I usually shoot vertical bounce with an SB800 (camera is a D80), but when I need to pull back wide or zoom in close at range, I find the light drops chronically short, and I end up with dark shadows in the background and horrible things happening to colour.
Here are some reference shots. These were taken in the evening in one of the buildings (ISO 500-640).
Colour balance isn't good, and you can see the light dropping right off after the front row. Let's turn around and shoot the kids and see what happens.
Pretty horrible. The two nearest kids are slightly overexposed, one or two kids in the middle are probably close to ok, and the rest are in shadow. Rear wall looks dark and grungy.
Same again. Anything past the front row is a gamble. Top right corner is in shadow again. Getting close up, I have a lot more fun.
But that's not a zoom at range, that's physically close. Zooming in at range, I lose light fast.
Now here's the same building in the early afternoon, with plenty of light coming through the windows. These were all ISO 320.
Closeups are fine, even at range.
Background lighting through the windows is a real help.
Now here's the other building (all these were ISO 500-640). Closeups are fine in close physical proximity.
But it's wide and high, and swallows light. The background here just doesn't even get touched by my ceiling bounced SB800.
On sunny days I get a real boost from the natural light, but note the contrast between the brightly illuminated right side and the inadequately lit left hand side, with the left already darkening into shadow.
There are limits to what I can do by simply bumping up the ISO. I prefer to stay inside 640 if possible, and shoot between 320 and 500 by preference. I can do this at range with ISO 320, but not with 800 (it just goes all mushy).
Of course I know one of the problems is that I'm not using fast glass. This is my only lens, which starts at 3.5 and leaps eagerly forward through the f stops as soon as I start to zoom. At present faster glass is not an option, and there's no such thing as a fast 28-200mm or similar zoom unless I spend a lot more money than I have. I am thinking of setting up a pair of SB600s on a tripod thus (those of you who haven't seen Al Jacobs' products before, you have now), each strobe powered by a Tuxedo, and triggered from the on camera SB800. I already use a Tuxedo for my SB800, and I can thoroughly recommend them.
The questions are:
* Where to put them so that they fill out the background without getting in shot?
* Bounce flash, umbrella, or softbox?
* Both pointing the same way, or in two different directions?
* Or should I be doing something else entirely?
Sorry this is a long post, but I've been taking shots in these locations for over a year now and I am increasingly determined to try and get it right since I am not managing them well. I need to overhaul my technique, and I need some advice on how to do that. Thanks for any suggestions.
