For my operating settings, I've got a few secrets that will help you snap quicker / better exposed photos when your flash is too hot. My wife tells me that I'm too fast for this world so this trick my not apply or matter to some of you. del Sol Photographers all use Manual photo control when shooting our weddings. We have grown close to cameras performance and when shooting, we find it helpful to be able to adjust your shutter and aperture settings while also working some photojournalism in there. I know that everybody will have their own way to adjust these controls... if you open your mind to a little change now and then, you may become inspired. This technique also has a little flashflavor advise built in as well. With a manual power slave flash, your exposure latitude is pretty short, not allowing much room for error with the brightness to darkness of your frame. the closer that slave gets to the camera, the hotter its going to be and vice versa going the other direction getting further away. For example, if you were shooting a group of people who were gripping and grinning, your flash could be 2 times brighter than you thought it *should* be however, drastic measures are needed and quickly inside the camera to make the photo you are shooting that second, perfect! I enjoy rolling my right index finger on the top right dial on my camera, allows me to adjust my shutter. Think of it as a finger-roll technique. If you want to shoot a test but don't have time to test your flash to subject distance, keeping in mind that photo moments happen way faster than you can remember, you aim and shoot. Your light's intensity may be considerably high or low in relationship to how it *needs* to be. Roll the finger on the dial (front or back dial) as fast as possible to stop down or open up. I have calculated that there is a scale of how hard to how soft you can roll the dial, thus resulting in a multi f-stop roll, a single f-stop roll, or a little bit of a f-stop roll.... or something like that. I call that rustic technique the finger roll. Just thought I would share this idea. For me, shooting Manual flash slaves can be a challenge and this technique has helped me in situations where I was totally unprepared with the power settings of my manual slave flash. Here is my secret: Notice the index finger's position, on the shutter control. I give my camera's shutter the middle finger. :)

 

I honestly didn't even realize this until one of my assistants pointed it out to me at a wedding the other week... I don't even know what they heck i'm doing these days, but glad some body has figured it out for me. Thanks Diego for pointing that out! DO you have any crazy camera quirks that help your game? Wanna share? Tell us about it. Cheers! mateo