Problems with Flash?

ArmittageShank

Hi guys,

Hoping somebody can help me with a problem im having.

Everytime I take a picture my camera flashes three times before it takes the picture, its really annoying as I started working as a photographer in a nightclub and after the first flash people move away.:eek:


(Tryed some googling but keep getting ads)

frozenfrozen

your autofocus is using the flashes. Set autofocus off, use a larger aperature, then try manually focus then snap the shot

ArmittageShank

Thanks for the reply, I can't manual focus its very dark in this place I need to use auto.

Corkbah

ArmittageShank wrote: »

Hi guys,

Hoping somebody can help me with a problem im having.

Everytime I take a picture my camera flashes three times before it takes the picture, its really annoying as I started working as a photographer in a nightclub and after the first flash people move away.


(Tryed some googling but keep getting ads)

ArmittageShank wrote: »

Thanks for the reply, I can't manual focus its very dark in this place I need to use auto.

How much experience do you actually have as a paid photographer ?
how much experience do you have as a photographer ?
What camera gear are you using ?
Do you have an external flash or are you using the built in flash ? Does the camera have a built in flash ?

I don't mean to be rude - but it will sound like it when I continue this sentence - WHY take on a paid job when you don't know how to do the job ? How can you NOT manual focus ?

Gregor Samsa

What flash are you using? And what camera? There are flashes you can get that use a red autofocus light that enables the camera to focus in complete darkness without scaring away clubbers.

AnCatDubh

also, check is red eye reduction on. That'll fire the flash before the flash/shutter release though more likely to be AF assist though i'd have thought AF assist would fire way more than 3 flashes

AnCatDubh

Corkbah wrote: »

How much experience do you actually have as a paid photographer ?
how much experience do you have as a photographer ?
What camera gear are you using ?
Do you have an external flash or are you using the built in flash ? Does the camera have a built in flash ?

I don't mean to be rude - but it will sound like it when I continue this sentence - WHY take on a paid job when you don't know how to do the job ? How can you NOT manual focus ?

Can we not just be happy for once that someone is taking photographs and try help them out? This forum is supposed to be about helping people out. It owes nothing to any status of any poster who comes here - amateur, professional, semi professional, whatever. You know..... someone posts something, and someone else tries to be helpful to their situation. Yeah, you can argue that telling them they're in the wrong business is the best advice that they can give but I doubt that that is what they were seeking...

*sigh*

Corkbah

I asked a few questions to try to get more information and posted my opinion - nothing wrong with that ...is there?

I wanted to find out more information about the camera/flash setup and the level of knowledge the person has before calculating a response.

I can be happy that others are taking photo's and am willing to help - but someone taking on a paid job without adequate knowledge/experience is exactly why professional photographers are loosing (or have lost) all credibility.

(I know this is a debate for another thread but ..... there are people who simply buy a camera and claim to be a professional photographer simply because they dont have another job and have purchased a camera with redundancy money - they and people who work a full-time job and take on paid weekend work or do photography nixers are ruining the industry)

** you may think that I'm just against new people in the industry but I'm not - if they take their time and learn the craft first instead of trying to do jobs without knowledge - instead they do the job (sometimes) fail and ruin the reputation of others.**

EDIT: I'd also like to add that this is the OP's first post(s) ... (s)he is getting paid to do a job and yet he/she doesn't know how to manually focus in the dark or how to take photo's in a dimly lit room.

swingking

Corkbah wrote: »

How much experience do you actually have as a paid photographer ?
how much experience do you have as a photographer ?
What camera gear are you using ?
Do you have an external flash or are you using the built in flash ? Does the camera have a built in flash ?

I don't mean to be rude - but it will sound like it when I continue this sentence - WHY take on a paid job when you don't know how to do the job ? How can you NOT manual focus ?

Its these sort of replies that have turned me off coming to the photography forum and I'm a long time on here. All he asked was a question. He didn't want a criticism of his skills or job

ronanc15

Corkbah wrote: »

they and people who work a full-time job and take on paid weekend work or do photography nixers are ruining the industry)

Sooo just to clarify, if someone hasn't got enough work from their photography career to provide a full-time income and they make a business decision to do it on a part time basis they are "ruining the industry?" :eek:

What a load of ****e.

