First weekend with a DSLR! How to reduce background lighting blow out ?

[jesseH]

Hi everyone!

This is my first post here on the forums!

One of my grandfathers was a semi-professional photographer, and I have had a long time interest in photography, but never pursued it. I've taken a few really nice photos in my life, but all were with P&S cameras.

I finally decided I wanted to take the plunge, and get and learn how to shoot with a DSLR. I found a great deal on a Canon Rebel XS. After playing around with it and following some tutorials for a few days, I now wish I would have acted sooner on my interest in higher end photography.

I found www.learnslr.com to be a great starting point.

One specific question I have right now, is how do I reduce the 'blow out' of the background lighting in the last photo (when shooting, not post processing) ?

All C&C welcome and encouraged! These are just some shots I took around the house and pool area this weekend.

Thanks

[LeuceDeuce]

Originally Posted by jesseH

One specific question I have right now, is how do I reduce the 'blow out' of the background lighting in the last photo (when shooting, not post processing) ?

1. Don't shoot with the light source behind your subject, get it behind you.

2. Expose properly for the background and use fill flash, reflectors or a combination of both on your main subject.

[Livinthalife]

Try different times of day like dawn or sunrise too

Congrats on the camera! Remember, there is a learning curve, so don't be dissappointed when your photos don't meet your expectations. It takes time, experience, patience, and did I mention time Good luck, be sure to post images here, so we can praise yuour photos, or critique them!

[dkord]

Reflectors work well, flash can be tricky because of slow shutter speed sync and white balancing.
My question is on the last 2. Why is the crop purposely showing all that bright background? It doesn't help your subject matter at all even if it was properly exposed.
Sometimes the easiest way to avoid those high contrast issues is shooting with the sun or highlights behind you and cropping tighter.

[SwingBopper]

A direct answer to your question is to block the light. Carry one of those collapsible translucent circular discs and put it behind the subject. Or anything you have handy to block the light and remain basically neutral and OOF will do. I've done this before with a black fabric with good effect.

[jesseH]

Thanks for all the comments so far. Appreciate the input.

Originally Posted by Livinthalife

Try different times of day like dawn or sunrise too

Congrats on the camera! Remember, there is a learning curve, so don't be dissappointed when your photos don't meet your expectations. It takes time, experience, patience, and did I mention time Good luck, be sure to post images here, so we can praise yuour photos, or critique them!

Thanks for the warm welcome Livin

Originally Posted by dkord

My question is on the last 2. Why is the crop purposely showing all that bright background? It doesn't help your subject matter at all even if it was properly exposed. Sometimes the easiest way to avoid those high contrast issues is shooting with the sun or highlights behind you and cropping tighter.

That's more than likely just incorrect / newbie use of "The Rule of 3rds" that I had read about. I think at the moment, I felt if I cropped the shot tighter, most of the subject would have been in the middle of the frame, making it less interesting. Guess I should have framed the flowers tighter ?

Originally Posted by SwingBopper

A direct answer to your question is to block the light. Carry one of those collapsible translucent circular discs and put it behind the subject. Or anything you have handy to block the light and remain basically neutral and OOF will do. I've done this before with a black fabric with good effect.

I don't think I'm ready to be that "hardcore" and carrying a lot of equipment around with me... yet. I'll keep this in mind though to practice in the house with shots that have a lot of sunlight coming in through windows.

Any other tips or advice based upon these few shots ?

Thanks

[dwn4whadever]

I have the same camera man, I love it. You did a nice job with the shots.