Life Through the Lens

How to Use Auto Flash Mode

Thanks to Mark Wallace, I’ve been seeing a lot of workshop/web tutorials about this little known feature on some high end flashes.  Of course, if you started out in photography when I did, that was the only option besides manual control of flash.  None of this fancy E/i-TTL stuff.  The advantage of this is that you have a mode between line of sight TTL optical triggering and full manual radio triggering.  You can use a dumb radio trigger (ebay/Cybersyncs/Pocketwizard Plus II/III) and yet still have some automatic light control when flash to subject distance changes, all without two way communication between body and flash.

Basically, there’s a little light sensor built into the front of the flash.  Nikon (top of the line at their time) SB-28, SB-80DX, SB-800, SB-900/910, etc have them and the Canon 580 EXII has one.  I’ve got several Nikon SB-28s that I use for off camera flash stuff, so this example shows how to use it on an SB-28.

 

When you set the flash mode to “A” it will give you distance guide (similar to Manual mode).  When you first turn on the flash you have to set the ISO, it will blink for about ~5 secs when powered up.  This is the only time you can change it.  Once ISO is set, you can use the +/- buttons to select the Aperture you want to use.  The distance range that the flash can adjust itself will change as you can see below.  Zooming will also change those distance values.  However, once you rotate or bounce the head the distance guide indicators will disappear.

 

The sensor will not work when it is blocked by anything, so you are pretty limited to using it bare, or a limited number of modifiers that allow the light sensor to see light bouncing back from the subject.  I’ve got a Lastolite Umbrellabox that fits the bill perfectly, but most reflective umbrellas should work too.  You need to leave the sensor exposed and facing the subject while the flash head is pointed where necessary.

 

Here’s some test shots with it, I moved the light up and further away, yet it was still able to maintain similar, if not exactly the same, exposure without any intervention from me.  The exposure at the camera was the same in both shots, 1/200 F4.0 ISO200.

 

I’ll have to experiment with this on some portraits to see how well it work, but the results are promising so far.

Wildflower Shoot

In actuality, I didn’t actually photograph any wildflowers, but there were some in the photos.  Signed up for another Meetup.com photo shoot last weekend and the theme was wildflowers.  The organizers got a couple models and I asked my friend Alexandra if she wanted to come…since inevitably, the models will flake, and only 2 of the 4 showed. We even wrangled the Make Up Artist into doing a little modeling. Unfortunately the time of day for the shoot was probably the worst…10am-Noon.  But I was able to prepare for it with some portable lighting, as well as having actual models, it made it practical to use bare strobes to combat the bright ambient conditions.

Nensi’s Birthday

Last weekend I drove down to San Diego after work to hang out for Nensi’s 32nd birthday party / Cinco de May.  It was a crazy time, the girls had gone wild…so did the mustache.  But it was all in good fun.

80’s Glam Rock Photo Shoot

My friend Moo and I setup a Photography Meetup to do an off camera flash shoot.  The intent was to use speedlites (small flashes normally used on camera) in creative ways off camera.  Unfortunately we didn’t have a location or models until about a month before the shoot date. Fortunately my friend Alexandra was a model and had some friends that wanted to get involved.  I let her style the shoot, and she decided to do an 80’s glam rock theme.  That sounded cool to me since I love Whitesnake.  We had a fairly poor turn out, only 3 people of the 18 RSVP’d (beside the models, Moo, and I) showed up...too bad for them.  But that made for a better shoot.  We tried to rotate through models and get as many people behind the camera as possible.  We even had random people come up and take camera phone pics of the girls asking if they were celebrities. I think it was fun for everyone…although I was pretty busy creating all the lighting setups.  The images that I did get to shoot turned out fantastic.

 

Sarah

 

Tamira

 

Alexandra

 

Here’s a little behind the scenes action…

Michelle and Mike Engagement Shoot

I agreed to help a friend do an engagement shoot for her friends at San Pedro Park.  Unfortunately, the weather conditions weren’t the best.  Wind gusts up to 30mph hampered the use of reflectors and pretty much another other lighting modifiers. But we were able to find a sheltered side of a hill that we could hide from the wind.  We were to get some better shots in the fading sunlight as well.

