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Here's another one I took while I was in the Caribbean, this time it was for a story on the old salt rakers who used to work in the industry on the island before the market collapsed. Sam (the model) was one of the original salt rakers.

I thought while I was doing the shoot that everything was going peachy, but when I got back to look at the shots I was disappointed with the fact that I hadn't coped with the extremes of dark skin vs. white shirt very well.

This shot is (I think) the best of an ordinary bunch, so I would like some feedback from other togs that have had to deal with similar conditions. Again, I had no access to bounces, lights or a decent flash, so I suppose I was up against it. I prefer to use natural light where I can though, so comments on working with natural light in this situation are also appreciated.

You can see more shots from this project hereif interested.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/simonrenton/1937805276/" title="IMG_6170 by simon renton, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2370/1937805276_c2b062deb7.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="IMG_6170" /></a>

Hi Simon,

simonrenton wrote:I thought while I was doing the shoot that everything was going peachy, but when I got back to look at the shots I was disappointed with the fact that I hadn't coped with the extremes of dark skin vs. white shirt very well.

This is where you need to take control of the exposure, rather than let the camera do it for you. The sky is beautifully exposed in this image. Too bad it's not your subject.

The best way to address this sort of issue is to try to reduce the contrast range, and bring it back to within the tolerances that you know your camera can deal with. In this case, I would suggest the addition of more light into the shadow areas of the subject.

Failing that, let the sky blow out. You want the skin tones and the shadow details? Who cares if the sky is FUBAR?

Again, I had no access to bounces, lights or a decent flash, so I suppose I was up against it.

I don't accept this statement. If you're going out intending to shoot a particular subject, then you should be prepared, but regardless ...

What body were you using? Does it have a built-in flash? Using it at 1/2 power (or thereabouts) can be very useful in these sorts of situations. In the right hands, it shouldn't be noticeable that you've used a flash.

Meter for the bright areas, and dial your flash's power to suit your meter reading. So, if your meter is telling you that you're going to be shooting 1/250 and f/16, then (presuming your camera's flash sync speed is 1/250) set your on-board flash to f/16 or f/22, and away you go. Maybe cover the flash with a bit of tissue paper to provide a little diffusion ...

As to reflectors ... I have a sheet that's in my lighting kit: silver on one side, white on the other, basically it's like a space blanket, and while it's more than a metre square in terms of surface area, folded, it can fit into my jeans pocket. There are other reflectors you can purchase very inexpensively, or you can use some reflective material: a car sunshade, a white sheet, or you can buy, for just a coupe of bucks, some fcb at your local office jerks store. Buy it with white on one side, black on the other. Not as portable as some other solutions, but easy to handle, inexpensive, and readily available.

And don't overlook the fact that you can perhaps move the subject into a shady area where the contrast won't be as bad. In looking at this image, you may have even been able to use the building that you've used in the background as a reflector. The hues that I can see would have produced a rather warm, but pleasing, tonal quality, I think.

There's lots of possible solutions to the problem, but you need to be prepared to encounter the problem first.

Well I really like this shot, even if you feel it has accomplished what you were intending. As you've asked about natural light only, I'll refrain from mention fill flash, or some off camera flash strobist style.

What I would suggest would of helped is a reflector, no don't immediately think, I need an assistant and additional gear, as the world around us provides us with reflectors and various natural light sources all around us. You could of got this gentleman to stand hear a bright sunlight wall to provide additional lighting, and if possible tried to light his face more then his shirt to help compensate.

I have to ask at this point what sort of metering were you using ? I would of thought spot, or centre metering would of helped keep detail in his face and the shadows, but you would of blown the highlights in the shirt. Don't want the blown highlights, give him a navy blue shirt to wear instead ?

Maybe a smallish handheld reflector only casting light on his face is the optimal solution in this case, but I think you'll find your facing a similar challenge as most wedding photogs, (white dress, black suit) trying to keep a shot well exposed with objects of very different luminance.

Seeing as there is probably no real possibility of returning I would work on the image itself is PS. The only factor of distraction in this shot is the sky. Clone out the sky and you will end up with a fantastic pic to be proud of.

Thanks Gary, Alpha_7 and sirehc55 for your feedback.

Gary:

What body were you using? Does it have a built-in flash?

Canon 30D, so yes.

Meter for the bright areas, and dial your flash's power to suit your meter reading. So, if your meter is telling you that you're going to be shooting 1/250 and f/16, then (presuming your camera's flash sync speed is 1/250) set your on-board flash to f/16 or f/22, and away you go.

This is the stuff I really don't understand. I just recently upgraded to the Nikon D300 so I can see how you can use the flash compensation meter to boost or drop the flash intensity, but there's a gap in my understanding in how to translate a (for example) "+/- 1 stop" compensation to mean the flash is now operating at say f16. Is there a thread on here that talks about this? Or on strobist? I've started going through the tutorials and blogs there, and there's a lot of stuff on there. A pointer to something that talks about this topic in particular would be great.

As to reflectors ... I have a sheet that's in my lighting kit: silver on one side, white on the other, basically it's like a space blanket, and while it's more than a metre square in terms of surface area, folded, it can fit into my jeans pocket.

Just went and bought a fold up space blanket from Kathmandu. Thanks for the tip. I also splurged a bit on a Lastolite reflector to go in my toy bag.

Alpha_7:

Well I really like this shot

Thanks Alpha_7! I'm interested to understand at what point a lighting effect like what I was going for here becomes generally perceived by other photographers as an intentional compositional element rather than a booboo. Is it just a personal taste thing that's different to each observer do you think?

