I need some help here fellow mpixers, this past weekend I shot some pixs at a wedding, I'm shooting with a Canon 30d with a 580ex flash indoors with low ceilings. I bounced the flash off the ceiling (8 foot) and a lot of my photos came on the dark side. I had a canon  28 - 135 lens attached and I shot in program mode with ISO set to 200. I shoot in raw so I was able to lighten it up before i converted to jpeg. But I am baffled as to why the pics would come out on the dark side in the first place. I recall that I had a similar problem with my canon rebel 300d a few years ago. I would appreciate any help or suggestions for anyone.

 Thanks in advance

Mike

you might post an example or two...

Probably because the ceilings were so low, the light couldn't cover a wide area. ISO 200 is pretty low for shooting indoors, we usually run 400 or so. (The 28-135 isn't a very fast lens anyway, so I'd probably run 800 with it).

Some other possible reasons:

Exposure Comp set to -1 or -2
Flash Exposure Comp set to -1 or -2
Lots of white in your image (bride's dress) - fools the camera into thinking more light is hitting the subject than it really is.

If I had to guess, it was a combination of low ceilings and low ISO. On P mode, the camera won't let it go below 1/60 of a second when using a flash, so the ambient light get very dark. Combine that with low ceilings that limit where the bounced light can reach, and you'll end up with bright subjects and dark backgrounds.

Try turning the camera to Av mode at 5.6 to see how dark it really is. (Watch your shutter speed). 1/60 means the ambient light will blend exactly with the flash (when you switch to P mode), 1/30 means it will be 1 stop darker, 1/15 is 2 stops, 1/8 is 3 stops. Lower than that, it will look almost black. Kick up your ISO to get it to at least 1/8 (preferably 1/15-1/30), and your "P" mode images will look much brighter. (Just don't forget to switch back to P mode, otherwise you risk getting motion blur if you aren't sure of what you're doing in Av mode!)

Hope this helps!

Shan
 

Next time try shooting manual and watch the histogram.

I think The Nerd Husband is dead on. I would say the same thing. A Lightsphere would help in this as well

Thanks everyone for you help and suggestions, I will give them all a try, you all are fantastic.

Mike

Here is a sample, shoot at aperature f3.5  ISO 200 shutter speed 1/60 flash bounce off low ceiling

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This also might help, as different modes on camera are maing the flash do different things.

http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/

Tomas

Thanks Tom, I'll study up.

 

Mike

Invest in a light meter as well.

Thanks for the suggestion, will do. I really appreciate all the great help on this forum, you all are just awesome.

 Thanks again,

MIke

Greg when I tried out you suggestion I see that the exposed comp is set all the way to the left (decreased) but the histogram is right on, does this seem correct? Thanks, I really appreciate all the info I can get from you and the other Mpixers.

Mike 

Greg's suggestion was the following:

Next time try shooting manual and watch the histogram.

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Nikon D200, MB D200, D70
Nikkors: 12-24 f/4, 17-55 f/2.8, 70-200 f/2.8 VR, 105 f/2.8 Micro VR, 18-200 VR, 50 f/1.8
three SB-800s, SC-29

When in manual mode, the meter in the camera doesn't show the compensation, but how it thinks the camera will expose, based on the ambient light. (It's a reflected light meter).

The histogram shows the info of the actual image, including the flash. If the histogram looks good (even from left to right) then you're good. (This obviously is for normal exposures - low key or high key - very dark or very light - images will look different on the histogram).

 Shan

it's not the lens, I use that lens with a 580ex and it works fine in these situations.

concentrate on the flash and its settings, somehow it isn't doing what it is supposed to do.

Thanks Shan that's what I was hoping to hear...you've been a great help.

Thanks Ken, I'll look into that, I appreciate your help...

 

What do you mean by "Expose comp" ?

I read some where that ETTL dose not work well with the flash bouncing off the celling and camera on program mode. I have tested with my canon 10d and 550ex flash set at 1/2 power and with the lightsphere II, camera on manual mode iso 400 and I get 5ft to 8ft f8, 9ft and 10ft f5.6 and 11ft to 15ft f4. The histagram looks pretty good... I shot a party with camera in program mode and 550ex flash in ETTL, direct flash, and I will never do that again...All manual from now on...

 

just my two cents

Tim

Thanks Greg you suggestions are very helpful..

 MIke

Thanks Tim, maybe its time that I start shooting in manual too. You guys have been very helpful and i appreciate all the great info.

Mike