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Need some help

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Anonymous

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OK, I know that museum photography is probably not the best place to learn a new camera but it's warm and dry. In Michigan in winter you take what you can get. Anyway, I am having problems with lighting. I shot some pictures last week and I went back again today to see if I could improve on them. I think I accomplished a little improvement but I am stumped on how to get the pictures exactly right. Last week I simply shot everything in full auto with the built in flash. This week I tried the external flash that I bought and was disappointed with the improvement. The one thing I tried that did work out pretty good is the slow-sync flash. Below are three subjects that I shot last week and again today. The top photos are from last week in full auto. The photos below them are the ones that I shot today in "Night Portrait" mode with the external flash. Because of the slow shutter speeds I know I will need a monopod or tripod for better clarity. But what can I do to fill in the dark areas? I mean, besides bring in my own lighting setup?
<image src="http://www.findmall.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10325/carr.jpg">
<image src="http://www.findmall.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10325/e1.jpg">
<image src="http://www.findmall.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10325/e4.jpg">
<image src="http://www.findmall.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10325/e2.jpg">
<image src="http://www.findmall.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10325/c2.jpg">
<image src="http://www.findmall.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10325/e3.jpg">
 
These look great.
Only one photo has a dark background but I can still see detail in the shadows. What's not to like?
Refresh my memory about camera again? What model do you have?
 
My question is about indoor lighting. Specifically, avoiding shadows behind large objects with no walls or ceiling nearby to bounce a flash off of. I have a Canon Digital Rebel with a Canon 420EX external flash. I was pretty disappointed that the external flash didn't do more to illuminate beyond my subjects. It is noticeably stronger than the built in flash but it's obviously not the cure all solution that I had hoped for. So far the two best options I have come up with are using a slow-sync flash ("Night Portrait" scene mode) or simply going with no flash at all. The problem is that both options require a steady support and absolutely no movement by any people in the scene.
So here are my questions. 1) Is there some other tip or trick I can use that doesn't involve carrying around lights and reflectors? I have considered getting a remote flash for behind the subject but due to their size I would probably need several to be effective and that's just not in the budget right now. 2) If I go with no flash I don't want to carry around a tripod as they are rather bulky. I was wondering if a monopod would work at the slow shutter speeds required. Most shutter speeds would be 1/5 sec or slower due some low light sections in the museum. I know that a monopod would be better than a hand hold but will it be good enough for say a full 4 to 8 second exposure? 3) The museum lighting is a mixture of sunlight, tungsten and outright shadows. Most subjects have a mixture of all 3 in the frame. When I shoot without a flash my pictures usually have a "hotspot" of light in them due to the uneven lighting. Can the hotspot be minimized somehow? I was thinking something along the lines of a larger aperture setting or maybe some kind of a filter.
OK, that does it for today. After my first week with the new camera I seem to have more questions than answers. Once I get the museum photography down I'm going to try some portrait photography. I'm sure that will bring on a whole bunch of new questions for you. Thanks in advance for any input you can share.
 
Set the camera to manual mode.
Set your f-stop to about f8 or so.
Set your shutter speed to about a 50th of a second or slower. That always opens up the backgrounds for me. That technique is called "dragging the shutter".
You should be able to hand hold the camera at those shutter speeds. Sometimes I even take the shutter speed slower. Digital cameras are todays Polaroids meaning that you can view your results instantly then make adjustments. Try that technique and let us know what happens.
 
Don't expect a small flash unit to illuminate a large room.
You might buy a few small slave flash units to place around the room to fill in the shadows a bit.
Also, if you're real serious, don't be affraid to use a tripod, or at least a monopod. You might even get a mini tripod and set it up on a table or something..
Hope this helps !
John
 
not at f8 or so......
Try it and tweak it if need be
 
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