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jack596
10th of June 2009 (Wed), 17:53
My name is Jeanine and I needed some help w/ shooting outdoor pictures.. I did a shoot yesterday and encountered several complications..

I took the subjects into shade and when I turned on my flash the subjects were brightly lit but the background was way too dark….if I increased my exposure the subjects were overexposed. Do you have any suggestion of how to adequately expose the subject in the shade and yet not getting them too exposed?? I tried increasing my ISO number to increase light but that didn’t work too well either….

Also, is there a way of avoiding to use the pop up flash on the camera by using reflectors??(I don’t have an external flash) Cuz that flash does cause flare(spots) on the faces sometimes outdoors….

Where would I need to hold the reflectors on either side of the subject at an angle??
Should that be sufficient enough in the shade w/o having to use a flash?? Well I tried putting my subjects into shade using just the reflectors and not the pop up flash of the camera the subjects were totally underexposed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had created my own reflectors using shiny silver foil taped onto a cardboard; Is that the problem? Could it be that white foam board or a professional reflector would work for the shade instead of a flash and the silver foil cardboard does not work well instead of a reflector

If I start seeing spots of the sun on the subject do I have to change location of the picture or maybe turn the subject away from the sun/?some practical and useful advice??

When taking pictures late afternoon (when the sun is not so harsh is is still necessary to have the subject in shade?? Or how about on an overcast or cloudy day does the subject have to be in shade?

Thanks for your advice I look forward to your quick response!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

bobbyz
11th of June 2009 (Thu), 17:01
Hello Jeanine. Welcome to the forum. Lot of questions in one msg.

Couple of things:

1. Use camera in manual mode and expose for the bg.

2. Use flash in eTTL mode for subject. Control subject exposure by changing FEC.

Having external flash is nice. Better to have it off camera.
You can use reflectors. Foam core is cheap. If you find subject under-exposed when using refecltor under shade bump up the ISO, open up the aperture.