How should I have done this lighting?

[Stefan A]

I took these 2 shots in my sunroom (lots of glass). I am not happy with either. The first is with bounced flash and the 2nd is no flash. As you can see, the shot with the flash has a bad reflection. The shot without has shadows which I tried to brighten up with my limited PP skills. Plus a blown out window. I guess I could have tried a subtle fill flash, but I still would have had a reflection. How do I do this?

Stefan

[Curtis N]

Sometimes in windowed rooms you can eliminate the reflections by putting your subject in a corner and shooting at an angle. You may not have had room for this technique with this shot.

Reflective backgrounds are usually something you want to avoid when using on-camera flash. Gossy paint, varnished woodwork and polished metals can cause the same kinds of problems.

[bwolford]

Time for a little photoshop work to take the best of both... Take the flash shot of the people and another shot of the room witout flash and superimpose... Problem solved.

Brice

P.S. Yeah I know it's obvious.

[elader]

what about shooting in manual and adjusting the FEC until the foreground balances the background?

[Stefan A]

Thanks for the ideas. Curtis - I will experiment with that suggestion. Brice - I would not have any idea how to do that right. I have cut and paste objects from one photo to another. But I wouldn't know how to make a subject this complex look real. Eric, I was shooting in M and adjusting the FEC as a felt was needed. I was also trying different bounce positions. But there is a good chance I am not doing something right there. When I shoot in manual, my camera's exposure is way underexposed. So the flash is acting as the primary light. I don't know how else to do it.

Stefan

[Curtis N]

When I shoot in manual, my camera's exposure is way underexposed. So the flash is acting as the primary light. I don't know how else to do it.In manual mode, you adjust shutter speed, aperture and ISO to get proper exposure of the ambient light, using the meter in the viewfinder as a guide.

This is off-topic from the reflection problem, but you mention that the outdoor parts of the scene, seen through the windows, are overexposed in the second shot, where you adjusted the exposure for your indoor subjects.

In the first shot with flash, the outdoors is underexposed. If you wanted to expose both properly, use manual mode and meter through the window and adjust to properly expose the outdoors. Then let the flash make up the difference to get proper exposure of the indoor subjects.

[Stefan A]

In manual mode, you adjust shutter speed, aperture and ISO to get proper exposure of the ambient light, using the meter in the viewfinder as a guide.


Yes, I understand how to do that. Although I could obtain the same results in AV. I don't understand why I need to be in M if AV or TV will give me the same results (correct exposure). I have brought this up in other threads and the impression that I got was that people use M so they can use a fast shutter speed - and not worry about ambient exposure (asuming a flash is used) So that is why I used M - I set the aperture to a value that I thought would give me an appropriate depth of field for the group. Then I set a shutter speed that I thought would freeze movement in the kids (although I may not have posted that shot). Then I adjusted FEC until I got a shot that looked OK. But I am just not happy with it (regardless of the reflection) It looks like a flashed shot.

Anyway, I know this discussion is a bit off topic, but I have been struggling with understanding why to use M if all I want is a correct ambient exposure. TV or AV will give me that.

For that flash shot, I could have had a correct exposure - but I would have sacrificed DOF or freezing the movement.

Stefan

[Curtis N]

Yes, you can get the same results with Av or Tv as far as exposing the ambient.

Sometimes M is easier, and probably would be in this shot if you're trying to meter for the exterior rather than the subjects.

The outdoors looks pretty bright in that second shot. I'm guessing that if you exposed for the exterior rather than your subjects, shutter speed would have been acceptable.

[StealthLude]

IMO, I would have jsut shout this head on flash in AV mode using it as fill flash...

To expose both window light and flash as fill. I would have also tried this same thing using bound flash assuming the flahs unit has enought power to do it.