Shooting in harsh sunlight

I was  visiting the in-laws in Florida for Thanksgiving so it has been a few days since I posted a blog.  I took all my camera gear and we took some family photos at my father-in-laws house.  I especially like this one of the grandkids.

Piling them all into a boat made for a great informal pose.  The sun was very bright and I have discovered that my personal favorite lighting in this situation is to have the sun directly behind the subjects so the sun doesn't cast shadows on their faces, and to lighten them up with a little fill flash.  I have tried having the sun behind me and I think it makes the light unflattering.  I have tried having the sun off to the side of my subjects, but have found the shadows to be too harsh even with some fill flash.

Keep shooting!

Ryan

Take control of your TTL flash photography

One of the toughest things for me to gain control of has been my TTL (through the lens) flash.  It always seemed to be hit or miss when it came to the right exposure.  It didn't matter what setting I used on my camera: program mode, apurture priority, manual...  The results always seemed to vary.  Sometimes the shots would turn out great, but a lot of times they didn't.

For today's blog I thought I'd let you in on a little secret.  Will Crocket's shootsmarter.com is listed as one of my "Top 10" photography sites and there is a good reason for that.  Shootsmarter.com provides a huge amount of free information that will make you a better photographer.  One of the items they have for sale that I would strongly recommend is their "TTL Flashfacts" video.  Here is what the copy I have looks like.

If you want to finally understand how to get the most out of yourTTL flash then check out this video.  I have watched it over and over and I am finally starting to understand this TTL stuff.  You may not have to watch it as many times as I have, but what can I say... I'm a little slow.

Keep shooting!

Ryan

Fill Flash on a Sunny Day

Don't forget to use fill flash when you are outside on sunny days to soften the harsh shadows of the sun. I recently volunteered to take photos at a charity golf tournament. I drove around the course taking photos of groups as they waited to tee off. Under the circumstances I had to work very quickly. I took two things into consideration. The first was the angle of the sun - I didn't want them squinting. Secondly, I took into consideration the backdrop. I wanted the course visible behind them. I had them position themselves so that the sun was to their left and slightly behind them. I took this first shot without the flash. This put them in the shadows which, as you can see, are very harsh.

To bring them out of the shadows I set my camera on manual mode and exposed for the background. Then I turned on my flash and set it to 1/2 power. Yes, the flash was sitting on top of my camera. Not a great way to shoot, but these guys were in a hurry so you do what you got to do, right? The shot ain't perfect (I probably could have turned downed the flash just a smidge) but it is a huge improvement over the previous shot.

Keep shooting!

Ryan