Leftyflip

Corkbah wrote: »

people who work a full-time job and take on paid weekend work or do photography nixers are ruining the industry

I apologise for straying off the topic, but this has píssed on my proverbial chips.

Corkbah, I take it from your posts that you are a professional photograher? If you are, and if you don't mind my asking - how did you start? Did you spend all your time learning and experimenting and then just go straight into full time photography? I'd be highly surprised if you did.

What I can't understand is, how doing part time photography work is going to ruin the industry, does that mean that if I want to go professional, I have to save up a years wages or so and then stop working altogether until I start getting enough bookings to justify full time work in photography?
Now if the photographer is absolutely brutal and doesn't understand the concepts, post-processing and charges silly money for it, that's different, but your post basically implies that the really good photographers who nixers or weekend work are also ruining the industry.

Your posts make my brain hurt, hopefully you're nicer in real life compared to this.

Corkbah

Leftyflip wrote: »

I apologise for straying off the topic, but this has píssed on my proverbial chips.

Corkbah, I take it from your posts that you are a professional photograher? If you are, and if you don't mind my asking - how did you start? Did you spend all your time learning and experimenting and then just go straight into full time photography? I'd be highly surprised if you did.

Your posts make my brain hurt, hopefully you're nicer in real life compared to this.

Spent about 4years learning while in college (reading/experimenting - using FILM...remember that stuff !!)
- I read books - hundreds of books over the years !! many with the same information, tried techniques, tested the limits of my camera, learned how my camera reacted to different settings in different lights, learned how using a different roll of film could produce a different setting, I attended meetings in my camera club, I assisted and learned from other photographers.

ALL BEFORE EARNING MONEY !! - once college was finished I got a job with an agency and have been working for the agency for years and years and dont intend on stopping now - I've seen youngfellas (and girls) come and go through the agency because they are all to eager to know everything yet they don't know the basics, they don't want to sit and read a book when there's a you-tube video which will give them the basics of what the book was about - people today are not interested in knowledge they only want money and they don't understand that knowledge is the key to gaining money.

Leftyflip wrote: »

What I can't understand is, how doing part time photography work is going to ruin the industry, does that mean that if I want to go professional, I have to save up a years wages or so and then stop working altogether until I start getting enough bookings to justify full time work in photography?
Now if the photographer is absolutely brutal and doesn't understand the concepts, post-processing and charges silly money for it, that's different, but your post basically implies that the really good photographers who nixers or weekend work are also ruining the industry.

READ my post again - this time without having a pre-conceived answer in your head - yes ! people doing full-time work as a photographer are suffering because people who work a full-time job (in another area) can earn enough money to subsidise their costs and quite often you'll see people complaining that "X" photographer can do it cheaper or "Y" photographer is offering more - and this might be true but X and Y photographers may not have the same costs as a full-time professional photographer and X/Y do not care about anyone but themselves - they find a way of getting money.

I'm not saying you have to save up a years wages and then stop working .... learn EVERYTHING about your area of photography, spend a number of years learning, buying equipment, trying techniques, hiring models/make-up artists ....build your portfolio !! visit different countries and different styles of photographer, watch and learn from others - read books, read manuals (yes the instruction manuals of the cameras/lenses/lightmeters/lighting gear) - know how to react to different situations - if the sun is really bright how do you deal with the harsh shadows over the eyes/ under the nose , what do you do if you are photographing a black and milky white person in harsh sunlight ? ..... photographers these days rely on post processing - and many of them get it wrong at that !! post processing is how you correct an error made in camera - you should always aim to get it right in camera first !!

my main point is that people are buying cameras and without basic knowledge of photography claiming to be a photographer - they are not willing to learn and have the patience to learn how to do the job properly and in this case the OP came in with a question asking for help but if she/he had taken the time to learn and understand how his/her camera works and knew the basics of photography he/she wouldn't need advice - YET ! he/she is probably earning €50 a night and happy to do it - while not knowing what they are doing.

