Outdoor Portrait

[ricardobarandiaran]

<p>Hi! <br />I've been taking outdoor portraits but have the problem of either the sky looks great but the subject is too dark or the faces are clear but the sky is just white. <br />I used the sony a99 with tamron 28-75mm lenses f2.8. <br />any suggestion?</p><div></div>

[ant_nio_marques]

A lot of the history of Photography revolves around that, Ricardo! Keywords are highlights, shadows, metering, exposing

for, ae lock...

 

There probably is something in the Learning section of the site, but I'll let someone who actually knows something about

taking photos give the best pointers.

[jon_shumpert2]

<p>Hi Ricardo. Balancing the light on your subject with the background can be a problem, but there are many ways of overcoming them. One way would be to find a location where the subject and the background are equal in light intensity. However, if you want a bright sky as a background, that would mean putting your subject in direct sunlight. That creates more issues with harsh shadows. In the photo you provided as an example, many photographers would expose for the background and use flash or reflectors to give more light on the subjects. Some don't like using flash on the camera and use off camera flash. There are many resources for learning flash techniques but my favorite is <a href="http://www.strobist.blogspot.com/">http://www.strobist.blogspot.com/</a>. It is good for learning the basics of flash photography but also has a lot of information on more advanced techniques. I hope this helps. You came to the right place to ask questions. There are countless knowledgeable members who can help with just about any question you have. </p>

[ricardobarandiaran]

<p>Thanks for the responses! my goal is to be able to take pictures where the people is well illuminated and at the same time capture the clouds and the blue sky.<br>

I forgot to mention that I use an external flash on the camera that I usually move in different positions to try to get the best shot.</p>

[tom_mann1]

<p>OP: <em>"...I forgot to mention that I use an external flash on the camera that I usually move in different positions to try to get the best shot..."</em><br>

This is a great first step, but I don't see much evidence in the photo that you posted that your flash made the foreground as bright as, or even a bit brighter than the background. If it had done this, you would have been able to reduce the overall exposure. Then, the sky and rest of the background would have picked up more detail, but the subjects would have been properly exposed.</p>

<p>I am not familiar with the controls on that camera, but for many other cameras, the flash is typically adjusted to be about "one stop down" (plus or minus a lot - adjust to taste) from the main exposure. If you did not explicitly make such an adjustment, chances are that doing so will make your picture more like what you want. </p>

<p>Also, read your instruction manual carefully: To separately adjust the flash power and main exposure, one usually has to set the camera in a mode that allows this, certainly not full automatic. I don't know what this mode is called on your camera, but on other cameras it often has a name such as "balanced fill flash".</p>

<p>Once you have this technique down, you may notice that the lighting from your on-camera flash looks a bit harsh and not very flattering. At this point, you should read up on more advanced techniques, eg, off-camera flash, use of softboxes, multiple flashes, etc.</p>

<p><br />HTH,</p>

<p>Tom M</p>

[Ian Taylor]

<p>If you want to capture the sky and clouds you have to underexpose the ambient and fill with flash. Takes practice, but it's doable.<br>

Your shot is nice. </p>

[William Michael]

<blockquote>

<p >Tom Mann:<br>

‘OP: <em>"...I forgot to mention that I use an external </em><strong><em>flash on the camera</em></strong><em> that I usually </em><strong><em>move in different positions</em></strong><em> to try to get the best shot..."</em><br>

“. . . <strong>I don't see much evidence . . . that your flash made the foreground as bright as, or even a bit brighter than the background.</strong>” ’</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I don’t see much evidence of Flash either. There is a very small highlight on the Man’s Watch and that might be the only evidence of the Flash Exposure in the whole image.</p>

<p>The EXIF for that image states: F/2.8 @ 1/60^thsec. @ ISO160; Flash Fired; Pattern Metering; Aperture Priority Mode; 60mm lens; Exposure Compensation = 0; shot at 5:06pm</p>

<p>If that is a full frame crop of the image, then using a 60mm lens on your Sony you’d be about 10ft from the Subjects.</p>

<p>(Extrapolating for the ‘F/16 Rule’): For an overcast, late afternoon (which it appears to be, referencing no harsh shadows and clouds in background sky), we’d expect an exposure for a Subject lit by ONLY the AMBIENT LIGHT to be about:<br>

[ <strong>F/4~ F/5.6 @ 1/160^th sec. @ ISO160</strong> ] ≡ [ <strong>F/2.8 @ 1/80^thsec.~1/160^th sec. @ISO160</strong> ]<br>

(note this is close to the AUTOMATIC EXPOSURE <strong>that your CAMERA CHOSE</strong> in PATTERN METERING MODE.)</p>

<p>(Extrapolating for the ‘F/16 Rule’): To “correctly” expose the SKY and CLOUDS in those same conditions we’d expect an exposure about ONE STOP closed down to that of a SUBJECT in the scene. i.e. : <br>

