how do u shoot when ur against the light?

help!! im a beginner at this.. my cam's a canon A590, not really an slr.. but i knw there's gotta be a way to somehow

shoot when the light is behind the subject.. can anyone give me tips?

here was my attempt:

 

http://rheaty.multiply.com/photos/album/75/and_her_name_is_kisha.._kisha_sarit_catalan#11

 

how can i do better?

 

thanks..

 

- RHEA -

Turn on your flash. This will brighten up the subjects, bringing the light level on them closer to the light level of the background.

Rhea, using a point and shoot camera such as this, it will be very difficult to get a better shot with automatic settings. You'd really need to go to manual settings and increase the flash output. Digital cameras have a limited "dynamic range" which is the range the sensor can detect from dark areas to light areas. Your human eye has a very wide dynamic range, because it's the most perfect sensor ever developed. Your own eye could easily see the subject and the bright background behind them, because it has more dynamic range than a camera sensor.

 

There are a couple of things that would compensate for this. First, to keep from blowing out the bright background, and retain the details in it, your camera would need a higher shutter speed, probably somewhere above 1/250 of a second or faster. You'd need to experiment. Second, you'd need to increase the brightness of the flash, which would better illuminate the subjects. However, many cameras don't have the ability to syncronize the flash at higher shutter speeds, and I'm not sure if your Canon can do that or not. Your camera may only sync up to a certain speed, and may not have "high speed shutter".

 

Modern DSLR cameras often come with this HSS function, so you can increase the shutter speed to retain bright details, while filling in the foreground with increased flash output. This is one reason folks pay more for the DSLR cameras.

 

Your Canon camera may simply have limitations on how you can adjust it, but keeping the shutter speed fast, increasing the ISO number for dark locations, and adding more fill flash are all things I'd try to improve these shots.

 

I hope I've made all that understandable, but let me know if you're still fuzzy on anything. Regards!

I would use a fill flash. This will lighten your subjects but not over brighten the window light coming towards the lens. If your flash can be adjusted, bounce the light off a ceiling. If you want to get away from using the flash altogether, then you will need a reflector to help bounce the light back towards your subjects. Hope this answer helps.

On the picture i looked at, # 17, use fill in flash. If your camera does not have a fill flash mode, just take the picture with the flash on.

i am not sure if your camera allows for manual metering. a good bit of metering on the dark subjects and use of fill in flash as others have stated should solve the problems.

I took a shot for some honeymooners near the Four Seasons in Maui. The sun was setting over the ocean. They handed me their digital camera and I had them block the direct sun. I snapped the shot and the flash of course came on. It lit them up perfectly and the sky and clouds behind them still had enough natural light to be visible. They were very happy to say the least.

thank you all! you've been very helpful! when i was shooting this, my flash was set on the lowest level. i programmed this beforehand because i hate it when the light reflects and the colors are no longer that natural and vivid.. so in my latest photos i was using very minimal flash.. i guess thats why in this case my subjects weren't illuminated enough.. thank u for making me see the light!

 

steve, im very interested in manually adjusting my shutter speeds and apertures.. but i dont quite understand how they work.. i've been toying with them, sometimes i get it right, other times i get frustrated i just set it to automode.. like in low light and moving subjects.. my highest shutter speed is 1/2000, aperture is from F2.6-F8.. and wat use is iso? ive been reading tutorials but when i get behind the cam, i get confused. u dont have to exhaust urself with details .. just an overview will do.

thanks mUch!!

Go to a library and borrow a basic book about photography. Then just experiment until you get hold of it. Theory is actually very simple but application takes a lifetime. ;)

 

Overview.

 

Apertures: ...1.4, 2, 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11... (There are more but these are generally most usable.)

 

Smaller number means *wider* aperture, more light, each stop doubles or halves the light hitting the sensor.

 

Shutter speeds: ...1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250... (Looks more logical than aperture numbers.)

 

These are in seconds (fractions), each doubles or halves the light hitting the sensor.

 

ISO: ...50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600...

 

ISO speed is the light sensitivity of the sensor. Again each step doubles or halves the light.

 

These are all full steps (double/halve). Inbetween values like f3.5, 1/90 and ISO 640 are just what they look like.

 

-- It's all about balancing these three to get the image you want. --

 

Problems. Wider aperture gives you more blur in front and back of your focus point. Smaller aperture gives more area in acceptable focus. With a point and shoot camera like your A590 too much blur is almost never a problem (usually only in very close-up work, try shooting something, like flowers, very close zoom at the far end and see how the background blurs). dSLRs and larger formats are totally different deal, there the issue is painfully obvious. With A590 you can usually shoot at wide to medium aperture (f2.6 - f5.6) and not think about it much.

 

Shutter speed. You need fast shutter speed to get a sharp image of a fast moving subject (or learn panning, but let's not go there now). For fast cars try at least 1/500. For people in the street 1/125 is usually safe. Ever got a shaky blurred image? That's propably because of too slow shutter speed. People have different limits and focal length also matters. It's easier to get sharp image when shooting with wide angle than with telephoto. Practical lower limit is around 1/30s when shooting people, even if people are posing they tend to move a bit and you may get somewhat blurred image. Image stabilization helps, you may be able to handhold up to 1/8s but if your subjects are moving it doesn't help at all as only your shaky hands are stabilized. Tv mode lets you change shutter speed and camera takes care of the rest (if possible), experiment and find out what your limits are.

 

When light levels go down it's time to raise the ISO to get faster shutter speed. Problem is that image quality suffers at each step and with normal point and shoots like A590 it goes down really really fast at ISO 800. For small prints and web viewing ISO 800-1600 can be ok but I wouldn't use them unless absolutely necessary. But of course it depends on what you perceive as too noisy. Subject matter also plays a part on how objectionable the noise appears and sometimes very noisy images look better in black and white. Take some test shots at different ISO and see the effect *in print and web sized*, 100% view on your computer screen is handy for careful edits but it also makes people paranoid about image quality. There are many things that don't look so bad at 8x10, not to mention web size.

 

Yes, sometimes you simply can't balance them as you'd like but it's always worth a shot.

wow kari thank you! u make it sound so simple!

 

"usually only in very close-up work, try shooting something, like flowers, very close zoom at the far end and see how the background blurs" --> yup ive done this with flowers.. i like the blurring effect, it works!

 

i usually have problems with moving objects.. i usually put the flash on coz i noticed it helps capture moving people. thanks for pointing out the appropriate shutter speeds. il work it out..

 

"sometimes very noisy images look better in black and white. " --> really? cant wait to try it out..

so i set the cam to b&w mode before i take a shot? or edit the colored picture to b&w?

 

"Theory is actually very simple but application takes a lifetime. " ---> i have a whole lifetime to experiment!! =D

 

thanks for your help! =)

If your camera has afotometer (thatthing that tells you if you need more or less time for the exposure) Just change the exposure setting mode, thismodes appear like a frame that represents the picture's frame and it has spots on it. There are three modes, one is with a very tiny spot, this one helps us to just have the central or important object well lighted and leaving what sorrounds this darken. The second is a middle spot, for the same as the past but for big objects like buildings, cars etc. The last is of all the frame, thisis for landscapes, architechture and some other things. This modes help you to have light where you need and want light, and don't have it where you dont like it. So if you wanna light just the center but no the other parts that are actually bright of the picture use the tiny spot.

 

 

Hope this is helpful to you.

i dont think i have a fotometer... i do have a"center weighted average? setting.. could this be it? i dont know its use, but it does have a spot, center and evaluative choices..