Posted by Bass Sears on November 25, 2008 at 8:15 PM
Like I imagine many of us, my interest is outdoor photography but, inside my family, I'm the guy with the nice camera so I end up taking lots of indoor shots of people / parties etc.
Anyway, have a family wedding in two weeks and have been unhappy with the pop-up flash pictures I've taken indoors with my Pentax K10D.
I'm thinking of spending just a little bit of $$$ to try to improve this... I don't do indoor shots of people that often so it's not worth it to me to buy a dedicated flash, I'd like to just keep using my popup flash.
It seems that the Lightscoop gets some good reviews, but maybe you have to have a wall behind you for it to work well?
Does anyone have any experience with the Lightscoop, or experience building their own diffusers using some of the plans on the web?
Any info / tips for improving my popup flash indoor photos would be greatly appreciated.
-- Bass
Posted by Steve Sieren on November 26, 2008 at 1:50 AM
I use a flash all the time for interiors and people in interiors. Sometimes I use a Gary Fong Diffuser but it's kind of bulky and turns the flash into a lampshade.
I think you could make your money back if you bought a decent flash. Bouncing it off the ceiling works well enough on its own. Turning the pop up flash all the way down and using ambient light source would be your best option.
Posted by Clif Moore on November 26, 2008 at 8:36 AM
Bass, I have done my share of weddings. I am not a wedding photog. As in your case, for some reason folks think that because I have "cool" pictures of bears, flowers, etc. on my walls, a wedding should be easy or at least doable. I have a few suggestions that might be helpful.
1. Do some research. Talk to the bride. Does she want traditional shots or PJ style or (like most folks) some combination of the two. Nice shot lists can be found near the back of two books: "Professional Secrets of Wedding Photography" by Douglas Box and "Wedding Photography" by Rick Ferro. "The Art of Wedding Photography" by Cantrell and Cohen is a good book on PJ style.
2. Your pop-up flash won't get it. If you want to do it decent job then you will need a decent flash. The folks at www.strobist.com may be able to help you choose something less expensive than a dedicated flash but you may have to go in that direction. The pop-up is too small a light source in both power and quality of light. Diffusing it may help the quality a bit but that will further weaken the power.
3. Difussion: I suggest you stay away from Gary Fong's products for now. I have one but only use it in certain environments. A much more versatile product would be the Flip-it seen here: http://www.dembflashproducts.com/ It is well regarded.
4. Shoot in RAW. It is a pain to process but can save you if a shot is over/under exposed. Easy to do with all that white (bride) and black (groom) at weddings.
So why go to all this trouble? The wedding photos are the one thing, dare I say the only thing that will allow their experience to live on through the years. It can be more potent than video. Family and friends and even friends of friends have asked me to shoot their weddings for a combination of two reasons: a) I am cheap as usually I will do it as a wedding present and b) they think I am a "really good" photographer because they haven't seen the incredible stuff on this site. FYI: I have shot my last wedding. I did my favorite nephew's in July and served notice that I was done soon after that. The reason is that I am a perfectionist therefore I process every shot to varying degrees spending at least 20 hours in front of the computer per wedding. It is just too much of a commitment. It is easier to stop doing weddings than change my character I guess.
Spring for the dedicated flash. You will find it also has many uses in the outdoor world. It will open up new areas of photography for you. Get several types of diffusers and practice before the wedding to see the benefits of each type and the faults of same. You really should have a bracket and cord to get the flash higher and/or off center for those wedding shots - moves shadows to where you want them and reduces red-eye of course. If you get a cordless rig, then you will find even more chances to play with flash outdoors! Good luck...this has been an opinion...please season with salt.
Troup Nightingale
Posted by Toni Lankerd on November 26, 2008 at 9:37 AM
Bass...the built-in flash on the K10D works best with the camera set on P (Program Mode), but if you find that doesn't work very well, I would suggest springing for the AF540. If you have the latest firmware update, that also gives you the wireless TTL capability for the flash.
Discussion
4 repliesAnyway, have a family wedding in two weeks and have been unhappy with the pop-up flash pictures I've taken indoors with my Pentax K10D.
I'm thinking of spending just a little bit of $$$ to try to improve this... I don't do indoor shots of people that often so it's not worth it to me to buy a dedicated flash, I'd like to just keep using my popup flash.
It seems that the Lightscoop gets some good reviews, but maybe you have to have a wall behind you for it to work well?
Does anyone have any experience with the Lightscoop, or experience building their own diffusers using some of the plans on the web?
Any info / tips for improving my popup flash indoor photos would be greatly appreciated.
-- Bass
I think you could make your money back if you bought a decent flash. Bouncing it off the ceiling works well enough on its own. Turning the pop up flash all the way down and using ambient light source would be your best option.
1. Do some research. Talk to the bride. Does she want traditional shots or PJ style or (like most folks) some combination of the two. Nice shot lists can be found near the back of two books: "Professional Secrets of Wedding Photography" by Douglas Box and "Wedding Photography" by Rick Ferro. "The Art of Wedding Photography" by Cantrell and Cohen is a good book on PJ style.
2. Your pop-up flash won't get it. If you want to do it decent job then you will need a decent flash. The folks at www.strobist.com may be able to help you choose something less expensive than a dedicated flash but you may have to go in that direction. The pop-up is too small a light source in both power and quality of light. Diffusing it may help the quality a bit but that will further weaken the power.
3. Difussion: I suggest you stay away from Gary Fong's products for now. I have one but only use it in certain environments. A much more versatile product would be the Flip-it seen here: http://www.dembflashproducts.com/ It is well regarded.
4. Shoot in RAW. It is a pain to process but can save you if a shot is over/under exposed. Easy to do with all that white (bride) and black (groom) at weddings.
So why go to all this trouble? The wedding photos are the one thing, dare I say the only thing that will allow their experience to live on through the years. It can be more potent than video. Family and friends and even friends of friends have asked me to shoot their weddings for a combination of two reasons: a) I am cheap as usually I will do it as a wedding present and b) they think I am a "really good" photographer because they haven't seen the incredible stuff on this site. FYI: I have shot my last wedding. I did my favorite nephew's in July and served notice that I was done soon after that. The reason is that I am a perfectionist therefore I process every shot to varying degrees spending at least 20 hours in front of the computer per wedding. It is just too much of a commitment. It is easier to stop doing weddings than change my character I guess.
Hope this helps.
Troup Nightingale