Saturday Evening Fishing (CC Welcome)

My husband and son were fishing on Saturday evening. I say fishing, but my son thinks fishing is just whacking the pole on the water. I was losing my light pretty fast so I used a 430 for fill. I had tried to meter in several different spots, with camera, and the flash would completely overpower the scene: Blowing out skin tones but leaving everything else quite dark. I had to really dial the flash way back to get this one. My question is, where is the proper place for me to meter in a scene like this? I don't have a flash meter, and I have never used one, so that would be a bit over my head. Thanks in advance. Any advice or suggestions are always welcome.

Oh, this looks rather dark posted on Flickr. In LR and PS there is detail in the trees in distance. You still get the idea though... Sorry about that.

SmilingFox wrote in post #12244898
Sorry about that.

Don't be...that's a boy fishing....I love fishing.
Love the color of the sky!
Nice shot!

I can not answer your question but I do like the image, nothing like a kid fishing
I also like he is using a casting rod, start the kid young and let him win ya millions on the B.A.S.S tour.

I'm no expert when it comes to flash, but I think you approached this shot correctly. I think the proper exposure should be on your subject and let the background go dark. Were you shooting in manual mode? I've had good luck using spot metering with my camera then shooting in manual mode.

My only nit with your shot is it's too bad the end of the pole got cut off...otherwise, very nicely done.

Edit: I should have added "Keep shooting".

navydoc wrote in post #12247229
My only nit with your shot is it's too bad the end of the pole got cut off...otherwise, very nicely done.

Edit: I should have added "Keep shooting".

Hey that's my line...
Yeah I regret that I didn't get the entire pole too. He was just a little closer to me than I wanted him to be, but I loved the look on his face while he was whacking the water with the pole. A 3 yr old doesn't stay still for long... so I took the shot!

To me it looks like the flash is on the hotshoe. I'd recommend a cord to get it off the camera; the lighting would look less flat. I know, I know, one more piece of gear to haul around, and you would have a dangling flash, but the results look much better.

Thanks for all the comments, I really do appreciate it. Is there anyone else that can answer my metering question?

I always spot meter on the person. Also learn to shot off camera for better lighting. You will have better results by using everything in manual, including your flash. Then you will be in control.

definitely meter on the person.
Would be cool if you could mask and darken the foliage in the foreground a bit too!