What do you work as ? - if you don't mind me asking ! .... if you intend on getting into photography as a career - stick with what pays you for now - learn and learn some more - if its wedding photography learn about posing, lighting techniques, exposure etc ...do the various workshops that are out there, hire a studio and model or two and make-up artist ...spend a few hours in a studio and outdoors using different settings, learning the cameras reactions to the skintones in varying lighting situations ... get the exposure right ! ..... if its possible - get a film camera - go back to learning how cameras work, ....create works of art !!

(put aside enough money to pay your bills etc )

when you feel you are ready - present your portfolio to a photographer and ask if you can work with them for a number of months - do this with at least 2 different photographers, the experience you will gain from this cannot be measured - it will also allow you to network with other photographers and agency owners and build a reputation within the industry - without even showing your work. (in Cork I would say Neil Danton, Mike MacSweeney or Ger McCarthy - think Ted McCarthy is retired but he is a great person to learn off, in Dublin Jason Clarke or McInnes, or McMonagle in Kerry .....all very reputable names.)

Anyway - thats a frickin long enough post for ya !

Corkbah

ronanc15 wrote: »

Sooo just to clarify, if someone hasn't got enough work from their photography career to provide a full-time income and they make a business decision to do it on a part time basis they are "ruining the industry?" :eek:

What a load of ****e.

(lets flip your statement around) you mean people who are not good enough photographers to build a reputation so they can earn a decent wage !! ...YES - those people should NOT work on a part-time basis, however, if they are good enough the work should be there ...no !

if someone has to work part-time as a photographer it is because they have either:
A) not devoted themselves to the job and do not have a reputation - hence no regular income
not prepared themselves enough financially or mentally for the career of photography.


GOOD photographers get work - GREAT photographers earn a living.

Part-time photographers think they are building a reputation for themselves but all they are doing is devaluing the expectations of people searching for a photographer.....they do a job cheaper than a professional because they don't have the same expenses as a photographer but as a result if/when they do turn full-time there is no money to be made because there's someone charging less than them trying to get onto the ladder ...circle of life !!

many people starting out think "i'll do the job for free/cheap and I'll get loads of experience/work" ...but in reality what happens is they get some experience and when they start looking for payment the people that were hiring them move on to the next "photographer" who has the same idea "I'll do the job for free/cheap and I'll get loads of experience/work" !! the only thing that happens here is that you get taken advantage of - editors/business people do this on a daily basis.

if you are working part-time now - are you declaring that income to revenue ? if not...why not, if so, well and good - but there are hundreds/thousands out there who are not.

Corkbah

swingking wrote: »

Its these sort of replies that have turned me off coming to the photography forum and I'm a long time on here. All he asked was a question. He didn't want a criticism of his skills or job

so .... you get turned off a photography forum by someone taking a job without any knowledge of how to do the job !! and then asking a photography forum for help (with their first post) ...or do you get turned off a photography forum by someone responding trying to assertain what level of experience the original poster has so they can create an appropriate level of a response.

I see nothing wrong with asking
A) what kind of camera gear the person is using,
what kind of flash they are using (when they are having a flash issue)
C) nothing wrong with asking what level of experience they have ...is there ?

there's no point in formulating a response using jargon when the person wont understand - if a person is using a professional camera and may not know what settings to use in dimly lit rooms ..... I could tell them how to adjust the camera to counteract the available light, there's no point in me saying switch the aperture to f2.8 if the persons lens can only go to f4 or f5.6, or if the person is using a built in flash or external flash - we don't even know if the person is using a compact or a DSLR.

so if you find my post offensive then you are really easy to offend - the OP has given very little in the way of detail and the devil is in the detail ....we do not know so many variables !!

camera/flash setup/luminocity of the room/limitations of photographer and/or photography equipment .... its almost impossible to give a correct response without asking for information ...otherwise we are just guessing at possible answers.

ronanc15

(lets flip your statement around) you mean people who are not good enough photographers to build a reputation so they can earn a decent wage !! ...YES - those people should NOT work on a part-time basis, however, if they are good enough the work should be there ...no !

if someone has to work part-time as a photographer it is because they have either:
A) not devoted themselves to the job and do not have a reputation - hence no regular income
not prepared themselves enough financially or mentally for the career of photography.


