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| 20 Feb 2006 12:32:18 pm |
 Using Fill flash outdoors |
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Let's face it, usually when you want to get a shot of the family at some scenic location, it's high noon and sunny skies. What's wrong with that? Well the ligting is very harsh and creates very sharp transitions between shadow and light areas.
Anyone with a little bit of knowledge about light will try to position their subject's faces in the sun. This is great, now you have your subject with the same lighting as the scene.
But, it also makes you squint. Babies and kids have a really hard time with squinting. It usually makes them cranky. Squinting will ruin a portrait because a portrait is all about the eyes. So what do you do about that? Well, you could try positioning them so that the sun is to the side and the back. Now they aren't facing the sun, and the squinting is much less.
That's great, but now the problem is the sun is not lighting them the same as the landscape around them. Either their faces will be underexposed (dark) and the landscape properly exposed. Or the landscape will be over exposed (too light) and their faces properly exposed.
That's where fill flash comes in. Once you have your subject's positioned with their backs to the sun (actually the sun a little to the side so you don't get lens flare), then you set the camera to use fill flash. The flash will lighten your subject's faces so that both your subject and the background will be evenly exposed.
Now, you have a much better chance of getting pictures of your subject's with their eyes open! Of course some people squint on cloudy days, so you're just not going to be able to get everyone outdoors in the middle of the day.
When you can, remember sunrise and sunset are the best time for portraits outdoors. |
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Category : Outdoor
| Posted By : Marcy |  Comments [1] |  Trackbacks [0] |
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By : skb @ Time : 06 Jul 2009 10:01:46 pm : |
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| I am planning on taking a family portrait of 12 people... do I need to fill flashes? I am planning on having thier backs to the beach during sunset/evening time and then using a fill flash for countering the sunlight. Is that the right idea??? Also as the sun is setting I think that I am going to turn them around to take a bunch using only natural light! Am I thinking along the right lines??? |
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