Working on Group Shots

[Iguanasan]

Ok, so I've got my new YN-460 II (http://lightdescription.blogspot.com/2010/02/yongnuo-speedlite-yn460-ii.html) flash unit and I pulled it out of my bag stuck it on top of my camera. Angled it about 45 degrees with the diffuser panel pulled out on top. I was jumping into the shot too. Here's what I ended up with. What do you think?

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[Richard]

nice start Iggy, definitely a step up from the on-board flash. Don't be afraid to bump your iso up when using a flash, sometimes it's good to get the ambient light to fill in. The 45 deg has worked well, there is just some slight shadows on the back wall from the two gentleman on the back row on either side. You can always try pointing your YN460-II up and using the bounce card to push a little light forwards.

[Iguanasan]

Thanks, Richard. Yeah, I've gotta spend a lot of time playing with it. I have a couple of remotes coming which I think are going to open up a lot of possibilities.

[Marko]

Yup decent play here.

For bonus points, next time pull the group 5-10 feet away from the wall and check to see that the wall is free of distractions if possible.

You'll want to try off camera flash asap iggy, that will make this sing louder.

[Iguanasan]

Thanks, Marko. Yeah, I realized as I was processing this that having the wall in focus was stupid. Funny that I didn't think of that at the time.

[Richard]

what trigger set did you go for in the end?

[Iguanasan]

Not sure what you mean by that -- I'm still a noob at flash stuff. I'm pretty sure I had it on full power if that's what you are asking. It was on the hot shoe so that's what triggered the flash.

[Richard]

lol I meant


Thanks, Richard. Yeah, I've gotta spend a lot of time playing with it. I have a couple of remotes coming which I think are going to open up a lot of possibilities.

What remotes did you get??

[Mad Aussie]

Composition and lens choice are the things that stand out most for me. There's a lot of room at the top of frame but your foot is cut off at the bottom. The lens/focal length has created a fair bit of barrelling, Look at the trims on the wall bending and the dude in the blue shirt is about to fall over backwards. 18mm with that lens looks a bit too wide I think.

Space is often an issue I realise, but having the people so close to the wall allows for shadows from the flash, and it extends the depth of field onto the wall creating distractions.

There seems to be a fair bit of good, ambient light here judging by the settings and exposure you attained. Was using a flash even necessary I wonder? Perhaps the flash only needed to be minimal.

[thoughton]

I basically agree with Aussie, the first things I noticed were the off-balance composition (caused by the handsome chap in blue in the bottom left :D), and the rather strong barrel distortion on the lines on the floor and wall.

I also noticed the shadows behind the guys at each end. I think that going for the full 90° angle with the flash would help eliminate that. That way you'd eliminate any direct flash at all (hopefully eradicating those shadows), and rely on the ceiling to diffuse it nicely.

[Iguanasan]

Thanks, guys. Great points which and I will try again next time. In this particular case, it was kind of "Hey, Glenn, do you have your camera? We need a photo." And while the light wasn't horrible from a brightness perspective I wanted to play with my new flash to get used to it. :) I'll try it again next time and see what I can come up with.

One thing is that I need a better remote shutter release. The wireless (infrared) Canon one that I got last Christmas only works on one side of the camera and only gives me 2 seconds before the shot which is why I barely got a chance to slide into that position.

Anyway, thanks for the pointers... I'll keep trying.