Canon®

SpeedliteSystem

Viaim fieU fruide

2nd Edition

Brian McLernon

WILEY

Wiley Publishing, Inc.

Contents

Introduction xiv

Quick Tour 1

Getting Up and Running Quickly 2

Taking Your First Photos with the Speedlite. .

. 3

CHAPTER 1

Exploring the 580EX II and 430EX II

Speedlites 7

Features of the Canon Speedlite System ....8

580EXII 9

580EX II specifications and features 9

Main components 11

Control buttons and Select dial 16

580EX II accessories 18

430EXII 18

430EX II specifications and features 19

Main components 20

Controi buttons 23

430EX II accessories 25

Other Components of the Speedlite

System 25

270EX 26

OC-E3 Off-Camera Shoe Cord 27

ST-E2 wireless transmitter 28

Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX 29

Macro Ring Lite MR-14EX 32

CHAPTER 2

Setting Up the 580EX II and

430EX II Speedlites 35

Power Requirements 36

Non-rechargeable 36

Rechargeable 36

Flash Modes 38

E-TTL II 38

E-TTL 39

Manual 39

Multi-stroboscopic flash 40

Zoom position 41

580EX II 42

430EX II 42

Auto Zoom Adjustment for APS-C

Sensors 42

Adjusting Flash Exposure Compensation ...43

AF-Assist Beam 45

580EX II 45

430EX II 45

LCD Panel Illumination 46

Custom Functions 46

Setting Custom Functions on the flash... 46

Setting Custom Functions via

the camera 50

Auto Off mode 50

CHAPTER 3

Flash Photography Basics 51

Studio Strobes or Speedlites? 52

Concepts of Lighting 55

Studio lighting 56

Placement 56

Portrait lighting types 58

Mood and drama 61

Lighting patterns 63

Butterfly/Paramount 63

Loop 63

Rembrandt/45 64

Split lighting 64

Modified split/rim lighting 65

Shadowless 66

Using Speedlites for outdoor locations.. .

66

Remembering light theory 68

Setting power output 69

Color Temperature and White Balance 69

What is Kelvin temperature? 70

Choosing the white balance 70

White balance presets 73

Balancing for the ambient light 75

Using Bounce Flash 76

Why and when to use bounce flash 77

Camera and Speecllite settings 78

Explaining Flash Exposure and

Specifications 79

Guide number 80

Aperture 82

Distance 82

Guide number -r Distance = Aperture ...83

Sync speed 83

Second-curtain sync 84

Fill flash 84

CHAPTER 4

Wireless Flash Photography with

the Speedlite System 87

How the Speedlite System Works

Wirelessly with Your Camera 88

Overview of Flash Setup with the

Canon Speedlite System 88

Step 1: Choose a flash mode 89

Step 2: Choose a channel 89

Step 3: Set up groups or slave IDs 90

Step 4: Adjust the flash ratio levels 90

Setting Up Master and Slave Flashes 90

Masters 91

Setting up the 580EX II 91

Setting up the ST-E2 93

Slaves 95

Setting up the 580EX II 96

Setting up the 430EX II 96

Setting Up a Wireless Manual Flash 97

580EX II in Manual mode 98

Setting slaves for manual flash 99

580EX II 99

430EX II 99

Using Wireless Multi-Stroboscopic Flash...

100

Setting Up Channels and Groups

or Slave IDs 101

Channels 101

Groups 101

580EX II 102

430EX II 102

Setting Flash Exposure Compensation ....102

Setting FEC with the 580EX II set to

Master 103

Setting FEC slave flashes 103

580EX II 104

430EX II 104

Using Your Speedlites with

PocketWizards 104

Setting channels 105

Plus II transceivers and MultiMAXes ... 106

CHAPTER 5

Setting Up a Wireless Studio 107

Introduction to the Portable Studio 108

Light Modifiers 109

Reflectors 110

Gels 111

Grids and snoots 112

Diffusers 113

Umbrellas 114

Softboxes 116

Flash-mounted softboxes 117

Stand-mounted softboxes 117

Octabanks 118

Softbox alternatives 119

Backgrounds and Background Stands 121

Seamless paper backdrops 121

Muslin backdrops 122

Canvas backdrops 123

Background stands 123

Space Considerations 124

Setting up for indoor shoots 125

Portraits 125

Small products 126

Setting up for outdoor shoots 126

Traveling with Your Wireless Studio 128

Camera cases and bags 128

Backgrounds and light stands 129

CHAPTER 6

Everyday Applications of Your

Speedlites 131

Action and Sports Photography 132

Preparations and considerations 134

Practical pro advice 138

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Concert and Event Photography . . .140

Preparations and considerations.. . . . . .

140

Practical pro advice. . .

143

Landscape and Travel Photography. .. . . . .145

Preparations and considerations. .. . . . .

145

Practical pro advice. . .

149

Macro and Close-Up Photography ... 153

Preparations and considerations.. .. ...

154

Practical pro advice...

157

Portrait Photography . . .

159

Studio portraits . . .161

Outdoor portraits . .

.163

Night portraits . . .165

Group portraits . . .167

Still-Life and Product Photography ...170

Preparations and considerations.. . . . . .

170

Practical pro advice...

171

Wedding Photography ...174

Preparations and considerations. . . . ...174

Practical pro advice...

175

Wildlife and Pet Photography ... 179

Preparations and considerations..

..

...179

Practical pro advice...

182

APPENDIX A

Posing Basics 183

Refined Posing 185

Positioning the body 186

Positioning the hands and arms 188

Positioning the head and neck 189

Posing Positions to Avoid 193

Planning Poses 194

Casual portrait poses 194

Traditional poses 194

Photojournalistic poses 195

Glamour style 197

APPENDIX B

Rules of Composition 199

Keep It Simple 199

Silhouettes 202

Limiting focus 204

The Rule of Thirds 206

Field of View 208

Leading Lines and S-Curves 210

Symmetry 211

APPENDIX C

Resources 213

Informational Web Sites and Blogs 213

Workshops 214

Online Photography Magazines 216

APPENDIX D

How to Use the Gray Card and

Color Checker 217

The Gray Card 217

The Color Checker 218

Glossary 219

Index 227