Too much backlight

[tonylarcombe]

Ok, I shot a wedding on Saturday, all went well, the bride turned up

in a pretty neat black custom car, pretty cool. The posed shots

were backlit by the sun, I fill flashed, the B+G etc are properly

exposed, but the background is very bright. I was using P mode,

Canon 20D, how do I avoid this ?

[halina]

Shoot manual. Expose for the sun & fill in with flash.

 

Halina

[EricM]

"how do I avoid this ?"

 

Stop using the tourist modes and learn how your gear responds to various settings under various conitions so it all becomes intuitive and first nature on manual.

 

digital won't record the extreme contrast like film will here, either.

 

bracket mode. pop off three exposures at 2/3 differnce?

 

did you shoot raw? you can make three or four layers from different raw settings and using masking layers to make a nice overall exposure. it takes time and perhaps only for the winners.

[jaimie blue]

"how do I avoid this ?"

 

By not shooting weddings or anything else in program mode. If you are shooting manual you can balance the background. I work in extreme lighting conditions and have to balance subject and background and have to have detail in background whether at night with ambient or in 110 degrees with blasting sun. In that case I go Shutter 250 or whatever your fastest sync capability is, fstop stopped down, flash full power that will usually allow me to have a decent background htat is not overexposed.

[tonylarcombe]

Yeah, ok, Manual. "Expose for the sun", and what does that mean ?

[nuno_amado]

Tony,

 

"Expose for the sun" means that you have to take care not to overexpose the background. I think that what Halina meant was: First, expose for the sun (backlight in your case); Second, use the flash to fill the shadow areas so as to have fully lit subjects in the foreground.

 

And, by the way, I agree with everyone else: if you are working seriously do not use Auto Programs.

 

Best Regards,

Nuno

[james_lai]

Another possible solution would have been to reposition the car and the couple so they were not backlit or moved them someplace where the lighting was more favorable.

 

Just wondering, was this a paid gig or a favor for a friend?

[james_lai]

Hi Tony, I just had a quick peek at your website. Please ignore my "just wondering."

[stacy]

You can underexpose in the camera and over expose on the flash (try 1 stop first) to keep the sky and properly expose the couple. A little trick from Jonathan Adams- thank you wherever you are :)<div></div>

[ericwarnke]

I'm actually putting together a step-by-step on canon flash photography in the creative modes since it's totally counter intuative to the person comming from consumer cameras.

 

Wat everyone is referring to is setting the camera to MANUAL. You then use the apature and speed control while pointing at the bright background and make all necessary adjustments until the exposure indicator is at + 1 3/4 ( or so ). Turn on the flash and start shooting. It WILL work.

 

To simulate this take a subject and place them in front of a bright window. Set to M, point camera out window and set for +1 3/4 exposure, turn on flash compose shot and snap. You may need to play with FEC to get the subject exposed correctly.

[tonylarcombe]

Stacey - that's what I'm talking about, great picture. Eric, thank you for going back to basics for me, that's just what I needed.

[jaimie blue]

Tony, I just viewed your website and think your shots are really beautiful. Your work looks artistically, esthically, and technically proficient, you seem to really know what you are doing, I am surprised you had difficulty achieving balance between subject and background in complicated lighting conditions because your work seems to reflect art and expertise. I guess I am surprised that you shot on Program mode in regards to this situation... Some really beautiful work.

[lb-]

beautiful girl stacy!

[steve_levine]

Too much backlight, or a photographer that doesn't have a clue? This is a pretty basic PHOTO 101 question, for a working wedding shooter to be asking.

[stacy]

Thanks Lucas- there she is quietly refusing to go to her swim class because she "hates" the teacher...she's a doll with a mind of her own :)

[lb-]

well she's adorable. is she yours?

 

since we're using backlit grumpy kids to as examples I guess I'll add one.

 

balancing the sky with fill flash is one thing but when the sun is directly behind the

subjects I think it's fine to let the sky blowout. looks natural. otherwise you need so

much flash to balance that it looks funky.<div></div>

[stacy]

yep- she's mine, but I don't take responsibility for her willful personality :)

[zapped]

Eric Warnke wrote: "To simulate this take a subject and place them in front of a bright window. Set to M, point camera out window and set for +1 3/4 exposure, turn on flash compose shot and snap. You may need to play with FEC to get the subject exposed correctly."

 

I disagree with these instructions. If you "point camera out window" you will be reading the outside (bright) exposure setting. Eric says you want to adjust the camera in M mode until it reads +1 3/4 exposure. That would indeed brighten up the exposure of the ambient in the (dark) room and on the (dark) subject, but it would still overexpose the background. Maybe Eric's digital camera allows for nearly two stops of overexposure without blowing highlights, but mine sure doesn't.

