Canon Speedlite System 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 Diff users 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 tsiiid-i &r$&&uir!t CHAPTER 6 Everyday Applications of Your Speedlites 131 Action and Sports Photography 132 Preparations and considerations 134 138
Concert and Event Photography 140 Preparations and considerations Landscape and Travel Photography Preparations and considerations Macro and Close-Up Photography Preparations and considerations 140 143 145 145 149 153 154 157 Portrait Photography 159 Studio portraits 161 Outdoor portraits 163 Night portraits 165 Group portraits Still-Life and Product Photography Preparations and considerations 167 170 170 171 Wedding Photography 174 Preparations and considerations Wildlife and Pet Photography 174 175 179 Preparations and considerations 179 182 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