[Dave]

Covering :-

Take life-like portraits
Soften the shadows
Record details of small objects
Create more natural-looking pictures by illuminating both the subject and background
Emulate the results of professional studio photographers
Use colored gel filters to add specific colors to the scene

Although a Nikon Promo piece, the principles can be applied to majority of brand flash systems. Some useful advice in here

[IanHoughton]

Excellent find, not got a flash yet !!! but im sure it will come in useful.

[brokendalek]

That's really useful thanks

[fionaB]

really good informative stuff................ but....... is there any guides to understanding the flash itself, guide numbers settings etc?

Fi

[Dabhand16]

You only need to know that the higher the GN - the more powerful the flash is, and therefore the longer the range is.

If you are going to use manual mode it also enables the calculation of the apature. The GN divided by the distance that the light travels to the subject - not the range from the camera to the subject which is different if you are bouncing the flash - gives you the apature.

So a flash with a GN of 56 (at ISO 100) with the light travelling 10 feet will result in an apature of f5.6. In the days of film with focal plane shutters this would usually be at 1/30 sec synch speed, but some would go to 1/50.

As the ISO gets higher, the GN will also increase. There would usually be a chart supplied with the flash to give the GN for different ISO (or ASA as it was then).

TTL and intelligent metering makes flash photography much easier. In manual mode you also had to compensate for diffusers, turn the flash down for fill-in or fool it by setting a higher ISO, and in my first use of a flashgun, make sure you had enough bulbs!
.

[fionaB]

thanx for that Graham, i think i get the idea......... but me n numbers just dont gel together! lol

Fi

[JMitchell]

Some useful info there, although I already tend to do the bouncy-ceilingy-uppy thing, and, to be fair, how many people can afford FOUR SB800s?

PS: Anyone know what # of posts gets you to "Feet Under the Table"? Is it 1000?

[banmido]

cool dude

ban