Flash at a party

[DANSimage]

Hi there

Just wanting to know is it necessary to use a flash external/built on, for a party at night or is there a way to tweak the settings to achieve the same result?

[nikabuz]

Hi,

Depends on the level of lighting at the party. If it's well lit & indoors you could probably get away with using a high ISO such as 800 or 1600 (which your 7D will handle) combined with a widish aperture like f4 or 2.8 .
If it's not well lit you could try bouncing the flash of the ceiling to soften the light. If the party is outdoor you probably won't have that option, so use a diffuser. Preferable to use an external flash if you have one - pop up flash is quite harsh & you may get problems with red-eye.

Cheers, Vic.

[ameerat42]

As above. In the meantime, try shooting in a few conditions that you may encounter at such a venue.
Bear in mind that for artificial light you will have color casts to correct in processing. This will be no problem if you shoot in raw.
Am.

[DANSimage]

Thanks Vic I'll use all of this when I shoot next and yea I try to use my external alot more then my pop up. find I get a much better result with it.

thanks dan

- - - Updated - - -

Ill shoot in raw now that I photoshop running and I'll use those tips as well ameerat42 would it be better to swap to florescent or something like a tungsten

[old dog]

shooting in raw...I`d just use auto WB and correct later if need be.

[rossco]

Flash at a party

• not so much these days
• more an 80s thing
• only if realllllly drunk

[ameerat42]

DANS, as old dog says below, to answer your 2nd Q.

shooting in raw...I`d just use auto WB and correct later if need be.

That is, you don't have to set it to any particular "matching" WB if you use raw. AWB should cover just about everything.
Am.