filling shadows in harsh light
Quie often its unavoidable to have to photograph people in harsh day light sun.
shadows that fall across their face and body is always so dark, but at the same time everything looks so washed out.
i'm thinking as an idea, to stop down quite a bit, just use some dim fill flash to fill the shadows. i only have my on board flash. It seems like the only way to tone down the flash is with the flash exposure compensation.
what does that actually do? does it adjust your aperture or doesn't it adjust the strength of the flash?? the manual wasn't very clear.
any other improvments to this idea, or any other ideas?
cheers
Brett
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shod
All of these are really great options posted below for shooting in high contrast environments. However, if you have already shot the photos Adobe Lightroom works well to lighten darkened areas and lower the intensity of highlights and blown out whites, especially if you have shot in raw. Just move the sliders to your desired level. Lightroom 5 beta is currently free from Adobe right now.
8 May -
AnTaTTacK
Hi Brett, You can buy a cheap 5-in-1 reflector from eBay or similar seller. Alternatively use some light coloured card or or anything to reflect light onto the shadowed side of the subject. You can also buy a cheap diffuser for your built in flash which will make it less harsh
7 April -
Rr1photography
inexpensive fill light? Get a flashlight or lamp, some have a way to go bright to dim. However you will need a second person to hold the light where you want it. The car window reflector works. You can can a 5 in 1 small reflecting kit for very little $$$ and they have the silver, gold, black, white and will fold up in a small pouch. Once again you need someone to hold it. If you want a good speedlight for cheap the YN 560 is a great choice (got mine from amazon)
12 October -
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Outline
I shoot with flash 90% of the time. the sun is the main light source and I use the flash as a fill. Often, the amount of flash that I use is 1 2/3 stops under, depending on the distance from the subject. The greater the distance, the more I increase the flash, say to - 2/3 of a stop instead of - 1 2/3.
8 July 2012 -
fredclarkphotography
Flash setting lowers or increases the flash output, there is cheap 5 in one reflectors on ebay and amazon as well. I would like a ring flash set up, also need a powerful flash to overpower the sun and achieve great portrait light and also have even surrounding light that's also not overblown
30 November 2011
ViewsOfParadiseI use a YN560 and like it. Does a great job.
8 May