Mastering Canon EOS Flash Photography, 2nd Edition

431 Pages·2016·50.68 MB·English

NK Guy Born in Montreal during the first snowfall of winter,
NK Guy is a Canadian writer and photographer. Along with
Art of Burning Man from Taschen, which is a distillation of the
65,000 photos he took at the Burning Man art festival from
1998 to 2014, he is the author of The Photographer’s Dictio-
nary (Rotovision, 2008) and The Lens (Rocky Nook, 2012). He
also created photonotes.org for photographic education, and
burningman.com.
There is no substance whatsoever to the scurrilous rumors that his true name is a word of ancient power,
that dark forces were raised by profane and bloody ritual during the writing of this book, or that the text was
in fact composed by a decaying golem who would repeatedly croak, “American spelling!” in a voice of dust
and despair.
Guy lives in London, England.
NK Guy
Mastering Canon EOS
Flash Photography
Mastering Canon EOS Flash Photography, 2nd Edition
NK Guy
photonotes.org
Editor: Joan Dixon
Project manager: Lisa Brazieal
Marketing: Jessica Tiernan
Layout and type: Petra Strauch
Cover design: Helmut Kraus, www.exclam.de
ISBN: 978-1-937538-72-9
2nd Edition (1st printing, February 2016)
© 2016 NK Guy
All images © NK Guy unless otherwise noted
Rocky Nook Inc.
802 E. Cota Street, 3rd Floor
Santa Barbara, CA 93103
U.S.A.
www.rockynook.com
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Distributed in the UK and Europe by Publishers Group UK
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015946795

All rights reserved. No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized
in any form, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and
retrieval system, without written permission of the publisher.
Many of the designations in this book used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are
claimed as trademarks of their respective companies. Where those designations appear in this book, and Rocky
Nook was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed in caps or initial caps. All product
names and services identified throughout this book are used in editorial fashion only and for the benefit of
such companies with no intention of infringement of the trademark. They are not intended to convey endorse-
ment or other affiliation with this book.
While reasonable care has been exercised in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume
no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained
herein or from the use of the discs or programs that may accompany it.
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Printed in the U.S.A.
Important Safety Note About the Cover Photo
The cover shot was taken using a British bayonet-style light bulb. These bulbs have two electrical contacts on
the base: the metal cap isn’t part of the circuit and carries no current. This is how I was able to send power
through the bulb (through a concealed wire, with insulated connections) while it was in the model’s hand.
This would not be possible, and would be very dangerous with an Edison screw-type bulb, since the threaded
metal cap forms part of the electrical circuit.
For Dad. Who taught me that to find a photograph, you’ve sometimes got to wait.
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Table of Contents
1 Introduction ................................................... 3
Part A: Getting Started .............................................. 7
2 Getting Started ................................................ 9
2.1 A beginner’s configuration: Canon Digital Rebel T5/1200D with
a 430EX III flash unit ........................................... 10
2.2 Flash exposure compensation (FEC) ............................. 11
2.3 Bounce flash ................................................... 12
2.4 Daylight fill flash .............................................. 14
2.5 An advanced configuration: two wireless 430EX III-RT flash units 15
2.6 A practical example of wireless flash ........................... 16
2.7 Dragging the shutter ........................................... 17
2.8 Getting the flash off the camera ................................ 18
3 Top Ten FAQs ................................................... 21
4 Terminology ................................................... 29
Part B: Technology .................................................. 33
5 A Brief History of Flash ......................................... 35
5.1 Pyrotechnics ................................................... 37
5.2 Flash bulbs .................................................... 38
5.3 Electronic flash ................................................ 39
5.4 The first challenge: flash synchronization ....................... 40
5.5 Open flash ..................................................... 40
5.6 Flash sync ..................................................... 42
5.7 Controlling flash exposure ..................................... 43
5.8 The second challenge: flash metering .......................... 44
6 Automatic Flash Metering ...................................... 47
6.1 Enabling internal flash and external Speedlites ................. 48
6.2 Subject and background in flash photography .................. 49
6.3 Ambient light metering versus flash metering .................. 49
6.4 Freezing motion ................................................ 49
6.5 Normal flash sync .............................................. 51
6.6 Slow shutter sync .............................................. 51
6.7 EOS flash and icon modes ...................................... 52
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6.8 CA (creative auto) mode ........................................ 53
