Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/06/11
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Rick Dykstra wrote: > Tell us about your biggest, worst, most enlightening, whatever, > photographic screw up. Hi Rick - my most difficult times are with fill flash during outdoor shoots. I use a Vivitar 285 - everything must be set manually. At the beginning I had the darndest time understanding the concept of fill flash and what setting to use. This meant, of course, that for a number of shoots, there was too much flash, and I would get, "horrors", shadows on the walls, doors, or whatever was the background, or shadows around an arm or something, projected on the person behind. Even now, it takes some thought to make sure the flash is one stop (1/2 on the dial) or 2 stops (1/4 on the dial) below incident light measurement, particularly when there are changing lighting conditions, or you are moving locations. My recommendation would be (and I don't always follow this advice, hence a major potential for screw-ups in the heat of the moment) is to have a routine, which in time should become a habit, such as - meter, change speed, change aperture, change flash setting & set for fill - only then, perhaps after checking a second time, make the shot. Interested in hearing other situations and experiences, thank you Rick for starting this string - Hugh Thompson