fill in flash for canon 20d

hi there,

need some advice on flash use when faced with bright lights that create shadows on face etc

is it possible to use flash installed on the canon 20d to create good results. it's just i have been reading 'photography' by john freeman and he states it could create to much flash.

is it possible to focus on the subject, and set the exposure to 1:2 or 1:4 ratio. so if read f11, we would set for f8 or f5.6???

thanks alot!

It's sort of situation by situation basis. Why not go with the "Hey it's only digital" attitude and fire off a few shots that way and see what results it yields. You may also want to try using some soft of diffuser on it. A cutting from a plastic milk bottle works great. You could also try reflectors or foam back poster board makes a great cheap substitute.

A broad rule of thumb is to go 1 to 1 1/2 stops under for fill in bright/daylight situations. It leaves a lot of room for adjustment because there are a number of creative possibilities with mixing ambient light with flash. It's too big a subject to give one answer that would cover all the possibilities and in the creative sense it opens up a lot of different choices and looks. Remember there is a mixing of color temperatures that also add to the mix with white balance but with digital it's easier to deal with. I had a Sekonic 308b flash meter which I upgraded to the 358 for the added feature of reading and showing ambient and flash balance ratio's. A much more accurate way to play with the balance of the two.

With a hot shoe mounted flash on the 20d you can dial in the compensation you want or need.

Yes, use the flash control and turn the flash power down if it's too strong.
You have to unlock the rear control dial, then press the button on the top of the camera, then dial the flash balance down a stop or perhaps two.
Memory card space is cheap, so you can experiment with all the settings and see which is best later.

There is an interesting article (which is going to continue) in the current issue of EOS magazine that you might try and get a hold of. It covers exactly what you are asking and will cover more in future issues.

They do this all the time, start something, and continue it in the next issue, part of getting you to continue the subscription. A marketing thing I suppose.

I've signed up for it, online, I hope I get that issue as I'm trying to get the 580EX to balance daylight the way I want it to :)
I have to say the 1/250 flash sync speed is annoying, because candid photos of drivers are blurred before/after the flash. A faster electronic flash sync speed would be useful, as I wanted a balance of evening and flash light and not a flash with a dark background - I just couldn't get a fast enogh shutter speed with flash.
At least not with P, Tv or Av.

Paul to balance the flash for the ambient light you need to slow down the speed to something like 1/60th not faster speed as it captures the flash then allows for the ambient light to then be captured as well. Atleast that is my understanding.

I'm sure you will get the current issue, it has only just arrived here for me, but alas it is my last issue as I can't keep the subscription, cost for 4 magazines is around $70Aus ($17.50 an issue) which makes it kind of expensive and I don't have any income anymore so can't pull a rabbit out of a hat either. Although there isn't another magazine with the info in it relative to Canon Products like it, and is only sold online subscription as well, so you don't have much choice either that way.

Hope you like it.

I've heard that's a major complaint with 20d users. My Nikon only sync's to 250 with dedicated speedlights but can sync up to 1/8000 with external strobes. If your 580ex has a sync cord socket you might try connecting it to the pc plug on the 20d. With the flash on manual you would need a meter or do some test shots but it might be a workable solution.

From what I understand from your original post your not just trying to balance ambient with flash but to capture fast moving objects too. That's a juggling act.