Problem with bright sunshine photos

[jimmy83]

Iam not sure the best way to describe this, but here goes. When out taking photos of my neice with the camera facing the sun nearly face-on can someone tell me how to avoid the subject being all in shadow?

I guess its partly down to the focus system which I need to change?

Sorry for the noob question this morn :bonk:

 

[modchild]

The easiest way is to use fill in flash. I know it sounds a bit daft to use flash in bright sun, but if the subject is close enough that's the way to go. You probably wont need it on full power though, it's a bit trial and error depending on the light.

 

[Russ77]

You could try spot metering on the subject so that your niece will be exposed correctly but this would more than likely mean the sky will be completely blown.

Or as modchild says, use fill-in flash. If you set to manual and expose for the background, the flash should compensate and light the subject although you'd need an external flash that supports high speed sync.

 

[jimmy83]

The easiest way is to use fill in flash. I know it sounds a bit daft to use flash in bright sun, but if the subject is close enough that's the way to go. You probably wont need it on full power though, it's a bit trial and error depending on the light.

You could try spot metering on the subject so that your niece will be exposed correctly but this would more than likely mean the sky will be completely blown.

Or as modchild says, use fill-in flash. If you set to manual and expose for the background, the flash should compensate and light the subject although you'd need an external flash that supports high speed sync.

Thanks folks, or I could just move next time! but in seriousness I couldn't for this and its a question that has always something that has bothered me.

 

[Russ77]

I'll try and dig out a couple of photos from my Honeymoon where I deliberately "played" with this type of scenario.

Works quite well but don't expect the batteries in your flash to last too long

 

[KIPAX]

you could over expose your subject by at least a stop (experiment) it will of course blow out the background but can have some really nice effects with backlit lighting and properly exposed subject..


doesnt work well wiht blonde haired people.. makes em look like half there head missing

 

[bass_junkie83]

It depends on wether you mind the sky being blown or not.

Without flash, you can use spot metering so that your subjects face is exposed correctly, but the sky will end up being blown out.

If you want to use flash, you can expose for the sky, and adjust flash power to expose the subject.

A couple of rough examples.

1. Point metering, no flash. Not the blown sky.

2. Fill flash, blue skies and fluffy clouds.

EDIT: Wow I was slow!

 

[jimmy83]

Ok thanks people, I certainly need to learn about focusing in more depth. Whole the above techniques be the same for large buildings/objects in shadow too? But you wouldn't really be able to use a flash as a fill...

 

[Russ77]

Some examples as promised.....

Not a great one, think I was a little too far away for the flash to have a real effect

 

[LongLensPhotography]

You could also use a reflector as an alternative to flash

 

[me15]

Ok thanks people, I certainly need to learn about focusing in more depth. Whole the above techniques be the same for large buildings/objects in shadow too? But you wouldn't really be able to use a flash as a fill...

Don't think anyone noticed this but I'm afraid you have the wrong end of the stick. This is all about exposure and has nothing to do with focusing. Focusing determines which areas of your image appear sharp and clearly defined (in focus) and hich appear blurred (out of focus).

Try reading this about using fill flash

Click Here. It may help.

Heres a nice tutorial on the basics of exposure

Click Here

I suggest buying Bryan Peterson's book 'Understanding Exposure'. It's a great starting point and will help you take much more control of your camera.