# Got Bit Tonight



## kdthomas (Apr 12, 2015)

Went to do a prom-night shoot for a friend of mine. Get to their house ... and the speedlight doesn't work. I have the thing in Aperture-Priority mode, just like I'm supposed to! Flash set on TTL. Still getting shutter times of 2 and 3 seconds. WTF WTF WTF WTF???!!! I got frustrated, boiling mad because I'M MISSING MOMENTS WE ONLY HAVE 15 MINUTES LEFT UNTIL WE HAVE TO DRIVE SOMEPLACE ELSE AND EVERYTHING IS GOING TO SH*T!!!!

I managed to only barely show it externally, but it really affected my energy. I want out of here. How can I leave? How can I make my phone ring so that I can pretend like the Prime Minister of Japan wants me to come right away and do a portrait?

What the hell is wrong with this thing? Ya just snap the GD thing on and go, right? Can't consult the web on the phone, OH H*LL F***ING NO! Everything is web 2.0 and takes a full minute only to find out that it's the wrong information, and an ad covers the content and you can't click it.

Screw it ... switch to manual and just diddle with the GD flash. Sure we have to take 5 shots when we should only take one but what the heck. Then the flash quits WORKING. IT QUITS WORKING. Now I have to use available light at ISO 36,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 just to barely make out a grainy noisy image that looks like old TV footage from the apollo moon landing.

Long story short it wound up being okay, got some halfway decent stuff, the parents are pleased as they can be, dad's texted like thee times thanking me and telling me how great I am (I'm not) ... I'm starting to think he wants to have my baby.

Many mistakes on this gig:
-- Not having PAPER manuals with me.
-- Not checking out, and making a practice run with, the gear beforehand.
-- Fake expectations of how easy it would be, not anticipating failures.
-- Trying to pack too much into a shoot with out know how much time we have.

As it turns out:
To TTL autoboogie the speedlight for aperture and ISO, you have to be in Aperture Priority mode, and set to front-curtain sync, and have the speedlight set to TTL. Then the shutter speed will set itself fixed to between 1/60 and 1/250 and adjust only the flash power for exposure.

The reason the flash turned off was that instead of holding the flash button and turning the front dial dial to set flash compensation, I turned the rear dial, and turned the flash OFF. At some point I also turned it off of front-curtain sync and therefore was getting the long-exposure BS.

What I'm doing tonight is to avoid having this same problem again is by making index cards of all the settings I need to check for doing events. And having checklists for when sh*t isn't working, so that I can go through the menus & settings to make sure I've haven't botched anything.

I think the first two lists I'll make are
1) All settings from factory default, (e.g. Active d-lighting off, vignette control off, daylight color balance, neutral or standard picture control, RAW mode, etc. etc).
2) Settings to make the flash work right for auto-boogie TTL

would anyone care to share the lists they have so that I have a better chance of not missing anything?

Thanks for listening to my rant  I'm allllllll better now.


----------



## Derrel (Apr 12, 2015)

kdthomas said:
			
		

> would anyone care to share the lists they have so that I have a better chance of not missing anything?



Wow, I have never had anything even remotely close to that happen to me in 40 years of shooting flash photos. Huh...I guess that is one of the risks of using highly-configurable equipment, and not actually checking it out before a shoot. Such an event would have been literally IMPOSSIBLE with a Nikon FM and a Sunpak 383 or Vivitar 285. Literally-*-im-poss-ible. *(I counted 163 control options on my pro Nikon body's multiple menus a few months back-NOT considering the flash unit's options,so...yeah,modern gear...hoooo boyyyy...)

My list begins this way:
1)Shoot ALL flash pictures in M mode. All of them. All the time. Everywhere. With speedlights, studio light, or studio flash and SU-4 slaved Nikon flash as accent light.  So, to start with the camera is set to M mode. I have done it this way since I was 12 years old. I am 52 now.
2) Pick a camera ISO speed. Somewhere between ISO 100 and 800, to start.
3)Pick a preferred flash aperture, and set that f/stop.
4)Set the flash to either TTL mode or A mode, and if in A mode, set the aperture so it matches the one I want to use. at times, I will use fractional manual power, but this is almost always when using flash as fill _in semi-static setups_, usually at 1/4 or 1/8 power.
5) Load new batteries before every important shoot, and carry a spare set of 5. I use the "fifth battery compartment" accessory Nikon makes.
6)Shoot a few test frames, just to confirm the white balance is correct, and not crazy, and that the flash WILL FIRE and has not been dropped or broken, and that there ARE memory cards in the camera.
7)decide after reviewing flash shots if the shutter speed/ISO/f-stop is appropriate. Indoors in dim light if I want to drag the shutter, I can set it slow. Otherwise, I like 1/200 second most of the time.


----------



## sm4him (Apr 12, 2015)

As far as a prep list-- ^what Derrel said.

While I've not had anything like that happen, at least not to that degree, flash still confounds me enough that I do have to do a lot of fiddling and testing the day before a shoot to make sure I'm comfortable with doing whatever I may need the flash for.

One thing that stood out to me in your comments though--I would NOT take paper manuals to a shoot with me. Not even if it's a shoot I'm doing for free. There is very little that could make you look more unprofessional than having to stop and consult a manual, and the PERCEPTION of your skill level can also affect how people feel about the resulting photos.  They see someone looking at a manual, they assume you don't have a clue what you're doing and they evaluate your photos from that basis.
Even if you have trouble with the flash and end up having to ditch it an use natural light--that can look more like an equipment problem, ,"BOY, I don't what is wrong with this thing today!" and you still look like a professional who can adapt and keep shooting.


