I’ve been experimenting with “high speed flash“, using speedlites to ‘freeze’ action such as water
splashes, breaking glasses and the like. During the realization of one of the images of an hourglass running, I noticed that it was *impossible* to freeze the running sand with any flash power setting I could use. I know that’s not possible given the short nature of flash bursts.
The EOS 5D was set in Manual mode at 1/200 f/5.6 ISO 100, using a ST-E2 and a 580 in slave E-TTL mode. I proceeded to check every possible point of problem and I noticed that the H(bolt) switch on the ST-E2 was active. Normally FP flash mode only gets active when the shutter speed of the camera exceeds the X-Sync speed. To eliminate FP as the source of the problem, I switched the H(Bolt) switch off and repeated the experiment with the hourglass. I was surprised to see that the flash was working now as expected and I could obtain an image of the grains of sand in free fall.
I could relate this problem with issues I’ve been having in recent shoots involving wireless speedlites where flash power becomes seriously limited resulting in severely underexposed images, recycle times extremely long and increase battery consumption.
I don’t know whether it’s my camera or a general problem, but if you can try to reproduce it, drop me a line with your findings. (just add a comment here)
| frozen image with FP Flash mode off1/200 f/5.6 / wireless flash 580EX controlled with an ST-E2 | frozen image with FP Flash mode on1/200 f/5.6 (identical conditions than for the previous image, except for the high speed sync button activated on the ST-E2) |
This is a small test I did while walking in the woods. It was a rainy day and the natural light was very soft but totally unidirectional, revealing little structure in this mushroom. A perfect opportunity to try the Ezybox Hotshoe I was carrying with me during the walk.
| Ezybox Hotshoe on the side |
| Direct flash on camera |
| Natural diffused light |
The enhancing effect of the Ezybox on the image is evident. The light is very soft when compared to the bare flash on the camera, while the directionality reveals structure and creates a more three dimensional image of the mushroom.
I held the flash in position improvising with a stick of wood as ‘flash stand’. The flash was a Canon 580EX controlled wireless from the camera with a ST-E2 Wireless controller. The lateral placement of the Ezybox allows the line of sight between the controller on camera and the slaved flash on the Exzybox hotshoe mount.
Few minutes after the Ezybox was packed down and we could continue with the walk before the rain got us.
| This is an image of the setup showing the Ezybox hotshoe clamped down with a piece of wood in the stand socket. A little bit of creativity avoid carrying too much equipment around |
I’m still trying out the possibilities of this practical flash difusser. I’ll keep reporting my findings…
Certainly one critical decision point in any photography is the lens to be used. While it’s actually distance which determines the perspective on a subject, a focal lenght of a lens will allow you to play with that distance to achieve the desired perspective and composition.
This is a small comparison of four focal lenghts on a portrait of Anne Sophie.
Thanks to Anne Sophie for being such a great model!
| 17mm [EF 17-40 f/4L] | 50mm [EF 50mm f/1.8 MK1] |
| 100mm [EF 100 f/2.8 Macro] | 200mm [EF 70-200 f/4 L] |
All images were exposed: 160/f5.6 ISO 200 using the quite unstable natural light (fast passing clouds) combined with a very reliable speedlite 580EX diffused with a portable Lastolite Ezybox
A new feature in the latests EOS Digital SLR’s. The Picture Styles allows you to tune the response of the sensor for specifical rendition of tonalities. It’s the digital equivalent of choosing different films like de saturated Velvia or the subtle Portra.
| Standard | Neutral | Portrait |
We wash our hands many times a day, but how many times we realize how the water moves, splashes and flows around? Our daily life is full of wonders and details that we so often overlook.
The movement of the water on this pic was captured using flash to ‘freeze’ the action. The flash was positioned behind the hand to offer back light, both increasing the visual impact of the image and allowing to use as few flash power as possible to obtain the fastest response. I’ll be explaining this technique in more detail in the future.
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EOS 5D + EF 100f/2.8 Macro. Speedlite 580EX flash in wireless ETTL mode, controlled by a ST-E2 on the camera.
Backlight picture of a freshly steamed Broccoli on a spoon. Taken with an 580EX speedlite on a masked Ezybox softbox behind the spoon. The camera (EOS 5D) was set on manual mode with an EF100/f2.8 Macro lens and attached with an ST-E2 wireless flash controller to command the off-camera flash in E-TTL.