We're NOT Young (Parody)

Ali & Dave’s Wedding in Dallas

Last weekend I flew out to Dallas to see a bunch of my Texas peeps and to attend Ali and Dave’s wedding.  Through some miscommunication, I ended up staying at the hotel with the parents.  But it was no big deal as I do enjoy hanging out with the older folk.  I had spent much of the first day hanging with Ryan and Nicole, so I didn’t need to kick it in to serious drinking mode with the “kids” at the downtown hotel.

Ryan had won a Crossfit challenge against Nicole’s brother, and as a reward for the winner got a free dinner at Fogo de Chao, a Brazilian churrascaria.  I went with them and ate such an enormous amount of deliciously cooked meat, I never want to eat meat again.

 

The next day I went to the Dallas Farmer’s Market with Dave’s parents and extended family.  We walked around looked at the awesome produce…then chowed down on some burnt ends from the Pecan Lodge.  I also had a taste of Butter Cake. Although some people didn’t really need to eat any.  You can see all 240 photos here.

 

When we got back, it was time for the boys to get ready, then head for the church.

 

When we got to the church I was asked to do some video recording of the ceremony.  I’m no cinematographer, and using someone else’s camera on a not so great tripod probably produced some “decent” video.  But I did the best that I could.  Even with the photographers telling me that I couldn’t be on up on the balcony and trouncing around shaking the floor constantly.  I did manage some nice photos before and afterwards.

 

Then is off to the reception, where things really got out of hand…with partying!

Time for the After Party at the Iron Cactus.  Unbeknownst to us, Ali and Dave foot the drinks bill…up to a certain amount.  Guess we ran through that Captain Morgan Freeman pretty quick.

 

Sunday, I met up with Yama, Justin, and Megan (before they headed back to San Angelo) for lunch at a Vietnamese place.  We had springrolls and Pho.  Good stuff.  After that me and Yama met up with Nicole and Ryan at the Ft. Worth Art Festival to check out some crazy art.

Long Beach Grand Prix

We got hooked up with free tickets to the LB Grand Prix (w/Hospitality), but was told it was going to be on Saturday.  I had made plans to go to the Renaissance Faire on Sunday, but when I went to pick up the tickets, they were for the big race on Sunday.  Being an someone that doesn’t re-neg on my commitments (and since I actually paid for a ticket to the fair) I decided that I had to try and make both.  I made it to the GP after the big race, but met up with some of the guys at work.  I enjoyed a beer and some cupcakes (all that was left at the hospitality tent) then went to watch the Pirelli World Challenge race and root for the Kias from Team Kinetic.

 

Renaissance Faire

Went to second photography meetup ever in California.  The group met up at the Renaissance Faire in Irwindale.  Unfortunately, only 4 of us showed up (that we saw, a couple stragglers were at the faire, but we never ran into them).  It was good times, and definitely more “Hollywood” than most Renaissance fairs that I’ve been to.  Everyone stayed in character.  Except for one viking asking about the Lakers game…LOL.

Easter Weekend in San Diego

Went down to San Diego last weekend to hang out and with friends and finally meet the Editors of JEMS magazine (that I did all the EMS photos for).  They invited me out to lunch and gave me a tour of the offices.  It was definitely cool to finally put a face to the names.  I also got to pick up the special edition Monopoly boards that have my photos on them!  How cool is that?  All the photos can be seen here.

 

Close ups of the MCHD ladies.

 

I had some time to kill, so I drove up to Mt. Soledad in La Jolla to check out the 360 view of San Diego.

Then I headed down to Children’s Pool to check out the seals that were chilling on the rocks.

I also did some photography tutorials, Marc and Nensi both got personal lessons.  Went out to Hillcrest with Marc to photograph the Iconic sign, it was the first time in a long time that I had done any night photography. After talking with a random guy on the street, we got offered to get on the roof of a building to get a more unique view on the sign. Turns out he owned the store that we were shooting in front of.

 

Took some portraits of Lia, then headed out to the USS Midway and Seaport Village to take some photos.  Lia had some diaper issues then she got all fussy.

 

Then on Sunday Nensi and Mark (Webber, but not the F1 Driver) hosted Easter Brunch at their place. Rest of the photos can be seen here.

 

Went to Coronado and walked around the Hotel Del for Nensi’s photography tutorial. I think I’ve finally convinced her to shoot RAW!

 

Before I left, we headed out for dinner at Hodad’s in Ocean Beach.  The place was featured on Diner’s Drive-in and Dives.  The burgers were off the hook!

 

Of course, no trip to the beach would be complete without some night portraits.  I just happen to have my umbrella and a lightstand with me…never leave home without them