How to take pictures with flash on CAnon DSLR in room wih high wood ceilings?

Yes, you should be using a softbox/diffuser/deflector if you need flash. Depending on the intended shot and time of day, you also have a large amount of natural light to work with to your advantage.

goofball wrote: ↑ Yes, you should be using a softbox/diffuser/deflector if you need flash. Depending on the intended shot and time of day, you also have a large amount of natural light to work with to your advantage.

something like one of these? and it will be shot at night in that room. by the looks of it, will only be lit by chandilers


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https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/ ... Canon.html

The bigger the diffuser, the more spread out the light will be. Those will work, and I have used them in various situations but because of how small they are, the light can be harsh at times. You'll need to really practice to understand the diffusion angle and strength of the light at those angles.

goofball wrote: ↑ The bigger the diffuser, the more spread out the light will be. Those will work, and I have used them in various situations but because of how small they are, the light can be harsh at times. You'll need to really practice to understand the diffusion angle and strength of the light at those angles.

those are the 2 i just got. i havent tested them yet. got a wedding tonight to test one out on. im just a guest so shooting pictures for fun in that room, but i dont want half of them to turn out bad you know?

the lumiquest box is bigger then the stofen, so i assume u would recomend that to try first?

i normally bounce light off a wall but the ceiling is to higha dn dark. maybe i could try off a wall if im close to it.

thatsnazzyiphoneguy wrote: ↑ those are the 2 i just got. i havent tested them yet. got a wedding tonight to test one out on. im just a guest so shooting pictures for fun in that room, but i dont want half of them to turn out bad you know?

the lumiquest box is bigger then the stofen, so i assume u would recomend that to try first?

i normally bounce light off a wall but the ceiling is to higha dn dark. maybe i could try off a wall if im close to it.

I would try them both if you can pack both. There are plenty of opportunities for you to test prior to the event.
I wouldn't expect the light to bounce straight off the ceiling, most of it looks sloped. The concentration of light may not be what you expect if you try.
Off a side wall, you do have to watch for a tint if the wall isn't that white but if you shoot RAW, you can adjust the white balance to help, or go black and white.

What you need to do is use Liveview so you can dial in the appropriate custom white balance for the ambient light and see it matching what your eyes see as you turn the dial to the right spot (you won't be shooting in LV).

You then need to apply a CTO gel over your flash so that as well matches the ambient light. A flash emits a white daylight balanced light and dinner rooms are often not the same light (usually on the incandescent side).

First try bouncing off the ceiling with a flashbender of some sort, you may need to pick a different CTO to account for the colour cast.

If you are not getting enough subject exposure because the ceiling is too high or dark, you will need to bounce off an opaque white lightsphere or that Lumiquest and hopefully the forward spill will do it.

Do not use that omnibounce, it just reduces the power of your flash and nothing else. You would also never point the flash forward, it's a harsh ugly look. The whole idea is to somehow bounce a soft forward light, one that matches the ambient light and it will make your post processing much easier.

In Lightroom, you can then globally fine tune WB, bump up the exposure and shadows if it's not bright enough, add some noise reduction, and reverse radial filter people's faces and bodies if they didn't get enough exposure. Then apply your own style with the other sliders (amount of contrast, saturation etc). Shoot RAW of course.

From a professional standpoint, what I also like to do is to setup light stands at the back for separation/rim lighting, which sometimes adds a nice flare from the back if it's not hidden by the subject.
And one at an angle pointing at the podium during speeches (remember that light looks natural angling downward when positioning it), then the light is consistent no matter where I move and lens I use.

Those are off camera so can be directional. I usually bring several 600's, Magmods, CTO's and a bag of batteries to weddings. Never rely on one flash even if you're only shooting on-camera.

thatsnazzyiphoneguy wrote: ↑ i was wondering if i should use a soft box or a stoffen thing on my external canon flash for a room thats like this: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/ ... Floor+Plan

A stofen is 100% useless outside( I can't believe how many times I've seen photographers using them outside...)and not very usable in conditions where it can't be bounced off something. It may be of some use in the room as it's not too bad, but depending on the settings and angle, you may be getting shadow/light lines. Get a large diffuser instead of stofen as it will work better