffy halos round your subject where the ambient light and flash light don't quite cover the same parts of the image.

ISO 200 should be fine with an external flash at close range. f4.5 is also OK but be aware that your depth of field isn't going to be as good as at, say, f8. f8 @ ISO 400 ought to be fine without underexposure, if you're shooting indoors with a flash.

Remember that the aperture and ISO control overall exposure (the effects of both flash and ambient), and shutter speed just controls ambient light - so, by juggling, you can change the balance. Bounced flash, though, should produce a nice enough light that you won't want to allow any ambient in anyway - in which case, set shutter speed to max sync speed and then play with aperture/ISO.

I doubt it'll have much trouble with children indoors.


Do!

Sorry if I've stated anything obvious, but I hope this is helpful to other people too.

Thanks for the advice mate, I'll need to get practising!!

 

[MrGrumpy]

Does the jessops flash support TTL of some form? If so, then set your mode to Manual and choose a shutter speed fast enough to catch the kids (but slower than the sync speed, which is 1/200 on the 400D) and an appropriate Aperture setting.

I believe the problem is because on Av, the camera is setting the shutter speed based upon the available light without the flash - i.e. quite slow.

Hope this helps.
Paul

 

[CarlukeDave]

Does the jessops flash support TTL of some form? If so, then set your mode to Manual and choose a shutter speed fast enough to catch the kids (but slower than the sync speed, which is 1/200 on the 400D) and an appropriate Aperture setting.

I believe the problem is because on Av, the camera is setting the shutter speed based upon the available light without the flash - i.e. quite slow.

Hope this helps.
Paul

Thanks for the info Paul, I'll give it a bash!

 

[fraggle101]

A shot of ketermine in the fruit punch is always an option!!