GOOD photographers get work - GREAT photographers earn a living.

Part-time photographers think they are building a reputation for themselves but all they are doing is devaluing the expectations of people searching for a photographer.....they do a job cheaper than a professional because they don't have the same expenses as a photographer but as a result if/when they do turn full-time there is no money to be made because there's someone charging less than them trying to get onto the ladder ...circle of life !!

many people starting out think "i'll do the job for free/cheap and I'll get loads of experience/work" ...but in reality what happens is they get some experience and when they start looking for payment the people that were hiring them move on to the next "photographer" who has the same idea "I'll do the job for free/cheap and I'll get loads of experience/work" !! the only thing that happens here is that you get taken advantage of - editors/business people do this on a daily basis.

if you are working part-time now - are you declaring that income to revenue ? if not...why not, if so, well and good - but there are hundreds/thousands out there who are not.

No that's not what I mean, if that's what I meant I would have said it. How is that the same thing? To say that not getting a full-time quantity of work automatically means you are "not good enough" is both naive and insulting to anyone who has ever found themselves in that position. You realise that work has dried up in a number of markets/industries in recent years yes? Look at a poll I put up recently for proof of this - a number of excellent photographers on this very forum who have had to switch to part-time because of a lack of work. Your post directly insinuates that these peoples reputation isn't good enough. Maybe people in their areas aren't willing to pay adequately for the work anymore?

For the record I'm neither part-time nor a full-time photographer occupation wise. I do it as a hobby, but if someone took a shining to my work and asked me to do a job for them for X amount as a once off I fail to see how that devalues the profession as a whole?

frozenfrozen

How did the autofocus thing get on OP? Has it fixed the problem? It's ok if you're not good at manual focusing in the dark, you'll get used to it, just set your flash to super high power, go to something like F/8 then you won't have to be deadly accurate, and with 125 shutter you won't get any blur on your subjects

PCPhoto

ronanc15 wrote: »

No that's not what I mean, if that's what I meant I would have said it. How is that the same thing? To say that not getting a full-time quantity of work automatically means you are "not good enough" is both naive and insulting to anyone who has ever found themselves in that position. You realise that work has dried up in a number of markets/industries in recent years yes? Look at a poll I put up recently for proof of this - a number of excellent photographers on this very forum who have had to switch to part-time because of a lack of work. Your post directly insinuates that these peoples reputation isn't good enough. Maybe people in their areas aren't willing to pay adequately for the work anymore?

For the record I'm neither part-time nor a full-time photographer occupation wise. I do it as a hobby, but if someone took a shining to my work and asked me to do a job for them for X amount as a once off I fail to see how that devalues the profession as a whole?

Firstly ...its exactly what you said - just said in a different way !

the poll you set up !! ..ffs ... and you talk about me being insulting ! (you have a limited group of people who can answer) - broaden your survey to include those who do not use the internet regularly and you might be closer to achieving an understanding on the market.

what did these photographers do before they had to switch to part-time and have you analysed why they had to move to part-time ?
- Is it because other people are offering the same services cheaper ?
- Is it because there was a limited market for them to go into ?
- Is it because there was no need for photographers to try to "create" a niche and it failed ?
- Is it because they failed to get customers due to lack of advertising ?
- Is it because they failed to get work because of personality clashes ?
- Is it because they failed to get work because of what someone else said about them ?
- Did any of them research their markets before becoming a photographer ?
- Did any of them do the math ? financial side of the business is one of the main reasons photographers fail - they undercharge to get the business but cant afford to pay their bills when they receive them

How long have those "photographers" been operating before going to part-time ? How many of them started after they received a redundancy package ?