[ F/5.6~ F/8 @ 1/160^th sec. @ ISO160 ] ≡ [ F/4 @ 1/80^thsec.~1/160^th sec. @ISO160 ]</p>

<p>***</p>

<p>What I think has happened for the sample shot is:</p>

<p>1. PATTERN METERING worked as expected and averaged the almost equally large areas of BLACK and WHITE (clothing) and made that the ‘correct exposure’ for the scene, thus <strong>rendering the sky and clouds in the background about one stop overexposed. </strong></p>

<p>2. ON CAMERA FLASH<strong> had no impact on the exposure</strong>, this may be due to a number of reasons and the main contenders are probably:</p>

<p>a) the Flash was situated farther than the Maximum Working Distance for the Av and ISO chosen (what model flash and what is its GUIDE NUMBER?)<br>

b) the FLASH was not set to Full Power / Auto Mode<br>

c) the Flash was not direct (i.e. it had the head set to TILT and/or SWIVEL)<br>

d) the Flash did not fully recycle<br>

e) the Flash was used through or with a diffuser or light modifier. </p>

<p>***</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>Ian: <br>

“If you want <strong>to capture the sky and clouds you have to underexpose the ambient and fill with flash.</strong>”</p>

</blockquote>

<p>One method of approaching this type of shot is to consider the (usually two) key SUBJECTS that you want exposed “correctly”. In this case those two key Subjects are:<br>

a) the clouds and sky of the background<br>

b) the people in the foreground</p>

<p>Then I explain to students that they consider that there are TWO exposures necessary – (refer to my above). The Sky and the Clouds are lit by the AMBIENT LIGHT so we need to calculate the exposure necessary for those two Subjects to be “correctly exposed”. I find this easiest to do with the Camera in MANUAL MODE. (It can be achieved in Aperture Priority Mode – but I will not explain that method now).</p>

<p>Let us for example say we used our TTL Meter and calculated the “correct exposure” for the Sky and Clouds to be: F/4 @ 1/60^th sec. @ ISO160. Let us also assume that we want a very shallow DoF and that we want to use F/2.8, so we set the Camera to: F/2.8 @ 1/120^thsec. @ ISO160.</p>

<p>Provided that the FLASH is situated within its MAXIMUM WORKING DISTANCE for use at F/2.8 @ ISO 160, then the Flash can now be set on AUTO TTL MODE and the people in the foreground will be “correctly exposed” by the automatic functions of the Flash and Camera working together as they calculate what is the “correct” amount of FLASH for the FOREGROUND SUBJECTS.</p>

<p>The Photographer will (of course) override this automatic TTL Flash Functionality by using FLASH EXPOSURE COMPENSATION to render the correct artistic balance of Flash Fill to Ambient Exposure for the shot.</p>

<p>The amount of Flash Exposure Compensation varies by scene situation (indoors / outdoors) and also taking into account of the COLOUR(s) of the Foreground Subject(s). Practice and experience makes a good teacher in this regard. Digital Capture (as opposed to Film) has the advantage of instant review.</p>

<p><a href="/portraits-and-fashion-photography-forum/00cwQm">You may find comments in this thread useful</a></p>

<p>WW</p>

[bob_bill]

<p>As William points out, use Manual (Manly) mode.<br>

Set your choice of aperture and set shutter speed at max sync speed since you are having difficulty getting the background as dark as you want.<br>

Take a shot of the background. If it is too bright, you have to move to a different location as shutter speed controls the area not lit by flash and you are at your fastest sync speed. Move to somewhere where you get a bg brightness you like.<br>

Bring in light and power up for desired brightness. Adjust flash power or move light closer or further to get desired brightness of subject. If it won't be bright enough with full flash power, open aperture. </p>

[twmeyer]

<p>I'd choose a location/POV/Time of day/season according to my desired effect. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.thesartorialist.com/page/2/">This guy</a> is a master at exactly that. I've learned a lot looking at his photos... about making portraits, <em>and</em> how to dress :^)... t</p>

[craig_shearman1]

<p>You don't necessarily have to move. Use your lowest ISO. Start with the highest sync speed as Bob says. Then close down the aperture until you've got the background where you want it. Then adjust the flash to match that aperture. Sometimes you can do that with a shoemount flash. Sometimes it takes a more powerful flash. As one of the other posts recommended, <a href="http://www.strobist.com">www.strobist.com</a> is the place to learn.</p>

[twmeyer]

<p>You don't necessarily have to move, but it's certainly an option to consider. <br /><br />Put your subject in what Neil Turner calls any "available shade", then set your camera to a proper exposure for the sunlit background, then set your flash to give proper exposure for your subject... t</p><div></div>

[bob_h]

<p>Just because you are shooting outdoors does not mean that including the sky in the background is mandatory. Get creative, look about for a few different places to shoot where the background does not have the sky in view.</p>