Daytime Flash Photography

[PRWIN]

For your calculation:
- if you have read the aperture from the metadata then 7.1 will already include the 1.4 for the extender
- you need to divide by 2 because of high speed sync

6x60/7.1/2 = 25m which is spot on.

Thanks graham I also thought that the f-stop will be included but when I did the calculations it came no where near what I got so I added the 1.4

I was wondering if the speed could have hade a difference to what the camera specs are. graham lets say the camera setting for flash is 200 and I want to shoot at 500 will I have to divide by 4 as it is 4 settings higher than the camera's speed for flash

[graham]

Flutterby, Lisbeth


I think it will still be about 50%.

The specs for your flash (600EX II-RT ?) give:
Effective flash range with EF 50mm f/1.4 lens at ISO 100
Normal Flash: Approx. 0.5-27.8m
High-speed Sync (at 1/250 sec. shutter speed): Approx. 0.5-14.7m

Thinking aloud .... the reduction in power for high-speed sync is because the flash needs to strobe to provide a continuous light while the curtains move across the sensor. The speed at which the curtains move is constant - it is the gap between them which determines the shutter speed. Therefore strobe time for the flash will be the same irrespective of the shutter speed and the reduction in power will be the same.

Does this make sense?

[graham]

For daytime flash you will not be able to use exposure settings greater than what is permitted by the ambient light. This will severely limit the effective range of the flash.

[PRWIN]

Thanks graham, makes sense and it is the 600ex11-rt. that was all done on manual settings flash as well, just thinking what will be the out come if I set it on E-TTL and and focus the beam as it will read the focus length and a just accordingly .The flash does allow the beam to be focused, also thinking of a extender if it does not work. Only problem is the flash will not be at full power when in H Sinc mode when on normal battery, maybe I will have to look at a battery pack. Will still do a lot of playing ahead

[PRWIN]

This is what flash extenders look like and fit on the flash

[Richprins]

Hello, and thanks, Graham!

I agree with you 100%!

[Peter Betts]

I dont believe in Flash Day or night on any Wild Life especially on Nocturnal species and Carnivores for OBVIOUS reasons ..I use Flash in the Bush for happy snaps around the camp fire of People who have retinas 20 000 plus times less sensitive say than a Leopard, Owl, Genet , nightjar etc etc ..Even my human fashion Models get Modified Light shot through huge diffusers to soften the light ..In the bush all my shots are using Ambient light only ..With Modern Full Frame sensors you can bump up the ISO freely depending on camera ..But anything under 10 000 ISO is OK these days..not to mention Post processing using tools like HDR , Highlights and Shadows etc etc have rendered flash redundant ..Couldnt have come sooner as ethics must be the only consideration in Wild Life Photography

[Peter Betts]

For daytime flash you will not be able to use exposure settings greater than what is permitted by the ambient light. This will severely limit the effective range of the flash.

..Correct to a point..I use High Speed Sync Flash on my human subjects..You can shoot at 1/8000 sec with that ..even if your normal Flash Sync on the camera is 1/250 Sec (Doesnt increase your distance but gives a far better QUALITY of light and tames that harsh midday ambient Shadow light..I use that on humans posing on a dark outside background sometimes at Midday made so on purpose taking a manual shot first flash off and reducing the ambient light to almost nil (Darkish but NOT black background) and then the human model is beautifully lit solely through a soft Box or beauty Dish with flash through diffuser/modifier on at up to 1/8000 sec ..the max shutter speed my camera goes to. You cant do this in Kruger because imagine setting this up at a lion sighting BUT you could do it quite safely taking Barred owls at Tsendze and Scops owls at reception at Satara with far less INTRUSION and latent damage

High Speed Flash 2 (1).jpg (255.64 KiB) Viewed 1579 times

[Peter Betts]

I love the light here ...No Shadows unlike normal Flash with those aweful shadows on the wall behind the subject

[Peter Betts]

An example how High Speed Flash works..Click on the Title at the top or the Red Arrow in the middle ..He uses the Fab Sigma 85 mm F1.4 Art lens too (My next lens) ..Low light king