----------



## gsgary (Apr 12, 2015)

Are you getting paid for theses shoots ? You know how your gear works without manuals


----------



## kdthomas (Apr 12, 2015)

gsgary said:


> Are you getting paid for theses shoots ? You know how your gear works without manuals



No these are freebies for practice... And I did use the built in  flash a couple times w notebook paper as diffuser ... Ugh!


----------



## Gary A. (Apr 12, 2015)

I hate flash.


----------



## kdthomas (Apr 12, 2015)

Derrel said:


> My list begins this way:



Dang it! 

Yep ... Confirmed TTL works in manual mode, even with changing apertures etc just like in aperture priority mode. Set the shutter at 1/125 and wandered around the house, snapping things. If I attempted to overpower the flash with too tight aperture got a blinky light on the back of the speedlight and then I could bump up the ISO and was good. 

Coulda sworn this was not the case in M mode. 

As the folks from India say: "lessons are repeated until they are learned"


----------



## kdthomas (Apr 12, 2015)

I did wind up getting this though:


----------



## tirediron (Apr 12, 2015)

On the upside... I'll bet you don't make ANY of those mistakes again.  My only thought on that (besides, "Wow, that sucks!") is don't get caught up in manuals.  Know what you need to do and how you need to do it cold beforehand.  If you have to start diving into a paper manual partway though a shoot, not only are you going to lose precious moments, but also, likely the client's confidence.


----------



## Derrel (Apr 12, 2015)

You got a good shot of the kid and his parents smooching on him! That will be a treasured family photo. It's a nice composition, great use of the entire picture area, and a gorgeous B&W rendering


----------



## pixmedic (Apr 12, 2015)

This is why we bring 2 cameras and tons of flashes to every job. We just did portraits and I grabbed one camera and it wouldn't AF for some reason. I didn't even mess with it, just grabbed the second camera and it worked fine.  Two flashes wouldn't test fire, checked batteries and nothing.  Just grabbed two more flashes, put in the same batteries, and they worked fine. Clients don't want or need to see us having equipment problems so I don't spend any time trying to diagnose issues, I just grab another of whatever I need and go.
I deal with the equipment issues when I get home.


----------



## Derrel (Apr 12, 2015)

D3X0537 was Aperture priority auto mode: flash set to AA mode, f/8. Lens set to f/8, ISO 250.
D3X0538 was Aperture Priority auto mode: Manual flash control at 1/4 power, lens set to f/8, ISO 250.

D380539 was Manual shutter mode: flash set to Manual 1/4 power: shutter set to 1/60 second, f/8, ISO 250.
D3X0540 was Manual shutter mode: flash set to Manual 1/4 power: shutter set to 1/250 second, f/8, ISO 250.

D3X0542 was Manual shutter mode: flash set to TTL BL FP mode: shutter set to 1/250 second, f/8, ISO 250.
D3X0543 was Manual shutter mode: flash set to TTL BL FP mode: shutter set to 1/60 second, f/8, ISO 250.
D3X0544 was Manual shutter mode: flash set to TTL BL FP mode: shutter set to 1/8 second, f/8, ISO 250.
These are the left three in the bottom row: these have the darkest wall coloring, and are VERY close to what the actual light level was in the room, which had no lights on anywhere. This is the TTL BL FP mode, in which the BL stands for "Balanced Lighting". As you can see, 1/250,1/60,and 1/8 achieived about the same wall density.

D3X0545 was Manual shutter mode: flash set to TTL-FP mode: shutter set to 1/250 second, f/8, ISO 250.


----------



## Overread (Apr 12, 2015)

Whenever I shoot where flash is dominant I go into manual mode too. I will tell the camera the aperture and shutter speed and ISO because I know that the flash light is going to come and provide additional light that the cameras built-in meter has no idea of when it meters for the light. Thus semi-auto modes like aperture priority, are of limited use because the cameras always going to keep trying to expose for the ambient light only. 

The times I use flash in semi-auto mode is when its fill-light - and thus only lifting the shadows and the majority of the light for the exposure is coming from the ambient. 



As for learning  they say that to learn is to do; but I would say that its best to split "working" and "learning" as much as possible. Certainly for what sounds like your level where you're still using the manuals I'd put aside work (yes even if its friend stuff and not "real" work). If you're working for others in any capacity then you get a level of stress - that will end up causing you way more trouble and the stuff you read in the manual just before will be long forgotten when you are in the moment. 
You need a more relaxed situation - one where you can break out the manual to double check (and not have o be worried about giving a bad impression) to be free to take your time and re-shoot or try different angles or just mess around with the settings without annoying others (for learning flash a chair and stuffed toy are ideal props to play around with that won't get bored).


----------



## vintagesnaps (Apr 12, 2015)

Glad you felt better after getting that off your chest. It sounds like you need a lot more practice so you know what to do in a variety of situations. I think it helps to be at the point where you don't have to think about your camera/equipment, that it becomes second nature to know what to do.

I've done sports and events, things happen too quickly to have time to stop and look up settings. It took me lots and lots of practice at games and practices where I could go and they didn't care if I would hang out and watch and take pictures. I could just about shoot hockey in my sleep, it gets automatic after awhile.

And have backup.


----------

