AF360FGZ , K20d low light action photography

Just wondering if anyone can offer some advice. I normally take theatre photography which the K20d copes well with together with my Sigma 2.8 lenses - 24-70 and 70-200. I was asked to take shots of a Stage Combat workshop, it was in a dark theatre space with only the odd strip light- no theatre lights available in a theatre!. so I had to use flash, and I had a stofen on my flash. Shutter speeds I was using 180 / 125 mainly to capture the action, but also 60 / 90 when they were sat down discussing things. I could get quite close up to a few feet, but despite all of this the ISO was 3200. Shots are good but grain is evident. I was trying different settings - Shutter Priority mainly and the TaV setting a lot but out of 150 shots it only went down to 1600 and 2200 a handful of times. Interesting on one shot and one shot only it went down to ISO100, this was the only shot I tried against the Manual setting, dont really understand why!. Is there anything I could have done to reduce the ISO across al the shots?
Shame about the magazine ending but looking forward to posting on here.

Many Thanks Neil

The stofen might not be so useful.
The larger the room (theatre) the less effective it becomes so it might be wiser not to use it at all because a stofen eats light so without a stofen you've a more powerful flash or faster recycle times.

If you can do it it might be the best to set the camera on manual and the flash on P-TTL, you've a lot more control over your shots that way.
Shutterspeed hardly effects the lighting in your photo so the difference between 1/180 and 1/90 is minimal but it does control movement in the photo so you might want to experiment with that.
Aperture and ISO are your controls to change the exposure together with the flash power. Because the flash would be on P-TTL you don't have to worry much about that but if you notice your flash is struggling you should change one of those settings to make it easier for the flash.

Also set the flash on trail curtain, that way the movement is captured better if you don't freeze all the movement.
Here it is explained link
Might be very interesting effect for those fight scene.
If the trails aren't visible enough bump up the ISO or lower the f-number and the length of the trails is controlled by the shutterspeed.

I hope this helps.

Thanks Stefan most useful, I thought the Stofen might be Ok at a few feet but in the heat of the moment after reviewing a few shots I should have removed it- I guess I got involved too much!. Using a 2.8 lens with ISO3200 coming out constantly I should have realised. My flash usage is quite limited but have mainly used P-TTL so that is reassuring, thanks for the advice about trail curtain and manual and will check out the link
Many Thanks

Neil

The stofen might soften things up because it enlarge the flash source but it's only marginal the enlargement so only up close you will see a difference.
something like this link or this would make a bigger difference and they are more efficient with the light link
These somewhat aim the light but an omni-bounce was make to throw the light in all direction and let that light bounce from another surfaces to soften the light, if you don't have the surfaces for the light to bounce off from you've a lot off spill.
Also other brands make those products but you can make the bounce with some paper, here is a cheat sheet from Nikon link

the stofen at least eats one full stop off light if not more so ISO1600 would have been easily feasible then and maybe ISO800 if you pushed it.

Thanks Stefan that's great

The AF360FGZ could is probably underpowered for a dark theatre space. Small flashes like the AF360FGZ usually need a domestic white ceiling to bounce the light.
The old Metz Hammerhead flashguns (CT45 and CT60) are good for that type of application. However you have to use them on their own Autoflash settings, as they will not do PTTL.

Thanks Graham that's worth noting.
Probably a different thread here but I noticed you have a Pentax 50mm 1.4 lens. I was just wondering how you rate this lens , this is the one size lens I was looking to purchase. Sigma do one also and I thought it might compliment my Sigma stock! but reviews not brilliant .
Any advice most helpful
Cheers

Neil

When shooting in 'fixed' lighting conditions always, ALWAYS use M on the camera

You can set up the K20D to show ISO, Tv, and Av all in the view finder and be able to adjust them all without taking your eye off the subject.

My personal preference in these circumstances is to adjust the exposure to around -1Ev to -2Ev off 'correct' (no flash) and use the flash in P-TTL to fill in the rest. Given the low light you mention I would still expect a high ISO, 800 or 1600. Make sure you use SPOT metering (or centre) and meter off a face, or something similar - otherwise the camera looks at the large expanse of black and tries to expose the whole image for the curtains .

The AF360 won't be able to fill a stage, and adding a Stofen will halve its light output.

Additionally, once the flash becomes the main light source then the shutter speed becomes less important. However, if the subject is moving then trailing curtain sync is a good idea.

HTH!
Matt

PS. My Pentax flash guide will definitely help you

Thanks Matt that's brilliant much appreciated.
Lovely portraits on your site by the way.

Cheers

Neil

Thanks Neil
In fact, the portraits that used flash are 100% manual - you definitely know where you are then Manual camera, manual flash. Simples

TBH, manual flash sounds more difficult than it is. It takes about 2 minutes to set up and you're set for the whole session and every shot will be fine.

Matt

Stage photography is one thing they won't work with, because the part where you sit is most of the time dark while you've lighting aimed at the stage.
Because the light sensor is on the flash it meters a different light than what's on your sensor (stage).

PTTL is your only option or Manual.