Hmm...I have a slight modification to that for my weddings. Commonly ceremonies are during the day, when there is enough light to not really need flash - however, fill flash will help with shadows and the occasional dark shot. So for that, I set the camera to HyperManual/Center weighted (I normally shoot this mode) and set the flash to P-TTL with High Synch. Then set the flash to about -1 to -2 compensation. Then just shoot as if you didn't have the flash on. This puts a catchlight in the eyes, warms up skin tones in the shade and fills dark eye sockets. If you set the compensation correctly, you cannot really tell a flash was used.
Most receptions are later in the day or in a venue where it is darker. For this, the technique Mark describes is about what I do. Set the ISO up to 400, to allow for as much ambient as you can. Set the flash to P-TTL and set the camera to manual. Shutter speed to as slow as you can comfortably hold it still and pick an aperture that works for you - I normally shoot around 5.6 - 8. Just be aware of your meter reading that it doesn't jump to overexposure and you are all set. HTH, Bruce Wednesday, June 6, 2007, 1:41:32 PM, you wrote: MR> Scott Loveless wrote: >>Hey, Mark! You enlightened us over the weekend about using P-TTL flash >>with the camera on "manual". Care to re-enlighten? I'm afraid the >>booze and lack of sleep has purged that memory from the old noggin. MR> You talkin' to me or the other Mark? (You weren't alone with regards to MR> booze and lack of sleep.) MR> Anyway, here's how you do it: MR> Set camera to manual exposure. MR> Attach flash with bounce card. MR> Set flash to P-TTL auto. MR> Set shutter speed the slowest speed you feel safe hand-holding; if MR> you're using a zoom, assume the longest focal length it reaches. MR> Set the aperture a stop or two down from wide open -- there's something MR> of a judgment call here because it depends on the focal length of the MR> lens your using, how much DOF you want and how much ambient light there MR> is. MR> The result of the above procedure should be that the meter in the MR> camera will show underexposure pretty much everywhere you point it (in MR> locations you're going to be shooting the wedding). If it regularly MR> shows more than two stops of underexposure or if it shows overexposure MR> anywhere you'll need to change shutter speed, aperture or ISO. You MR> often have to compromise here... MR> So now you've got a slow shutter speed you can hand-hold, an aperture MR> that gives you the DOF you want and exposure that varies from perfect MR> to "about-two-stops-under" everywhere you're shooting. The P-TTL flash MR> will automatically provide whatever amount of fill is necessary to make MR> the overall exposure good. (Your manual exposure setting shouldn't show MR> overexposure anywhere because, obviously, the flash can't subtract MR> ambient light when there's too much, it can only provide extra light MR> when there's too little.) MR> You can experiment with dialing in a little underexposure to the flash, MR> to see if it suits your equipment setup and/or taste. MR> This setup won't deliver *perfect* results all the time but it will MR> give you very usable results almost all the time. When you're in really MR> dark spots (two stops under on the meter) the flash will be MR> contributing more of the total exposure than you'd ideally like. And MR> when you're in bright areas it will contribute nothing. But you'll MR> almost always get something you can use. This is what you want for MR> weddings because, for most shots, you get only one chance. MR> I learned this technique from a local wedding pro who does high end MR> (*very* expensive) weddings. He shoots mostly PJ style (but with the MR> usual requisite posed shots). He usually works alone unless he's MR> providing video services as well. He does extraordinary work and makes MR> a ton of money doing it. He's won scads of awards, which he refuses to MR> display in his studio: He'll only display prints of his work there. MR> We met when an "Internet Directory Service" tried to scam him and gave MR> me and my web site as a reference even though I had nothing to do with MR> them. He called their bluff by calling me :) I worked a couple of MR> weddings with him to see if I might do some work for him. I decided MR> against getting into wedding photography but I learned a *lot* from the MR> experience. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