6.9 EOS flash and ambient metering: a source of confusion ......... 54
6.10 Program (P) mode .............................................. 54
6.11 Tv (shutter speed priority) mode ................................ 55
6.12 Av (aperture priority) mode ..................................... 56
6.13 M (metered manual) mode ..................................... 56
6.14 DEP (depth of field), A-DEP (automatic DEP), and B (Bulb) modes 56
6.15 Fill flash ....................................................... 56
6.16 Fill flash ambient light reduction ............................... 59
6.17 Flash exposure compensation (FEC) ............................. 59
7 Technical Topics ................................................ 61
7.1 Canon EOS flash metering ...................................... 62
7.2 TTL flash metering ............................................. 62
7.3 A-TTL flash metering ........................................... 64
7.4 E-TTL flash metering ........................................... 64
7.5 E-TTL II ......................................................... 67
7.6 Type A and type B cameras ..................................... 69
7.7 Flash technology availability summary ......................... 70
7.8 Metering patterns .............................................. 70
7.9 Flash metering patterns ........................................ 73
7.10 How mechanical camera shutters work ......................... 75
7.11 Maximum X-sync .............................................. 76
7.12 High-speed sync (HSS) / FP (focal plane) flash ................... 78
7.13 First and second curtain sync ................................... 81
7.14 Inverse square law ............................................. 84
7.15 Guide numbers ................................................ 86
7.16 Quantifying flash output ....................................... 88
7.17 Exposure value (EV) ............................................ 89
7.18 Color and shades of white ...................................... 90
7.19 Color filters .................................................... 96
7.20 Infrared (IR) .................................................... 102
7.21 EXIF and flash data ............................................. 104
7.22 Safety and physical properties .................................. 104
Part C: Equipment .................................................. 109
8 Dedicated Flash Units .......................................... 111
8.1 Built-in (popup) flash .......................................... 112
8.2 Canon Speedlites .............................................. 115
8.3 Speedlite naming scheme ...................................... 117
8.4 Older Canon Speedlites ........................................ 117
8.5 Third-party flash units ......................................... 118
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9 Canon Speedlites .............................................. 121
9.1 Hotshoes ...................................................... 122
9.2 Flash heads .................................................... 124
9.3 LCDs ........................................................... 124
9.4 Swivel and tilt for bounce flash ................................. 126
9.5 Zooming flash heads ........................................... 127
9.6 Flash head diffuser panels ...................................... 131
9.7 Autofocus (AF) assist light ...................................... 132
9.8 Redeye and greeneye ........................................... 137
9.9 Flash exposure compensation (FEC) ............................. 139
9.10 Flash exposure lock (FE lock or FEL) ............................. 141
9.11 Fill flash ratios ................................................. 144
9.12 Auto fill reduction ............................................. 144
9.13 Flash exposure bracketing (FEB) ................................ 145
9.14 High-speed sync (HSS) .......................................... 146
9.15 Enabling second curtain sync ................................... 147
9.16 Manual flash .................................................. 149
9.17 Optical wireless E-TTL flash ..................................... 151
9.18 Integrated Speedlite transmitter: using built-in flash as master . 156
9.19 Radio wireless E-TTL flash ...................................... 159
9.20 Advanced M (metered manual) ambient metering .............. 164
9.21 Quick Flash/Rapid-fire mode ................................... 165
9.22 Stroboscopic (MULTI) flash ..................................... 166
9.23 Flash exposure confirmation LED ............................... 168
9.24 Range warning ................................................. 168
9.25 Modeling flash ................................................. 168
9.26 Auto Power Off/Save Energy (SE) mode ......................... 169
9.27 Speedlite autoflash/External flash metering .................... 170
9.28 Optical slave triggers ........................................... 171
9.29 Custom functions (C.Fn) on flash unit ........................... 171
9.30 External Speedlite control (ESC) ................................ 172
9.31 Memory function .............................................. 173
9.32 Test flash (manual firing) ....................................... 174
9.33 Rear control dial ............................................... 174
9.34 Weatherproofing ............................................... 174
9.35 Flash color ..................................................... 175
9.36 Live View, silent shooting, and flash ............................ 176