Photography is and always will be a professional that is built on word of mouth....a good reputation will gain clients and good praise from those clients will have a boosting effect... and a bad word can cripple a photographer (you only need to look at the way a certain studio photographer responded on the Joe Duffy show about 2yrs ago when faced with a disgruntled customer - the business is now gone) .... bad news spreads fast....no-one wants to take a chance on someone with a bad reputation
(which is why some people have 2-3 websites and businesses listed - but they are all the same person, if they mess up on one they work under the different company name for a few months in order for people to forget the bad reputation)

As regard to you doing a one-off job ..... you failing to see how it devalues the profession simply shows that you don't see the inner runnings of the network, like I have mentioned in a previous post:

given the example you have given ... someone contacts you asks you to do a job for X amount - is it fair to assume they have contacted others possibly professionals who have refused and possible some amateurs who have refused ...but you say Yes - because as you see it ...its money for doing a quick/small job, you only think about you (and thats fine).

you go on and you do the job, customer is happy - they got a photographer to do a job cheaper than what professionals were quoting - they tell their friends (other business heads etc) ...pretty soon you get more calls asking you to do photography jobs - you start to think ....hey ! ...maybe I can make a living out of it - people are asking me to work for them, I can do the work and make a profit so ...whay hey !! I'll be a pro photographer !!

so ...you decide to make a go of it - start working full-time as a photographer - the same people are still calling you ...but the need for a photographer changes within these businesses or because of the recession they cut back on photography (which is why they hired you in the first place because the company couldn't afford a professional - but they didn't tell you that) .... and all of a sudden the companies you were working for are stealing your images and using them on their websites - they are not hiring you but using your work.... and because you are not earning regular money from your photography - the bills start mounting up.... and you decide to give up photography and go back to what you did before.

not realising that you - by taking the first job - you perpetuate the circle of photography.

To maintain a life as a photographer you need to adapt and diversify - learning new techniques, finding new work you CANNOT allow yourself to be static and rely on maintaining your current clients - their needs may change but yours will always be the same (to earn money) ..... so the next time some press photographer steps in front of you to take their pic (refer to another thread on boards about this) .... don't go running to the internet to complain....let them do their job and you can get your pic afterwards, society as a whole has become obsessed by pictures - mainly because of the availability of cameras - they are everywhere now ! (phones, compacts, CCTV, SLR's) ...its only a matter of time before privacy laws will be changed in this country because people with cameras (not always press photographers) are going above and beyond the respect of the individuals right to privacy.

Gregor Samsa

Corkbah wrote: »

I see nothing wrong with asking
A) what kind of camera gear the person is using,
what kind of flash they are using (when they are having a flash issue)
C) nothing wrong with asking what level of experience they have ...is there ?

Clearly no-one is saying there's anything wrong with that at all. It's this line:

Corkbah wrote: »

don't mean to be rude - but it will sound like it when I continue this sentence - WHY take on a paid job when you don't know how to do the job ? How can you NOT manual focus ?

That came across as judgmental rather than helpful. And you knew it yourself when you wrote it. Anytime you have to preface a sentence with "I don't mean to be...", you know there's a pretty good chance that you actually are.

ronanc15

PCPhoto wrote: »

Firstly ...its exactly what you said - just said in a different way !

the poll you set up !! ..ffs ... and you talk about me being insulting ! (you have a limited group of people who can answer) - broaden your survey to include those who do not use the internet regularly and you might be closer to achieving an understanding on the market.

what did these photographers do before they had to switch to part-time and have you analysed why they had to move to part-time ?
- Is it because other people are offering the same services cheaper ?
- Is it because there was a limited market for them to go into ?
- Is it because there was no need for photographers to try to "create" a niche and it failed ?
- Is it because they failed to get customers due to lack of advertising ?
- Is it because they failed to get work because of personality clashes ?
- Is it because they failed to get work because of what someone else said about them ?
- Did any of them research their markets before becoming a photographer ?
- Did any of them do the math ? financial side of the business is one of the main reasons photographers fail - they undercharge to get the business but cant afford to pay their bills when they receive them

How long have those "photographers" been operating before going to part-time ? How many of them started after they received a redundancy package ?

