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Yup, bounce flash off something, (watch for colour casts though), and use the most advanced TTL the camera will give you.

However, you would probably have lost that reflection because the exposure would have been too high for it.  

This guy is pretty good for on-camera flash technique.

by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Fri Mar 14th, 2008 at 05:16:27 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Actually it would have improved the reflection in the specs. The face bieng tilted down would mean that it was slightly underexposed from recieving less top light, whereas the reflected object would have been a little brighter.

But of course it all depends on the 'raydiosity' of the environment.

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Fri Mar 14th, 2008 at 05:23:37 AM EST
[ Parent ]
I hate, hate, hate indoor on-camera flash. If you don't have umbrellas and soft-boxes, flash is almost useless indoors. It's close to being a point source of front-light, and there are very times when a point source front-light is a good thing.

For something like this I'd probably try bouncing it backwards and using the whole back wall as a diffuser. This confuses metering, so sometimes you have to set the exposure manually.

You can also buy clip-on diffusers which work fairly well and remove some of the hard edges, stark shadows and flattening.

Hand held flash can also work. Close the shutter as far as it goes, open it with a bulb setting for a second or two to add some ambience and movement blur, and manually fire the flash off the back wall.

Buying a crossbar support for the flash to move it off the lens axis also makes a bit of a difference. As a last resort you can use loo paper as a very cheap diffuser, but that's another good way to confuse the exposure metering.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Sat Mar 15th, 2008 at 01:14:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]
She's got a D200 and a SB-600: that metering shouldn't get too confused!
by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Sat Mar 15th, 2008 at 01:16:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]
But yes, direct on-camera flash is the work of the devil almost always.
by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Sat Mar 15th, 2008 at 01:17:44 PM EST
[ Parent ]
TTL? Colour casts?
Will take a proper look at the link when I get a chance, it looks good.

Ad astra per aspera
by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Fri Mar 14th, 2008 at 05:56:01 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Step one: read the manual for your camera and your flash. I never read manuals, but I keep both of those in my camera bag now. The SB-600 is a little less capable than the SB-800, but it's still a complicated little machine.
by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Fri Mar 14th, 2008 at 09:42:07 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Oh, the effort! I also have a good guide to using the D200, including flash settings. I find that manuals are more useful once I've got used to some bits and to how I want to use the camera.  I will have a go at reading through them.

Ad astra per aspera
by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Fri Mar 14th, 2008 at 10:29:41 AM EST
[ Parent ]

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