Syl Arena's Speedliting Checklists Syl Arenas Exposure Quick Guide

Author of best-selling
Simple OCF Portrait Workflow
Use this workflow for portraits when
you are starting out with flash.
1. Test ShotAmbient Light Only
Camera in Av-mode. Set your aperture
for desired depth-of-field. No flash.
2. Test ShotsAmbient Exposure
Take more test shots without flash.
Use Exposure Compensation on your
camera to adjust how the camera
records ambient light. Do not worry
about the light on your subject.
3. Test ShotWith Flash
Turn your Speedlite on in ETTL mode.
Adjust position, zoom, modifier, etc.
4. Test ShotsAdjust the Flash
Take a series of test shots. Use Flash
Exposure Compensation (FEC) on
Speedlite or on camera (but not in
both places) to fine-tune flash power.
5. Shoot [see #9 in right column]
Gear Suggestionssee
Speedliter's Handbook for
Advanced OCF Portrait Workflow
Speedliter's Handbook & Workflows for Flash Photography
Use this workflow when you master
the Simple OCF Portrait Workflow. Think Stop
1. Ambient
To Connect Exposure Settings
Set your camera exposure to capture Your Camera Has Many Settings A Stop Doubles or Halves a Setting
ambient light as you want it to appear. Your camera has so many settings To change a camera setting by a stop
2. Purpose that it may be confusing to translate a means that you have either doubled it
Decide on each Speedlite's job: key, change in shutter speed to an offset- or cut it in half. Using the chart below,
fill, background, or rim/hair. ting change in aperture. To keep your you can see that switching your shut-
settings simple, start by using the ter from / to / is a two-stop
3. Position whole stop increments listed in the changemaking the shutter slower
Place each Speedlite in a position
chart below. Feel free to ignore all the (green arrow ). Likewise changing
suitable for its job. other numbers that show up in your from / to / is also a two-stop
4. Shape viewfinder. They are either -stop or changemaking the shutter faster
Modify each Speedlite with umbrella, -stop increments. When beginning, (green arrow ).
softbox, grid, flag, etc. to shape the stick with whole stop increments.
light/shadow to fit your vision.
Camera Settings Flash
5. Color Shutter Aperture ISO Power
Use gels on each Speedlite to blend Double
slower / longer wide = shallow fast / high = high-power
flash with ambient light or to create a = motion blurred depth-of-field more sensitive = brighter
colorful, dramatic effect.
1 f/1.0
6. Sync* 1/2 f/1.4
Select 1st-curtain, 2nd-curtain, or 1/4 f/2.0
high-speed sync as appropriate.
1/8 f/2.8 12800 1/1
7. Mode*

WHOLE STOPS
1/15 f/4.0 6400 1/2
specific brands and models. Plus 1-stop
If subject-to-flash distance is fixed, 1/30 f/5.6 3200 1/4
use Manual mode. If subject-to-flash
Novice Speedliter
distance varies, use ETTL.
1/60 f/8 1600 1/8
3'/1m coiled ETTL cord 1/125 f/11 800 1/16
Rogue FlashBender Large 8. Power* 1/250 f/16 400 1/32
42" 5-in-1 Reflector Kit In Manual mode, adjust power on
Speedlite. In ETTL mode, fine-tune
1/500 f/22 200 1/64
Intermediate Speedliter (add) 1/1000 f/32 100 1/128 Minus 1-stop
Convertible, shoot-thru umbrella power with FEC on Speedlite or on
camera (but not in both places). 1/2000 f/45
Swivel adapter/Monoball swivel
1/4000 f/64
8'10' Light stand 9. Shoot
32'/10m straight ETTL cord 1/8000 f/90
It is not uncommon to spend 90% of Half
Color-correction gel kit your time setting up and testing your faster / shorter narrow = deep slow / low= low-power
= motion frozen depth-of-field less sensitive = dimmer
Advanced Speedliter (add) lighting and 10% actually shooting.
Apollo Orb softbox * If shooting Canon wireless, make these When Counting Stops, Go Same Distance in the Opposite Direction
Additional Speedlites, stands, adjustments on the master only. The If you want to freeze action by changing your shutter from / to / (red
swivel adapters, and modifiers slaves will change their settings instantly
when the master fires. arrow ), then you need to offset this move by changing either the aperture
or ISO. If your aperture was f/16, you could change to f/5.6 (). Or, if you want
4 2015 Syl Arena, all rights reserved. Download from: PixSylated.com to preserve depth of field, you could change the ISO from 100 to 800 (). 1
Deciding Which Camera/Flash Consider the Ambient Light First
Settings to Change
Ambient Light Is All Around You
Ambient light is the light that is
/ /
Wide = Shallow Depth of Field already in the scenefrom the sun
and man-made sources. A popular
Aperture or technique is to use a Speedlite to add
Narrow = Deep Depth of Field light to your subject and use ambient
light to illuminate the background.

Expose for the Ambient Light First

When you are using your Speedlite ^ Shutter Speed controls ambient light.
Fast Shutter Enables Hand-held Camera as the main light on your subject (key The background on the right is darker
due to the use of a faster shutter speed
light), settle on the exposure for the (/ to / = two-stop change).
ambient light before you turn on your
Fast Shutter Freezes Motion Speedlite. This will enable you to see
what the flash is and is not doing. Why Shutter Speed
or Does Not Affect Flash Power
Shutter Slow Shutter Emphasizes Motion Use the Shutter to Change Ambient
The reason that you can use your
Shutter speed controls how ambient camera's shutter speed to adjust
light (but not flash) is recorded. Use how the ambient light is recorded
or Faster Shutter Dims Ambient Light a faster shutter to dim the ambient is that your Speedlite's longest
(background light) and a slower shut- burst (at full power) is much shorter
ter to make it brighter. If you exceed than the shutter speeds you can
Slower Shutter Brightens Ambient Light your cameras sync speed, activate use with flash. Even if you make
High-Speed Sync. See page 11. the shutter faster, the burst of flash
flies through just fine. [High-Speed
Camera Mode Adjust Ambient Sync is an exception to this rule.
(Shutter) By See page 11.]
Keep Aperture & Shutter in Desired Range
-Full Auto Switching to
ISO or another mode Speedlite Full Power = /
Optimize Histogram/Reduce Noise P-Program +/ Exposure
Compensation Shutter = /
on camera
Av-Aperture +/ Exposure
Higher Power = Brighter Priority Compensation Shutter = /
on camera
or Tv-Shutter +/ Exposure
Lower Power = Dimmer Priority Compensation Shutter = /
on camera
Flash Power M-Manual +/ Shutter
Higher Power = Longer Flash Duration Speed directly Shutter = /
or on camera
Best Camera Modes for Flash PhotographyAperture-Priority and Manual. In
Lower Power = Shorter Flash Duration Av, you control depth-of-field via aperture and the camera sets shutter. Use M
when you want full creative control of ambient light and depth-of-field.
2 Syl writes about light and imagemaking on PixSylated.com. For more ideas, read Syl's best-selling Speedliter's Handbook. 3
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