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<blockquote data-quote="WayneF" data-source="post: 307015" data-attributes="member: 12496">Two feet may be fine for macro-ish pictures of tabletop shots and things, but it is way too close for pictures of people.&nbsp; For a couple of reasons.&nbsp; One, simple photographic perspective needs to be back 6 or 8 feet (perspective, to avoid making noses look too large, etc - first rule of portraits - stand back a bit).&nbsp; And bounce needs the angle to let the ceiling reflection get in a bit, to light the front side of the face (and eye sockets) a bit.&nbsp; Bounce card&nbsp; also helps this.&nbsp; Zooming in is no problem, but standing too close is a problem.Which lens is only dependent on what view you want to see from that 6 or 8 foot distance.&nbsp; If you want head and shoulders portrait, probably about 70mm for DX - at that distance.&nbsp; &nbsp; If you want a full length standing portrait, or a group of a dozen people, then the lens focal length has to be much shorter to get it all in.&nbsp; There are no camera menus for external flash.&nbsp; The camera menu for flash only affects the internal flash, when its door is open.&nbsp; It is out of play if the door is shut.&nbsp;&nbsp; The external flash has its own menu&nbsp; (SB-300/SB-400 are exceptions, they have no menu, and use the same camera menu).Just set camera exposure mode to A (aperture) or M (manual).&nbsp;&nbsp; The TTL flash is still automatic flash in camera M mode, but M mode lets you specify shutter speed too (which is only about the ambient contribution... you can keep out the orange incandescent light with fast shutter speed, or let it in with slower shutter.)If you use camera A mode, indoor shutter speed is most likely 1/60 second default (a minimum with flash), but Rear Curtain or Slow Sync can override that.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="WayneF, post: 307015, member: 12496"] Two feet may be fine for macro-ish pictures of tabletop shots and things, but it is way too close for pictures of people. For a couple of reasons. One, simple photographic perspective needs to be back 6 or 8 feet (perspective, to avoid making noses look too large, etc - first rule of portraits - stand back a bit). And bounce needs the angle to let the ceiling reflection get in a bit, to light the front side of the face (and eye sockets) a bit. Bounce card also helps this. Zooming in is no problem, but standing too close is a problem. Which lens is only dependent on what view you want to see from that 6 or 8 foot distance. If you want head and shoulders portrait, probably about 70mm for DX - at that distance. If you want a full length standing portrait, or a group of a dozen people, then the lens focal length has to be much shorter to get it all in. There are no camera menus for external flash. The camera menu for flash only affects the internal flash, when its door is open. It is out of play if the door is shut. The external flash has its own menu (SB-300/SB-400 are exceptions, they have no menu, and use the same camera menu). Just set camera exposure mode to A (aperture) or M (manual). The TTL flash is still automatic flash in camera M mode, but M mode lets you specify shutter speed too (which is only about the ambient contribution... you can keep out the orange incandescent light with fast shutter speed, or let it in with slower shutter.) If you use camera A mode, indoor shutter speed is most likely 1/60 second default (a minimum with flash), but Rear Curtain or Slow Sync can override that. [/QUOTE]

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