Bright daylight photography

I need to know how to make good exposures during a bright mid day

sunny day. Even with a fill flash I still get shadows and the

subjects typically are squinting their eyes because of the

brightness.

 

When I use a fill flash how do I get the color of the flash to be the

exact same as the sun? I typically find that all of my flashes leave

things a little blue or if nothing else a different color then the

sun.

 

I'm shooting a EOS 1-Ds with either the Canon 550EX or a Quantum T2D

Flash.

 

Thanks

 

travis@travisgagnonphoto.com

How much control over your subjects position do you have? I always try and coax folks

over to the nearest bit of shade if there is any. Not much you can do about squinting, it's a

problem we all have to face if you can't control the conditions. A little trick that can help is

to acknowledge the bright sun and squinty conditions & ask them to close their eyes for a

moment. On cue, have them open their eyes. This often relaxes them enough to grab a

shot with no squints. --- For your flash, try picking up a piece of 1/8th CTO (warming gel)

and stick a small piece of it over the flash. This should help warm it up a bit. If it's not

enough, double it up. I agree small battery powered flashes are a bit cool.

Your flash is the same temperature as the mid-day sun (give or take). If shot at sunset the

sun is warmer than the flash. You can filter the flash to warm it in such cases.

 

IMO, the people in the scene should take priority as far as color temp is concerned. You

can set custom white balance if you want, and even lock that in as a preference using the

camera's menu controls. I just shoot RAW and refine the temp balance when processing (in

Adobe RAW I use the eyedropper then refine with the slider).

 

Anyone will squint if facing the sun or strong reflections from it. Avoid that.

 

If you are getting shadows on the face you can compensate your fill flash to+ a little bit

while setting the ambient camera exposure to - a little bit. Experiment to see the effects of

such adjustments and to determine how much works for you. The objective is to even out

the exposure range to be closer to the latitude of digital as opposed to neg film, which has

a greater latitude.

 

Use the CF 30 custom function to magnify the image on the LCD screen to check for

shadows. (CF 30 Image Magnification can only be programed into the 1Ds by connecting

the camera to the computer and setting it up on screen. Be sure to read the manual

concerning the steps to do this).

 

Hope this is of some help.

i think one of the best options is to either use a large diffuser and/or a gold/silver/white reflector. Obviously that requires an assistant, but then you can take them out of the direct sun, soften those squints, and reduce the shadows. Then hand meter off the face with a incident light meter.

 

Josh

first thing i thoughts was use your polarizer!!! gets that extra contrast, but forget the flash lol find a shadowy spot and expose for the shaded area making sure there isn't any uneven shadows, i learned from yousef karsh, check out his stuff, he never used artificial light much, i shot for last four years without a flash, but the warming gels on it sound like a plan

 

it works so wonderfully when you get a shot in the park or against some old architecture and don't have to worry about over exposed highlights, it's the most beautifully diffused light that not many studio lights under $500 can match the original lighting source;) good luck!

In the 1960's; we had a telephoto strobe rig. This was a homemade gun stock type affair; that held a giant THIN fresnel lens; in front of the XENON flash; or BULB flash one focal length away. This creates a focused strobe/flash; so a 200 to 400mm lens can be used FAR away. You want a fast fresnel lens; one with a short focal length to its size; so the flashes energy is focused. We used this in night football. Later strobes had clip on telephoto attachments; that sort of increase the reach. <BR><BR>Today with high slr sync speeds ; a strobe can be used to fill the shadows abit; as long as the "sports/players" dont get distracted with too much flash. Here I sometimes a dinky second hand Vivitar 265; that cost a might 2.98 from the thrift store. It has a wide/normal/tele moveable fresnel focuser; that is F5.6 at 38 feet; for iso 400. I use it at times at sunny sports events; to full the shadows abit; with maybe a 1/2 to 1/4 of the lighting from the flash....At long ranges; flash has no reflective surroundings; so do some tests; at different fill ratios. r

In super long shots; the guide number often poops out. The homemade rig I described yields flat lighting; if the one source is the strobe; and distances are long. If you have an assistant; one can move the strobe way off the camera; to get better lighting. This is abit of a goofy thing to do; while on a football sideline; with the extension cable (trip wire :) suspended between you and your buddy...