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Hello,

Wondering if anyone can offer me some tips on improving lighting for models at sunset. This is a typical example from my saturday shoot, where I took an average of the two, exposeure for the sunset, and the model, and its really just in between.

I am absolutely new to this lighting technique, so please start with the basics (most interested in feedback related to how I can better light her, while improving the exposure of the horizon).

This was with SB600, and 28-70/2.8. I would rather more DOF, this was at 2.8, but much rather f11+.

Im not overly pleased with my results, but I am very keen to learn!
Kind Regards,
Oz

Hi Oz,

This is an image where I would be working hard to get the flash off camera to the side of the frame. There are a couple of reasons for this, this first being that it will add some modelling to the model, but another reason is that it will get rid of that nagging spectral highlight that is on the front of the car. The cars paint job is both black (so it is going to absorb loads of light no matter what you throw at it) but it is also shiny and so it will treat light in much the same way as a mirror will. You would be better off trying to get light fron the sunset reflected down the side of the car in the shiny finish but then add some off camera flash to reveal the model (as a hint at this point, either add a warming gel to the flash to warm the model or raise the WB Kelvin to get a warming effect).

Hope this is a help! Maybe we can try out this idea again at a Melbourne workshop! Cheers, Antsl

Hi Oz,

I'm probably completely out of my depth here - however I assume the model needs a bit more light (her colours (skin tone) are flat and exposure is dim)
The Porsche may also need a bit more light - maybe you can accomplish both with a slightly hotter flash.
Or use two flashes - onboard plus remote.

Would love to have both subjects to do shooting.
I think you have chosen quite a challenge re photographing.

HTH,
CD

christiand wrote:I'm probably completely out of my depth here - however I assume the model needs a bit more light (her colours (skin tone) are flat and exposure is dim)
The Porsche may also need a bit more light - maybe you can accomplish both with a slightly hotter flash.
Or use two flashes - onboard plus remote.
I think you have chosen quite a challenge re photographing.

It was quite a challenge. Only about 20 minutes of colorful sky, then it clouded over quick (being melbourne). I guess using a hotter flash would be ideal, but I dont have battery packs for my 500w/s. Only a SB-600 and an adjustable flash bracket. I would have liked to have asked 7zark7 to hold the flash camera left, but he was busy at the time...

What about metering the exposure?

if I meter for the sky, will TTL on flash provide fill? and then I can adjust the flash up/down accordingly?

cheers,
Oz

Antsl wrote:You would be better off trying to get light fron the sunset reflected down the side of the car in the shiny finish but then add some off camera flash to reveal the model (as a hint at this point, either add a warming gel to the flash to warm the model or raise the WB Kelvin to get a warming effect).

Hope this is a help! Maybe we can try out this idea again at a Melbourne workshop!

Yes, thanks for your help.

I agree, next time, I will try more with the light along the side of the car, and the model with a closer by flash...

Would welcome to work on this shot/subjects at the Melbourne Workshop!

One of the things worth taking on a shoot is a light stand and a small way of attaching an SB-600 or SB-800 to the top of the light stand (for this I use a small wrist strap for cell phones... the large loop goes about the flash and the small loop connects to the top of the stand... cheap but effective). In this instance with the model I would work with the flash off camera but in full manual mode so that the light remains constant no matter how I change the composition of the scene. To tweak the exposure use the aperture to control the flash and the shutter speed to control the sunset and ambient light.

I don't think you need any more power from the flash than you have in the SB-600, you just need to be clever in using it! Talk soon!

Antsl wrote: In this instance with the model I would work with the flash off camera but in full manual mode so that the light remains constant no matter how I change the composition of the scene. To tweak the exposure use the aperture to control the flash and the shutter speed to control the sunset and ambient light.

THanks for the great feedback, very useful.

I was concerned about slower shutter speeds, as I was handheld; I think it was just getting a little too dark to get the sunset in full color, handheld, at any smaller an aperture.

But, armed with more practice, I should have this right by the Melbourne workshop (fingers crossed).

Hi Oz.

The reflective number plate will give the flash a false reading in auto mode so setting it to manual as suggested by Antsl will help a lot. Removing the number plate would also be helpful.

I hope you don't mind, I did a quick & dirty pp to show it can be "saved". I'm sure a ps guru would do a lot better



Cheers, John

Have a look at the Strobist site:

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/02/welcome-to-strobist.html

There's loads of practical tips there that will help you with off-camera flash, including shots just like this one.

Cheers

If you are shooting RAW, which you should be, then I have a lot of success with this one which was posted earlier:Obviously, the first part of this was aimed at rigid landscape shots, so RAW users can skip to the bottom.
Digital ND Grad filter:

1) Take two pictures. One picture should be well exposed to the foreground, with the background overexposed. For example, if your background is a bright sky, the sky will appear overexposed since you've exposed for the foreground. Let's call this first image "Overexposed".

Then, for the second shot, do the exact opposite. This time your foreground will appear "underexposed", and your background well exposed.

2) Bring both images into Photoshop. Make sure you convert them to 8-bit mode.

3) Drag the overexposed picture on top of the underexposed one, while holding the SHIFT key. This will place them into 2 perfectly aligned layers.

4) Make a layer mask for the "overexposed" image by clicking on the layer mask icon at the bottom of the layers palette.

5) Click on the layer mask to make it active, and then select the linear gradient tool.

6) Drag a line from the top of the image toward the bottom until you reach the part of the image that it's not overexposed

The gradient you just created on the layer mask is the "digital split density filter". Now you can control the intensity of the effect by using the "Opacity" slider.

*Note: Raw shooters only need 1 RAW file converted to 2 images. First convert your RAW file into a non-linear image (overexposed). Next, convert the same file to a linear image (underexposed). Then, follow the same steps. Place the underexposed image on the bottom layer and the overexposed image on the top layer(Go back up to Step 3 above & continue). For the non-linear file, use "High" contrast when converting the RAW file.

You would have to firstly get as good a balance with your flash/background exposure as possible, but it does increase your dynamic range somewhat
I did just this in number three image at http://www.dslrusers.net/viewtopic.php?p=251615#251615 The back of the pier was in deep shadow and the background was pure sun right in the frame.
All the best
Col

forgive me if this has been said... I just skimmed the responses...

Your flash seems to have have been positioned low - hence the flash highlight evident in the front of the car...

The camera's pre-flash monitor would have set the exposure of the photo bouncing back from the reflected surface of the car (correct me if Im wrong)

If this is the case, your camera has underexposed for this fact - the light has blared back into the sensor - simple try and shoot into a non-reflective surface in the future.

Regards,
Jonathan

Not enough light has been inflicted on the subject here. Maybe 2 stops up would have been more the appropriate.
Jethro

thanks heaps for the useful feedback all.

now I just need to get a few hours to give it a go with many of the files... ahh, rainy days...