ShootSmarter.com - TTL Flashfacts: Taming The Technology

World-class digital expert Will Crockett has solved your TTL troubles. This video has been created to help you make better TTL flash images so you don’t have to spend countless hours repairing your files. Our goal is to shoot photos using TTL technology to help us control exposure and color so we can produce the images we, and our clients, expect and allow us to shoot creatively instead of worrying about technical issues.

With many years of testing all the Canon, Nikon, and Fujifilm pro DSLRs attached to all the various Canon, Nikon, Metz, Quantum and other flashes, Will Crockett has the simple, fact-based info on how to use TTL for great results. And the good news? It's NOT complicated at all. By learning how to setup your gear for TTL success, then using your camera and flash properly, you can take advantage of all the great exposure control that TTL offers. Will likes to make complicated things simple so you can concentrate on creating a photo instead of being concerned about settings.

10 Steps to TTL Success
There are 10 steps to great TTL results that any pro or emerging pro should be comfortable with. This info has been extremely popular and received with great acclaim in Will's recent live programs. All 10 (and more!) are illustrated here in detail for you to watch over and over again.

Hardware decisions made easy.
Those of you who are regular readers of shootsmarter.com or who are "Will Crockett fans" know that we don't pull any punches. During our testing, we discovered the TTL flash hardware that works, and the combinations of cameras and flashes the work well together. This DVD includes the camera and flash hardware recommended list for professional TTL.

Advanced TTL Techniques.
Learn the truth about using wireless TTL systems and other "advanced" tools, which ones work and how well, then put them into action. Here's all the latest from Nikon, Quantum, Canon and Metz to see what they can do for your photography.

Chapter ONE:
THE DIGITAL ROADMAP: MAKING YOUR SYSTEM WORK
As professionals, we realize that TTL flash technology is half in the camera, half in the flash.
Some flashes work great with one cameras, but that same flash doesn't work well at all on another camera. Typically, the more money the camera body costs the better the metering system and focusing system is - the better the TTL exposure will be. But that does depend on the type of images you want to create, and how well you use the camera.

Chapter TWO:
TROUBLES WITH TTL: WHY DOESN'T IT WORK AS ADVERTISED?
We think we can just slide on a TTL flash and shoot. But it just will not work that well under the various lighting conditions in a typical shoot - our exposures are a mess. And who wants to repair JPEGs or adjust RAW files that are grossly under or overexposed? No me for sure. So let's put the TTL technology to work for us by knowing what it will do and knowing what it will not do.

Chapter THREE:
SETUP YOUR CAMERA FOR THE BEST TTL
There are a wide variety of automated exposure modes on your camera, but only a few will help you nail down TTL exposure control. Forget about using the fully automated Program modes. They are the worst for TTL flash control. Here's the best way to setup your DSLR.

Chapter FOUR:
AUTOFOCUS SETUP FOR DSLRS
Autofocus is a privilege, not a right. Just because your camera has autofocus and fires the shutter in single focus mode is no guarantee that you have critical focus on exactly the area you intended to be sharp. Your cameras' autofocus system picks up information from a variety of focus "areas" that you can usually see in your viewfinder. Some cameras have only 5 focus areas, other have almost 20, but it's up to you to tell the camera which ones to use, then it's up to you to use them properly.

Your DSLR has many autofocus "modes" that are chosen on a panel that looks something like this…

Chapter FIVE:
50% OF ALL TTL TROUBLES ARE ACTUALLY AUTOFOCUS TROUBLES
Your TTL system relies on accurate focus for accurate exposures. You need to tell your camera exactly what you want in focus, and you also need to tell it what's NOT in focus, in order to achieve TTL exposure success. The sooner you realize that half of all your TTL problems are actually autofocus problems, the quicker you will have better TTL exposures. It's true.
Here's the fastest and easiest TTL improvement you'll ever see.

Chapter SIX:
HOW DOES ISO AFFECT TTL?
The most recent crop of DSLRs offer high ISO shooting with remarkably high file quality. Cameras only 2 or 3 years old were too noisy to shoot a fine quality 8x10 sized print at ISO 800, but they are now being replaced by new cameras that will shoot very clean images at 800, 1600 and beyond.

If your camera is more than 4 years old, please take a hard look at upgrading to help solve your TTL issues because the higher ISO capability does translate into better TTL indoors. If you were to run a simple test on how well your TTL produces accurate exposures under a variety of typical indoor shooting situations you will quickly discover 2 TTL facts…

Chapter SEVEN:
APERTURE AND DEPTH OF FIELD SETTINGS
Your aperture setting and it's related depth of field is critical for TTL success. Shooting at apertures smaller than f 8, like f 16 for example, will give you greater depth of field and maybe a better chance to get a sharp image under difficult to focus situations, but your TTL system will not be able to process the added information. When you choose the shoot TTL with apertures of f 8 and higher, you are telling you camera that you care about the sharpness and exposure in the foreground and the background too.

Chapter EIGHT:
LENS CHOICES FOR TTL - BOTH GOOD AND BAD
Low quality lenses will give you low quality TTL exposures. You will actually get better TL performance from a low cost camera using a good quality lens than you will with an expensive DSLR using a crappy lens. Can we get away with shooting f4 zoom lenses when we need accurate TTL?

Chapter NINE:
COLOR CONTROLS FOR TTL SHOOTING SESSONS
Controlling color when using TTL flash can be quite a challenge because if you were to measure the color temperature of your flash at it's lowest power setting, you would see that it's color is in the daylight range of 5300K to 5500K which means we can easily use the sunny day white balance, or dial in a color temperature of 5400K if our camera will permit it. But when we fire our flash at maximum power…

Chapter TEN:
ADVANCED TTL: SMART CHOICES
Getting your flash off the camera is one fast and easy way we can professional sculpt and craft our light for client pleasing photos. The best way to do this is by the use of a TTL compatible remote flash cable or by the use of…

Chapter ELEVEN:
WILL'S 10 STEPS TO TTL SUCCESS
• Set up your Camera and Flash for TTL,
• Batteries and External Power Decisions,
• Flash limits; know where it runs out of gas,
• Light modifiers and tips for making them behave,
• MORE

Chapter TWELVE:
FLASH EXPOSURE COMPENSATION
TTL, like any other link in the exposure chain, will benefit from a helping hand from time to time. You may find that your TTL gear will perform just fine using the techniques in the DVD for most of the shoots you do. But you will discover that some environments that you put your TTL system to work in may produce consistently under or over exposed images.

Chapter THIRTEEN:
WIRELESS TRIGGERING SYSTEMS THAT WORK
We have spent many hours testing the various wireless TTL systems to see how well they work, and if they are simply fun toys for photo hobbyists, or are they tools a pro can use to make money? The answer is both. The tools themselves can be put into 3 basic groups…

Chapter FOURTEEN:
PARTING SHOT: YOUR TTL FUTURE
Format:
DVD Video in NTSC format, non-region coded SHIPPED TO THE USA ONLY.
Out of USA can purchase our download version with our 100% money-back guarantee.

Experience Level:
Professional and Semi-Pro Photographers as well as to committed photography studetns and advanced photo enthusiasts.
Profession
Running Time: 108 minutes of running time plus bonus footage.

More Info: http://shopshootsmarter.com/product-info.php?pid210.html

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