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Mastering Canon EOS Flash Photography, 2nd Edition PDF

431 Pages·2016·50.68 MB·English
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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 Distributed in the U.S. by Ingram Publisher Services 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. i v 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 v TABLE OF CONTENTS i i 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 i i i TABLE OF CONTENTS v 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 i TABLE OF CONTENTS x 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 x TABLE OF CONTENTS 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

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