9.37 Cycle time and high voltage ports .............................. 177
9.38 Remote shutter release. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
10 Manual Flash Metering ........................................ 181
10.1 Manual flash metering ......................................... 183
10.2 Trial and error .................................................. 183
10.3 Flash meters ................................................... 186
10.4 Choosing a manual flash unit .................................. 187
10.5 Trigger voltages ................................................ 189
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10.6 Incompatible shoes ............................................ 190
10.7 Autoflash metering ............................................ 190
11 Off-Camera Flash .............................................. 193
11.1 The Seven Basic Methods for Off-camera Flash Control .......... 194
11.2 Off-Camera Method 1—Open flash ............................. 194
11.3 Off-Camera Methods 2 and 3—Wired cords ..................... 195
11.4 Off-Camera Method 2—Wired sync-only: PC cords .............. 195
11.5 Off-Camera Method 3—Wired with automatic metering:
Canon flash cords .............................................. 198
11.6 Off-Camera Methods 4 and 5—Wireless optical control ......... 200
11.7 Off-Camera Method 4—Wireless optical, sync-only:
optical slaves .................................................. 201
11.8 Off-Camera Method 5—Wireless optical with automatic
metering: Canon optical wireless E-TTL ......................... 203
11.9 Off-Camera Methods 6 and 7—Wireless, radio frequency (RF) ... 213
11.10 Off-Camera Method 6—Radio, sync-only ........................ 216
11.11 Off-Camera Method 3—Radio with automatic metering ......... 225
12 Flash Accessories ............................................... 237
12.1 Flash diffusers ................................................. 238
12.2 Small diffusers ................................................. 238
12.3 Small reflectors ................................................ 241
12.4 Medium-sized reflectors and diffusers .......................... 243
12.5 Large portable diffusers ........................................ 247
12.6 Other flash accessories ......................................... 252
12.7 Ringflash adapters ............................................. 254
12.8 Filter gels ...................................................... 256
12.9 Flash projector ................................................. 258
12.10 Do it yourself! .................................................. 259
12.11 Supports ....................................................... 259
12.12 Batteries ....................................................... 262
12.13 External battery packs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
13 Studio Flash ................................................... 269
13.1 Types of studio lights ........................................... 272
13.2 Basic flash unit features ........................................ 280
13.3 General studio gear ............................................ 283
13.4 Studio light modifiers .......................................... 287
13.5 Hot lights ...................................................... 293
13.6 Cheap vs. expensive ............................................ 296
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Part D: Technique ................................................... 299
14 Basic Techniques ............................................... 301
14.1 Direction ....................................................... 302
14.2 Intensity ....................................................... 306
14.3 Quality ........................................................ 308
14.4 Color .......................................................... 310
14.5 Basic Speedlite portrait photography ........................... 312
14.6 Building a studio portrait ....................................... 314
14.7 Experimenting with light ....................................... 316
15 Advanced Techniques .......................................... 327
15.1 Slow shutter sync and motion .................................. 328
15.2 Hard isn’t all bad ............................................... 330
15.3 Narrowing down the light ...................................... 332
15.4 Backlighting and flash in the frame ............................. 334
15.5 Kill the ambient ................................................ 335
15.6 Cookies ........................................................ 337
15.7 Open flash ..................................................... 337
15.8 Stroboscopic (MULTI) flash ..................................... 339
15.9 High-speed photography ....................................... 341
15.10 Cross-polarizing ................................................ 346
15.11 Learning from the masters ..................................... 348
Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351
Appendices ......................................................... 351
Appendix A: Flash Units for Canon EOS .............................. 354
Appendix B: Choosing a Flash Unit .................................. 370
Appendix C: Features Table .......................................... 374
Appendix D: Custom and Personal Functions ........................ 388
Appendix E: Sequence of Operation ................................. 392
Appendix F: Troubleshooting ........................................ 398
Credits and Acknowledgements ..................................... 410
Index ............................................................... 415