Flash help!!!

[PolaroidSky]

Doing a night shoot this weekend for the YMCA.

Never used flash much as I far prefer natural light, needless to say not much of that outdoors at 4am so I've decided to go for off camera flash... big "but" here though... Iv'e borrowed a cable and a Sigma EF - 500 DG ST that's not TTL compatible with a D200 Nikon (Voltage is OK, safe in manual etc)

I was guestimating pre - focus manually rather than rely on AF... shoot close (Under 5ft) at 1/16th flash power at 1/250th @ f18 and ISO 100 and full power from a distance over 6ft... any other tips as I've no idea what I am doing haha!

Cheers,

Jim

[GeoffWessex]

Unless somebody else has that exact setup, it's difficult to advise, but hey, it's digital, right..... be prepared to take plenty of test shots until you've got it right. Set up for distance and then make alterations as required to the flash output.

[PolaroidSky]

Yeah, you're right. I guess the question should have been, shooting in Flash manually!

I've figured it out now I think : )

Cheers!

Jim

[Cutter]

Originally Posted by PolaroidSky

Doing a night shoot this weekend for the YMCA.

Never used flash much as I far prefer natural light, needless to say not much of that outdoors at 4am so I've decided to go for off camera flash... big "but" here though... Iv'e borrowed a cable and a Sigma EF - 500 DG ST that's not TTL compatible with a D200 Nikon (Voltage is OK, safe in manual etc)

I was guestimating pre - focus manually rather than rely on AF... shoot close (Under 5ft) at 1/16th flash power at 1/250th @ f18 and ISO 100 and full power from a distance over 6ft... any other tips as I've no idea what I am doing haha!

Cheers,

Jim

I would just try to capture as much of the ambient light you can, try wide open app, with the lowest power flash, then just increase the power slightly until you get the lok you want, i think it is important that you keep the flash power down to the min so as to let the ambient light give you some atmosphere in your shots. Hope this makes sense

[PolaroidSky]

Thanks Mark!

Totally agree with you RE the low flash power, I'm really not a fan of full flash in the face shots and that's another reason I borrowed a cable too so I can determine the angle of flash where I see fit : )

Not sure how much available/ambient there will be as it's going to be through the night, outdoors... so pretty dark I think.

Cheers!

Jim

[Cutter]

Originally Posted by PolaroidSky

Thanks Mark!

Totally agree with you RE the low flash power, I'm really not a fan of full flash in the face shots and that's another reason I borrowed a cable too so I can determine the angle of flash where I see fit : )

Not sure how much available/ambient there will be as it's going to be through the night, outdoors... so pretty dark I think.

Cheers!

Jim

Hey Jim if you get some good shots I would love to see them