Photography is and always will be a professional that is built on word of mouth....a good reputation will gain clients and good praise from those clients will have a boosting effect... and a bad word can cripple a photographer (you only need to look at the way a certain studio photographer responded on the Joe Duffy show about 2yrs ago when faced with a disgruntled customer - the business is now gone) .... bad news spreads fast....no-one wants to take a chance on someone with a bad reputation
(which is why some people have 2-3 websites and businesses listed - but they are all the same person, if they mess up on one they work under the different company name for a few months in order for people to forget the bad reputation)

As regard to you doing a one-off job ..... you failing to see how it devalues the profession simply shows that you don't see the inner runnings of the network, like I have mentioned in a previous post:

given the example you have given ... someone contacts you asks you to do a job for X amount - is it fair to assume they have contacted others possibly professionals who have refused and possible some amateurs who have refused ...but you say Yes - because as you see it ...its money for doing a quick/small job, you only think about you (and thats fine).

you go on and you do the job, customer is happy - they got a photographer to do a job cheaper than what professionals were quoting - they tell their friends (other business heads etc) ...pretty soon you get more calls asking you to do photography jobs - you start to think ....hey ! ...maybe I can make a living out of it - people are asking me to work for them, I can do the work and make a profit so ...whay hey !! I'll be a pro photographer !!

so ...you decide to make a go of it - start working full-time as a photographer - the same people are still calling you ...but the need for a photographer changes within these businesses or because of the recession they cut back on photography (which is why they hired you in the first place because the company couldn't afford a professional - but they didn't tell you that) .... and all of a sudden the companies you were working for are stealing your images and using them on their websites - they are not hiring you but using your work.... and because you are not earning regular money from your photography - the bills start mounting up.... and you decide to give up photography and go back to what you did before.

not realising that you - by taking the first job - you perpetuate the circle of photography.

To maintain a life as a photographer you need to adapt and diversify - learning new techniques, finding new work you CANNOT allow yourself to be static and rely on maintaining your current clients - their needs may change but yours will always be the same (to earn money) ..... so the next time some press photographer steps in front of you to take their pic (refer to another thread on boards about this) .... don't go running to the internet to complain....let them do their job and you can get your pic afterwards, society as a whole has become obsessed by pictures - mainly because of the availability of cameras - they are everywhere now ! (phones, compacts, CCTV, SLR's) ...its only a matter of time before privacy laws will be changed in this country because people with cameras (not always press photographers) are going above and beyond the respect of the individuals right to privacy.

I'll read through your post in a moment but.....Posting off the wrong account Paddy?? are you Corkbah also or am I misinterpreting your post? EDIT: Obviously not given your post below.

EDIT AFTER READING POST:

I think you've misunderstood my example, I should have been clearer. My bad. Im not talking about undercutting anyone, I can see how that would affect the profession. Im more referring to something where say a friend who hasn't approached anyone at all asks me to do something as a favour. I genuinely don't see the problem with that so if you could help me out there I'd appreciate it. (you may not either given the revised example)

In relation to my poll that wasn't the purpose of the poll itself, it was simply a side note which some posters commented on. The purpose was just to see on boards which people do it for themselves as enthusiasts vs those who do it for a living. Curiousity thats all

PCPhoto

frozenfrozen wrote: »

How did the autofocus thing get on OP? Has it fixed the problem? It's ok if you're not good at manual focusing in the dark, you'll get used to it, just set your flash to super high power, go to something like F/8 then you won't have to be deadly accurate, and with 125 shutter you won't get any blur on your subjects

from what the OP has said its not blur he/she is worried about ...its the fact that people walk away after a first flash and his camera (of which we know no details) .... fires 3 flashes during the photographic process.

we do not know if he/she is using an external flash - but as assumed by An Cat Dubh it could be a pre-flash due to red-eye reduction mode being on.

if we assume that the OP is using a DSLR with a pop-up flash in a dimly lit room (with possible strobe lights or rotating coloured lighting) changing to f8 and 1/125sec will not help - people will still be gone by the time the second flash goes off....and if its a built in flash shooting at f8 in a dimly lit room will give you approx 450cm -500cm of light (depending on the amount of luminoscity in the room, the ISO and the shutter speed of 1/125sec suggested)

GIVEN THE ASSUMPTIONS ABOVE - AND THE FACT THE OP HAS NOT ANSWERED THE QUESTIONS I ASKED.

The simplest solution would be to adjust the settings on the camera to stop the flash from firing a pre-flash ...so OP if you can find the red-eye reduction pre-flash setting ...turn it off.