I have to ask at this point what sort of metering were you using ? I would of thought spot, or centre metering would of helped keep detail in his face and the shadows, but you would of blown the highlights in the shirt. Don't want the blown highlights, give him a navy blue shirt to wear instead ?

I either metered off the side of his face for this shot where it was exposed to direct sun or his shirt, can't exactly remember now. The shirt was one of the props for the shoot, so that wasn't an option that day!

sirhc55:

The only factor of distraction in this shot is the sky. Clone out the sky and you will end up with a fantastic pic to be proud of.

Not sure what I would do with that space if I got rid of the sky, sirhc55? I thought it was a fairly neutral background...

simonrenton wrote:
I'm interested to understand at what point a lighting effect like what I was going for here becomes generally perceived by other photographers as an intentional compositional element rather than a booboo. Is it just a personal taste thing that's different to each observer do you think?

Nothing that works is ever a booboo.

Unless you admit it - and most of us wouldn't.

But, more seriously, the old adage "You learn by your mistakes" is never more true than in photography. Once you recognise a mistake, and how to correct it, then you have mastered a technique.

Fill Flash, reflectors and anything else you could have applied to this image would only destroy, not add to what you have here. All you have to do to improve this image is crop the top and right hand side of the image a little to lose some of the empty space in the right of the frame..... do this and the image will look fantastic.

simonrenton wrote:Thanks Gary, Alpha_7 and sirehc55 for your feedback.

Gary:

What body were you using? Does it have a built-in flash?

Canon 30D, so yes.

Meter for the bright areas, and dial your flash's power to suit your meter reading. So, if your meter is telling you that you're going to be shooting 1/250 and f/16, then (presuming your camera's flash sync speed is 1/250) set your on-board flash to f/16 or f/22, and away you go.

This is the stuff I really don't understand. I just recently upgraded to the Nikon D300 so I can see how you can use the flash compensation meter to boost or drop the flash intensity, but there's a gap in my understanding in how to translate a (for example) "+/- 1 stop" compensation to mean the flash is now operating at say f16. Is there a thread on here that talks about this? Or on strobist? I've started going through the tutorials and blogs there, and there's a lot of stuff on there. A pointer to something that talks about this topic in particular would be great.

This is actually deceptively easy to understand, and especially so whith a Nikon. Canon's don't have spot metering, so it's a tad more difficult, but once you understand the basics with one system, the actual system becomes irrelevant.

Let's work within the Nikon realm, as that's your newest toy.

And we'll do this the semi PHD way. We can cover what's actually happening once you do this successfully.

On the back of the D300, directly above the CF compartment door release, there's a three position switch. Set it to the small dot setting. In your camera menus, set the AF type to 21 or 51 AF, but not 3D.

I think that's all we need to do to set the camera to spot metering - RTFM to be sure.

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Next, we need to set the FEC. Hold down the flash button, and rotate the front command dial. This will dial up and/or down the relative power of your on-board flash.

The "relative" is to your overall exposure. Set it to -1.3 for starters. This means that the flash will be underpowered, relative to what the camera thinks the correct amount of flash for a scene should be, to the extent of 1.3 stops.

If you were shooting in the dark, with the flash as your primary light source, you'll find your images to be dark and underexposed. But in this case your flash is a secondary (fill) light source, and you are using it to add some extra light and fill in some shadows. A very different situation.


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Now, using the thumb pad on the back of the camera (make sure there's no image being displayed in the LCD) you can move the focus point being used around the viewfinder. This also takes your metering point with it: you are metering at the highlighted point in the VF.

When you're shooting, use this to select an appropriate point where your image will be focussed upon and metered from.

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As we're doing this the PHD way, it's time to go forth and shoot something.

Choose a bright sunny day. The brighter the better. Grab a friend, and have them stand out in the sun, with their back towards the sun.

Stand in front of them; close, but not too close: you're wanting a head and shoulders shot.

Set the camera to A mode, turn on the flash.

Using the method described above, select an appropriate focus/metering point, focus, shoot, chimp.

Don't look at the image while chimping, but make sure that your histogram is good. The image as displayed is not a good indication of exposure, but the histogram is. Do use the image display to verify focus though.

Adjust your FEC factor up or down till you get an acceptable balance between flash and the available light.

Three, maybe four shots should do it for you.

Let's see what you can do with that information for starters.

As to reflectors ... I have a sheet that's in my lighting kit: silver on one side, white on the other, basically it's like a space blanket, and while it's more than a metre square in terms of surface area, folded, it can fit into my jeans pocket.

Just went and bought a fold up space blanket from Kathmandu. Thanks for the tip. I also splurged a bit on a Lastolite reflector to go in my toy bag.

Excellent.


Do we need to have an emergency micromeet to run through this stuff?

What's the fuss about? I love this image the way it is!

Canon 30d does have spot meetering

gstark wrote:On the back of the D300, directly above the CF compartment door release, there's a three position switch. Set it to the small dot setting.

The selector to set metering mode is to the right of the viewfinder, around the AE-L/AF-L button. The switch you describe is used to set AF mode.

Choose a bright sunny day. The brighter the better. Grab a friend, and have them stand out in the sun, with their back towards the sun.

Hopefully we see the sun in Melbourne sometime soon! 17 degrees here today and feels like winter has come back... Hopefully Xmas Day will be good to me for some sun!

Do we need to have an emergency micromeet to run through this stuff?

Anything that involves lighting situations/training will appeal to me. I'm in Melb until early Jan though.

What's the fuss about? I love this image the way it is!

Cheers Matt.K!