 

With a 20D, I'd set the aperture/shutter until the exposure outside read correctly (meter centered), then whether or not the interior + subject was actually reading two or three stops below that exposure, I'd let the flash illuminate the subject properly. If I were willing to allow a little overexposure of the background I might go to +1/2 stop, but not 1-3/4 stops.

[grant g]

Mr. Zapped is right. Eric Warnke's advice might work if you are using the on-board or an underpowered flash in an extremely high contrast situation and you are trying to shoot at the limits of your equipment/synch speed. That is AS MUCH exposure compensation that you can dial in without completely blowing out background highlights. Not how much you *should* use given the right (powerful enough) flash equipment.

 

Typically, I meter for the background or up to a stop under. FEC is then adjusted for the color/reflectivity of the subject.

[ericwarnke]

Work fine with my canon... +1 1/2 will just keep the background detail assuming you are shooting with RAW. The advice given is just the reason why people get so flustered with canon semi-profectional and profesional flash photography. It's a simple matter of exposing for the background and then using flash to bring your subject up to a reasonable brightness.

[ericwarnke]

http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/index2.html#confusion

[patrick_lockwood]

I would never shoot in the P mode in this situation.

<p>

I shoot this as follows: f/11, ISO 100, shutter 1/250, and start the flash at f/8, more power if needed by reviewing the monitor.

<P>

Easier to do if shooting digital, so with film, just experiement. I would never shoot in this situation with TTL.

<p>

<img src=http://www.patricklockwood.com/braham/images/085-d_std.jpg>

 

<P>

Patrick

[fotografz]

IMO, the real objective of mastering flash work is to appear as if NO FLASH was used at all.

 

So, let's step back for a minute and disengage the discussion from camera gear, flashes

and brand names ... and instead discuss the qualities of light.

 

The principle to understand here is "Light Balance". While the human eye can adjust it's

"aperture" from dark to light based on whatever the brain is focusing on, a camera/lens/

film or sensor cannot "see" all levels of light at the same time. They cannot see the sun

filled noon sky, and inside the cave opening in the foreground at the same time. To see

both requires selecting one to dominate the other ( either letting the cave go dark or

letting the sky go to bright ... like Lucas' example above) ... OR using some artificial light

to help bring them into balance. Since we can't light the sky with a camera strobe ; -),

then we have to light the foreground subject so it we can see it at the same time as seeing

the sky.

 

To accomplish this requires a firm understanding of how to use your camera's shutter

speed & the lens aperture in coordination with artificial light. To simplify the procedure

think of it this way ... start by completely ignoring the subject in the foreground and

pretending there wasn't a flash on the camera ...

 

1) How would you shoot the scene in front of you without anything in the foreground?

You'd meter it for a natural looking photo. If it was a bright noon sky perhaps you'd meter

something around you like partially shaded grass. But you would get the "landscape"

exposure right for the scene however you usually do it.

 

2) now pop in the foreground subject. Because the camera is set to see the noon sky, the

back lit foreground subject will be underexposed and in some cases with really strong

backlight will be rendered as a silhouette (like the cave). BUT, there is some light hitting it

... just not enough. So supplemental flash to the rescue to bring the subject into "Balance "

with the background.

 

3) Now ignore the background for a second (we already have that exposed correctly). How

much light do we need to add to the subject using the flash? While there are rules of

thumb for fill flash, you can experiment with this idea to really understand light balance:

 

Fill the frame with a neutral or middle tone part of the foreground subject and meter that

with your camera's meter leaving the shutter speed as is and adjusting the aperture only.

 

Now compare that aperture setting with the setting you needed for the background. The

difference is pretty close to how much you have to "compensate" the flash to bring it all

into balance. Most all modern flashes have a simple to operate "compensation" dial or

button to + or - the amount of flash hitting the subject. If the difference was 1 stop more

light needed for the foreground subject, then compensate the flash 1 stop more (+). After

doing that a few times, you'll get so you intuitively know about how much is required, so

you can do it swiftly.

 

Here is a shot where the highlights off the water in the background would have led to an

underexposed subject in the foreground. I metered the grass for the camera settings

and intuitively compensated the TTL flash 1 stop to the plus side.<div></div>

[fotografz]

Since kids seem to be the subject, I'm also using this as an excuse to demonstrate the

concept using my first Grandchild, Grace Williams, as the subject. The light in the

background was almost a stop and 1/2 over the foreground subject which was in shade.

 

Sorry for the double post Mary, but I just can't help myself ; -)<div></div>

[rich_taylor____mequon__wi]

I agree with Steve. Something doesn't compute. This is a pretty basic question on balancing ambient and flash, and seems out of place coming from a working photographer. If I hadn't seen the website (which adds more confusion to the question because the images are quote nice), I wouldn't have believed the original question came from a pro, especially given that it mentioned shooting in Program mode.

I won't lose any sleep over it, but it is odd.