As regards trying to get it right !! ...its a LOT of trial and error and any professional photographer would know that you turn up well in advance and get your settings correct BEFORE the job - if you are hired for a Sat night - turn up on a Thurs or Fri to practice..... calculate the distance that your flash will cover, calculate the correct aperture/shutter speed/ISO combination - calculate the correct metering system to use....I assume that the OP knows the various jargon used above.

in order to give the correct advice I would require full details from the OP - We simply cannot say that 1/125sec f8 will do ....this also depends on the ISO, the luminoscity in the room and the photographers understanding of how to take photos. ... why not try ISO 1600 f5.6 1/30 sec - why not ISO 3200 or ISO 400 .... 640ASA .... f2.8 ...f11 ... why not bring a second flash (use it as a slave - assuming there is an external flash used)

If I was in the OPs position with (assumed) limited knowledge of what I'm doing I would have the camera set to program which would more than likely give a 1/60sec f4 or f5.6 (assuming ISO is set to 400) and room is reasonably dimly lit as described by the OP....I would change the settings (if its possible on the camera - to manual exposure, assuming you have already turned off the pre-flash red-eye reduction mode in settings ...then change the shutter speed to 1/15sec and the aperture to f4 and ISO to 640 .... take a pic, if its too bright bring the shutter speed up to 1/30sec or 1/60sec ....or change the aperture to f5.6 ...f6.3 - I'm also making the assumption that the OP wants to capture some of the ambient light which would give the image a bit of punch when its displayed and not have the background so black that its difficult to see if its taken in a club or in a cave.

The OP is asking how to stop the pre-flash going off (or at least how to stop his flash going off 3 times when a pic if taken - we do not know the camera make/model or flash make/model or even if the flash is built into the camera) ..... which is why I asked those questions (and got a barrage of abuse for it)

Gregor Samsa

PCPhoto wrote: »

which is why I asked those questions (and got a barrage of abuse for it)

I''m a bit confused - were you also posting under Corkbah?

ronanc15

phutyle wrote: »

I''m a bit confused - were you also posting under Corkbah?

It would appear so alright.

PCPhoto

apologies
- there was a friend of mine who stayed at my place using my laptop, I'm not posting in the photo forum for the moment - taking some time away from posting and lurking - trying to concentrate on other projects....looking at the length of those posts ... jebus I'm glad I didnt type them.

ronanc15

PCPhoto wrote: »

apologies
- there was a friend of mine who stayed at my place using my laptop, I'm not posting in the photo forum for the moment - taking some time away from posting and lurking - trying to concentrate on other projects....looking at the length of those posts ... jebus I'm glad I didnt type them.

Your friends previous posts are equally learned on photography and copyright issues it must be said :cool:

Unfortunately, I think I'd be siding with Corkbah and PCPhoto here. Not because I'd be annoyed that an amateur took work from under me, but because I've always been of the belief that you should never take on a job you can't do (which seems to be the case here).


OP is obviously not using an external flash unit, and the built-in flash is firing to help the camera focus, but after it does it's short strobes, people think the photo has been taken and move off (ultimately leaving our OP with photos of people turning away from the camera).

OP can't turn the pre-flashes off becase (1) they don't know how, (2) they don't know why it's flashing and (3) the camera will hunt forever before finally achieving (a no-doubt inaccurate) focus.



I'm sorry, but If you don't have the gear or knowledge to competently do a job, why do it?


And yes, I do think amateurs, as PC described above in detail, can hurt the industry. I know from speaking to several people over the years that:

1. Amateurs undercutting professionals devalues the work of the professionals, as people see the low prices and assume that's just 'the price' and anyone asking for more is a rip off merchant.

2. Amateurs that deliver bad work give the professionals a poor image, too, as people generally tend to lump all photographers in and mark them together. If one photographer gives shoddy results, it reflects poorly on a lot of photographers and people ultimately decide not to hire a photographer because "I could that myself".


(Yes - I'm aware that there are amazingly talented amateurs and absolutely terrible professionals out there. And yes, I'm aware that there's no "hard and fast" rule, but in my dealings with the public over the last couple of years I've found this to be the case).



