iāve been using mine but still have about 40 frames left. taking ages
have enjoyed using a camera with a light meter though instead of guessing or using an app
Got a DLSR for Christmas and have also just started a cookery course remotely, which means Iām trying to improve my food photography. My setup is much like a rogue police officer: itās unconventional, but gets results:
Still got a way to go I think (not happy with the glare on the glass here) but itās really fun getting the hang of how to use light - obviously Iād prefer daylight but I have kids and work to deal with then, so trying to get good shots at nighttime is a problem I need to solve.
If I were you Iād buy a flash second hand and get some cheap diffusers. All modern flashes will use TTL (which is basically the flash equivalent of auto exposure) so you can control that in camera. Moving the light source away from the subject will help balance the highlights, and you can diffuse the light more by bouncing it off a wall or ceiling rather than aiming it directly.
I give you a month before youāre back here talking about barn doors and snoots.
Interesting, thanks! Must admit I thought flashes were a bit of a no-no and only for situations when you canāt improve the light by other means, but from reading up on TTL it looks like you can get really good results. Hadnāt thought about bouncing the light either so cheers for that, not possible with my inbuilt flash (which is pretty gross) but looks like external flashes are pretty cheap, though perhaps not as cheap as a Ā£12 working light and a diffuser made out of cardboard and greaseproof paper.
Never heard of barn doors and snoots but researching them has reminded me that my daughterās art box has loads of different coloured crepe papers I could use for diffusingā¦
looks like your highlights might be blown out a bit
meter for the highlights (so they arent blown out) and then lift the shadows in post
Ah, yeah, just checked my metering and itās center weighted which is probably the issue. Thatās a setting I rarely think about but I see the use now, cheers!
There should be a setting in one of the menus to display highlights on the back screen - when blow out they will show as red - if you then adjust your settings so they are just not blown you will have more control in post.
It could be that the whole image then looks dark but its a lot easier to rescue darks than it is to try and recover blown highlights
looks like fun!!
I see, cheers - learning how to take photos with post production in mind is something else Iām still getting to grips with. As well as actually learning how to use GIMP!
gels will work better than crepe paper - you need to be careful though, because your camera may try and autocorrect the colours
So, having animal eye focus helps a little bit with taking photos of a black cat, but itās still an absolute bugger to get the metering right. Iām getting better though
are there any gear buffs on here? My girlfriend is having problems with her new āGodox X1ā flash thingy and I donāt know anything about it
I donāt know Godox flashes, mine are Canon, but whatās the issue? Hot shoe connections? Too little / too much power? Not syncing?
I donāt think itās compatable with her camera in the end. Sheās going to swap it out for the one that supposedly is and then weāll see.
Donāt know loads about godox stuff but be surprised if itās not compatible with a modem camera (assuming thats what youāre using it with)
Not all cameras have wireless communication with flashes (most donāt, tbh). Does it work in the hot shoe?
My olympus em1 requires me to put the crappy little supplied flash on the hot shoe to act as a trigger