photos towards bright sun

[funkychunkymonkey]

How do I take photos in my bright light house without having the people in them become a soloulette? I took some pictures of my freinds kids playing near my patio door and they were all great except the kids were shadows

 

[NateNLogansDad]

I'd expose for the bright light and use a fill flash. I'm still learning so I hope someone else will chime in soon.

 

[JoeDif]

Yes fill flash should work.

You can also spot meter off someones face but depending on how bright the background is, your subject would be exposed fine but the background might be totally blown out.

 

[AndrewWG]

Many times in situations like this, no matter what you do when getting the people exposed properly, the background is blown out (all white). I would give it a try by exposing the background and using a flash to fill in the light on the people, but expect the camera to sync to 1/200 or so with the flash, causing the background to still be blown out. The camera most likely is not designed to go faster than 1/200 or 1/250 with a flash so this is unavoidable. At least the people will be exposed nicely.

On the other hand, you can always get close to the people and see what settings the camera decides upon and then back up, change to manual and dial in those settings. Again, a blown out background but nicely exposed people.

Since the people are the subject, I am guessing you don't care about the background anyways so either way will work.

 

[photo_chick]

I usually expose for the people, since they are the important part of the picture, and worry about the background later. You can recover some of the blown out areas in post, especially if you shoot RAW.

 

[funkychunkymonkey]

Ok thanks! I wasnt too conserned with the backround, just with the kids who were so excited to get photogrpahed with the cat, and so excited to sing on there "stage". So now I know how to make it happen next time (cause we all know there will be one!)

 

[MICKEY88]

another thing to try is set your flash compensation to a plus 1 or 2..,

I've had situations where it was so bright outside that I set my exposure comp to -2, and my flash comp to +2

 

[WDWFigment]

another thing to try is set your flash compensation to a plus 1 or 2..,

I've had situations where it was so bright outside that I set my exposure comp to -2, and my flash comp to +2

That's what I do, too. Usually I don't go as high as +2 with the flash comp, but it all depends on the circumstances.

 

[mom2rtk]

I've been trying to improve my flash pictures lately too. So great question!

I get that you would need a fill flash in this situation, and have always done that. But when you guys say "expose for the background", do you mean that you meter the background, lock that exposure, then focus on the people? I'm just starting to use my exposure lock button and am still getting used to it.

As for the plan of using EC and FEC at +2 and +2 (or whatever)..... is this just sort of intuition.... trial and error....or what?

I guess my problem is that my kids won't stand still, wait for me to try one setting, review it on the LCD screen and make adjustments! Heck, they'd be in the next county by then!

 

[MICKEY88]

As for the plan of using EC and FEC at +2 and +2 (or whatever)..... is this just sort of intuition.... trial and error....or what?

for me it's 34 years of experience , and knowing what my camera and flash will do, not saying I always get it exactly right the first time , so there is also a little trial and error occassionally

 

[funkychunkymonkey]

I guess my problem is that my kids won't stand still, wait for me to try one setting, review it on the LCD screen and make adjustments! Heck, they'd be in the next county by then!

I try to get my bff's kids when there enterained, like watching a movie or yesterday, playing with the cat in the forbidden zone (aka my bedroom)

 

[zackiedawg]

BTW - one of the easiest ways to expose for the people when they're standing in front of a bright background like that is to switch to spot meter mode - this allows you to level the 'crosshair' center point on the precise area you'd like to meter on, then half-press to lock the exposure when you have it the way you like. With spot meter, you'll see amazingly different metering depending on where you point it - move it over the background, and that will go perfectly exposed while your subjects go to complete shadow; move the crosshairs over the people, and they will expose nicely, but the background will go to extreme blown out white hot nothingness. If you want both handled better, you may move the spot meter around to the edge between your subjects and the background, and the metering will split between the bright and the shadow.

Also, you have a feature on your camera called 'DRO' (dynamic range optimization). If you set the DRO mode on, to the most advanced setting, and expose a little better for the background with a little dark on the people, the DRO mode will boost the shadows (the people) for a more proper exposure. It won't work miracles, but it can help a bit.