NDCPE: Equipment Awareness! This articulation is an observation that I noticed yesterday, while testing some of my flashes and strobes. As you know, I am not afraid to put my thoughts out there for your scrutiny; neither am I afraid if you rip me a new one and call me Shirley afterwards. So, here is what I noticed. Flash Shoe Mount: When loading the SB 600 and SB 700 (not sure about the other since I only have those two) to the Hot Shoe mount of the D7000, the default TTL setting is TTL BL…(BL) representing Balance Light (if you are in Center Weight or Matrix Mode). This means that when your meter reads the light it is going to include both the subject and ambient light. It is going to communicate those readings with the Flash and the flash’s power output will be designed to add to the ambient as a Fill Light. Re-read that! But, in terms of what you want to do and the type of photography you are doing, this may not be ideal for you. For Portraits, your images may be correctly exposed with proper lighting, but the lighting itself could be flat or dull. When in Spot meter, your meter measures the light on the one focal point. The communication to the flash output is to measure its power output based on the light on that spot. This will be a different image than the Center/Matrix flash. When the meter communicates with the Flash, it will turn off BL (thus, this is the only way to turn off BL) and it will output like a Key Light, highlighting the subject and (as far as the flash goes) ignoring the Ambient. You, as the Photographer, will control the Ambient then by adjusting your Shutter Speed. (oh and dont be alarmed if those readings are extremely different) So, it is important to know what your equipment does and how to make your equipment work for you. Practice, practice, practice….then talk out loud about what you think your learned, then test it. Post your thoughts and let others tell you whether you are right or wrong. Then do it all over again until it becomes habitual. For the Masters, I have a Family Photo Shoot at 2p (EST), so you have until then to rip me a new one
Posted on: Sat, 08 Nov 2014 13:27:33 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015