Exposure problem with my Nifty...

[hsmoscout]

Is it just me or do the highlights in these pics seem a little blown out?





I have a problem. These pics were taken at about f/2.8, ISO 100, 1/500 exposure time with my 50mm f/1.8 and my 430EX II Speedlight bounced off the ceiling. It is too dark to use no flash, but when I do use flash at such a large aperture, it makes my pics REALLY bright. I can do one of two things, or a combination of both. I can shoot at a really high shutter speed (what I did) or make the aperture smaller. The problem with making the aperture smaller is that it will ruin the effect of having such a shallow DOF and I might as well use my kit lens. Is raising the shutter speed the best way to compensate?

 

[ChromeScholar]

Truthfully, on my monitor, the highlights look fine. They do not appear to be blown out. However, If you want to keep the shallow DOF, then your only real choice is to use a faster shutter speed, or drop to a slower ISO, if you camera has it. Does your camera do ISO 80?

 

[Marlene]

Look good to me.

 

[hsmoscout]

Does your camera do ISO 80?

Nope. Maybe I am just not use to taking pics that are that bright without it being washed out in some places while using flash?

 

[ba-b4]

You can up the shutter speed or you can lower the power of the flash. You can also get a similar effect by using a telephoto lens and zooming in to the subject from further away. That will give you two ways in which you won't over expose that is smaller aperture with the telephoto lens and the flash will also be further away from the subject.

 

[hsmoscout]

You can up the shutter speed or you can lower the power of the flash. You can also get a similar effect by using a telephoto lens and zooming in to the subject from further away. That will give you two ways in which you won't over expose that is smaller aperture with the telephoto lens and the flash will also be further away from the subject.

How do I lower the flash power? And using a telephoto would completely destroy the point of using a f/1.8 lens.

 

[BamaBirdMom]

Your details on your subject are fine. I opened the first image in PS and the only place I can see that is close to being blown is the ladder railing, and that is only the reds in PS. So, no, your exposure is fine. I would, however, tweak the white balance. They are still very warm. How are you setting your WB? If you shoot RAW, you can adjust it in your editing program.

 

[hsmoscout]

Your details on your subject are fine. I opened the first image in PS and the only place I can see that is close to being blown is the ladder railing, and that is only the reds in PS. So, no, your exposure is fine. I would, however, tweak the white balance. They are still very warm. How are you setting your WB? If you shoot RAW, you can adjust it in your editing program.

It is always on flash unless I shoot without the flash.

 

[ba-b4]

How do I lower the flash power? And using a telephoto would completely destroy the point of using a f/1.8 lens.

You will want to use a 1.8 lens for 2 reasons. One is to obtain a shallow depth of focus and the other is for low natural light shooting. First of all if you're using flash you don't really need the 1.8 aperture because you're not using it in low natural light. The other purpose shallow depth of focus. With a 1.8 lens but the effect of a blurred background may be good to make the subject "pop out" but this effect can also be replicated with a telephoto zoom lens. The quality of the effect depends on the distance between the subject and the background you have and how far away you are. It's an alternative to getting the same effect.

http://www.slrphotographyguide.com/blog/how-to-photograph/flowers-background-blur.html

As for the other method I mentioned I'm guessing you're using the flash on full automatic TTL. Just take the flash out of TTL and into manual and adjust the light accordingly. You can read the manual of the flash to show you how to do this. The other way is to experiment with bounce cards and various other diffusers. Even a piece of kleenex tissue over the flash will work. Or how about this cheap soft box tip. Get a white plastic grocery bag blow it up as much as you can then quickly wrap it around the flash head and tape it tight. This will kind of look like a white plastic ugly balloon but the effect is like a cheapo makeshift soft box.