I was hoping that you could help me set up for an event that is coming up this weekend, and is important that I'm able to snap a few keepers. There is a family wedding coming up, and following the wedding there is a retreat to a outdoor summer camp for the rest of the weekend (fun!)

Anyways, I'll be taking a:
- light weight tripod
- 8GB of cards (plus laptop for memory card dumps)
- EOS 30D
- 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 EF-S IS
- 70-200L f/2.8 IS
- 580EXII flash
and flash extension cable (4ft).

Anything crucial missing?

I have the 70-200 for the sports we will be playing and also for the scenery- for that type of application I'm pretty comfortable - and using the 28-135 for everything else.

During the day I should be fine for the shots of people, since for day events its just mucking about and pointing the lens in the right place (more or less). What I'm concerned about is how to make sure that the flash works right for shots when the light starts to fade.

While indoors, I'm a big fan of bounce-flash, so I'll likely stay with that (suggestions welcome). However, outside there are no walls to bounce on so I'm stuck with leaving the flash on camera, pointed directly at the subject (not brilliant), or shooting with the flash using the extension cable.

I've tried both style before, but I'm kinda just messing about when I use the extension cable outside (pointing it from various sides of the lens, on ETTL). Are there any good tips and tricks for getting decent outdoor event photos in low light?

After digging on the web I found a tutorial that I wanted, and its actually really good!

I've been reading the Strobist blog for a while, but I hadn't gotten this far into it yet. I'm glad I went poking around though!

strobist 102 - 3.2

Strobist 102 - 3.1

I hope you are not the main wedding photographer !

Forget the tripod for people - I can see it now , tripod in one hand, camera in the other - off camera flash on lead in a tangle - dropped gear, red faces

If you are shooting small sensor you will need wider than 28

Flash outdoors

I wouldnt bother with the lead, just learn to balance the flash and ambient nicely (fill flash)

Balancing is done by chaning the ratio of ambient (shutter speed and aperture) light to flash light (aperture only) and messing with the settings on the flash eg TTL -1

Personall I never use TTL - just grab a flash setting like 1/8th

Until you are confident with that dont bother with the lead

And when you get a lead consider how you are going to swap between on camera and the lead - you may need a side mount bracket

Indoors bounce flash is great until the walls are bright blue or yellow or pink

Learn good techinqe for on camera flash indoors..

-keep to the front of the room (no flash shadow)

-drag the shutter a bit (30th) to bring up the ambient compared to the flash*

If you need keepers - get good with on camera flash

If you want to play bounce and off camera is fine

By the way - most flashes are utterly useless for events until they have a quantum turbo powering them


SMM


* and dont bother with rear curtain - worse than the delay on a compact

Thanks!

The event went well. and i was not the main photog. not even close. i played around a litle with the shots, and had a lot of fun doing it. There was basically no chance to use bounce, as the ceilings were far too high in the reception hall. I managed to have some fun using the extension chord, and played with ambient lighting. I had the opportunity to use some interesting diffusers, and i'm pretty sure that will be my next purchase. also i think i'm going to check out some of the deals on ebay, for things like reflectors i hear they are pretty cheap.

- Mike

Indeed bounce flash also doesnt work from high ceilings !

In terms of diffusers I would go for

On the flash

-Stofen omnibounce (good for speed and tiny rooms like one person offices)

Held by self or assistant

-A small lastolite

-A small white brolly (hold it with your left hand and fire your on camera flash into it - see still no lead required)

(good for softening light in environs where bound is not an option)

I hate big stuff attached to the flash - an accident waiting to happen

S

I've come to yet another event I need to cover, a fashion show. After looking at all of the diffusers that I could buy I think I'm going to get a GaryFong LightshpereII Cloudy as I like the soft light it creates. I looked at the sto-fen and I i didn't really like its compact nature... seems like the light wouldn't be as soft... larger apparent source = softer light, right? I also looked at the ABBC but it seems as though it is a bit too directional.

Is that a reasonable argument for spending $50 on a diffuser?

I like the stoffen because it is small

The softness of the light is created because some it goes straight to the subject annd some is bounced onto the subject IF there are nearby walls of ceiling

(typically only a small office)

so the size of the device does not neccesarily equate to the softness of the light unlike with a direct source like a softbox or spot attachement on a studio light

all of theses devices have a very small source size in the scheme of things compared to brollys, softboxes, walls, and reflector boards

personally I would not get the Fong because it looks stupid - but that is purely personal opinion

I use when shooting one flash only I use a a small brolly that I hold behind the camera iim my 'spare hand' or wall bounce

Incedentally I would not be suprised if you can soften the light in a stoffen manner by cutting up a $1 yoghurt pot and taping to the top of the flash

THe stoffen is a pro tool for the right use - the rest toys - and none come close to brollied off camera flash or studio strobes

I assume you are aware of the strobist website which is full of tips

my tip is the Quantum turbo - which makes little flashes go so much further because they become practical with bounce

S