I'll acknowledge that I'm guilty of the undercutting in a roundabout way, myself. When I started out I did so with a photo agency where I worked for little or nothing. But that was offered to me and it was a great first foot on the ladder. I never went out seeking to try and take work from other photographers while I did it. I never sold photos directly while i did it. I always referred people to actual professionals while i did it. The only work i did take on was for friends or family who i knew wouldn't/couldn't justify or afford a professional.



I completely agree with helping people out with learning to use their gear and give them advice and such. That's what makes boards great (and I learned a lot from it) but to condone someone taking on paid work and not having any idea what they're doing is nonsense.


If a plumber came into my house, couldn't quite figure out how to open his toolbox, and then left after doing a shoddy job, would that be an okay experience? He was cheaper, after all.

ronanc15

Deleted User wrote: »

Unfortunately, I think I'd be siding with Corkbah and PCPhoto here. Not because I'd be annoyed that an amateur took work from under me, but because I've always been of the belief that you should never take on a job you can't do (which seems to be the case here).


OP is obviously not using an external flash unit, and the built-in flash is firing to help the camera focus, but after it does it's short strobes, people think the photo has been taken and move off (ultimately leaving our OP with photos of people turning away from the camera).

OP can't turn the pre-flashes off becase (1) they don't know how, (2) they don't know why it's flashing and (3) the camera will hunt forever before finally achieving (a no-doubt inaccurate) focus.



I'm sorry, but If you don't have the gear or knowledge to competently do a job, why do it?


And yes, I do think amateurs, as PC described above in detail, can hurt the industry. I know from speaking to several people over the years that:

1. Amateurs undercutting professionals devalues the work of the professionals, as people see the low prices and assume that's just 'the price' and anyone asking for more is a rip off merchant.

2. Amateurs that deliver bad work give the professionals a poor image, too, as people generally tend to lump all photographers in and mark them together. If one photographer gives shoddy results, it reflects poorly on a lot of photographers and people ultimately decide not to hire a photographer because "I could that myself".


(Yes - I'm aware that there are amazingly talented amateurs and absolutely terrible professionals out there. And yes, I'm aware that there's no "hard and fast" rule, but in my dealings with the public over the last couple of years I've found this to be the case).



I'll acknowledge that I'm guilty of the undercutting in a roundabout way, myself. When I started out I did so with a photo agency where I worked for little or nothing. But that was offered to me and it was a great first foot on the ladder. I never went out seeking to try and take work from other photographers while I did it. I never sold photos directly while i did it. I always referred people to actual professionals while i did it. The only work i did take on was for friends or family who i knew wouldn't/couldn't justify or afford a professional.



I completely agree with helping people out with learning to use their gear and give them advice and such. That's what makes boards great (and I learned a lot from it) but to condone someone taking on paid work and not having any idea what they're doing is nonsense.


If a plumber came into my house, couldn't quite figure out how to open his toolbox, and then left after doing a shoddy job, would that be an okay experience? He was cheaper, after all.

Just to clarify, I don't want people to think I'm condoning somebody taking on a paid job they don't know how to do. That's cowboy territory. But Corkbah/PCPhoto's original statement was a bit of a sweeping statement in saying that anyone who doesn't do it full time falls into this category. Its that part I can't agree with

Im assuming ye didn't wake up one day and become full time professional photographers too

ArmittageShank

frozenfrozen wrote: »

How did the autofocus thing get on OP? Has it fixed the problem? It's ok if you're not good at manual focusing in the dark, you'll get used to it, just set your flash to super high power, go to something like F/8 then you won't have to be deadly accurate, and with 125 shutter you won't get any blur on your subjects

Sorry about lack of replies I forgot I started this thread.

Thanks for the advice, I gave my camera as a lend to a friend and when I got it back I had this problem. I changed the setting from red eye reduction and it still stalls randomly sometimes. Gave it to an actual professional photographer friend he couldn't fix it either, figured my friend dropped it or something?

BTW:Took out a loan to buy the camera, got the job by sending an email with some pictures attached and a nice friendly pitch, quit bitching and start doing the same. Signature & Midnightare always looking for photographers.