Shooting in & against harsh light question

I was at an amusement park yesterday and the sun was blistering. We were there throughout the afternoon, and a lot of my shots had the subject in harsh sunlight on one side of them, but properly exposed (or close, lol) on the other. How do you, or are you, supposed to handle such harsh lighting? I could compensate for the light, but the shaded side would suffer. Here are a couple examples:

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Use fill flash. Expose for the higlights and fill in the shadows with flash. I might look stupid when i have a flash during noon time, but at least my pics comes out better. Lol.

musashi wrote in post #14728928
Use fill flash. Expose for the higlights and fill in the shadows with flash. I might look stupid when i have a flash during noon time, but at least my pics comes out better. Lol.

this ++

Also try spot metering over evaluative. Keep in mind that unless you have a 1D series, the spot metering is center point, not the AF point.

When the dynamic range (the difference between the brightest and darkest elements of a photo) exceed your cameras ability to record it you have two choices. The first is to meter for the important parts and let the rest fall where they may. That option results in what you have above. The second option as mentioned above is fill flash. This will allow you to underexpose the brightest tones and then use the flash to bring the rest back up. There are some limitations, namely being you need a flash capable of using high speed sync. HSS reduces your power so you cant expect to fill shadows very far from the camera.

Thanks guys! What's funny is, I had my flash mounted all day and the only time I used it was for the low-light Bumper Car shots, I never thought to use it otherwise.

Gregg.Siam wrote in post #14728976
this ++

Also try spot metering over evaluative. Keep in mind that unless you have a 1D series, the spot metering is center point, not the AF point.

Apologies, but I am still a bit new...this isn't choosing an auto-focus point, correct? I'm not sure if I get what you mean.

Ace and Deuce wrote in post #14729058
Thanks guys! What's funny is, I had my flash mounted all day and the only time I used it was for the low-light Bumper Car shots, I never thought to use it otherwise.

Apologies, but I am still a bit new...this isn't choosing an auto-focus point, correct? I'm not sure if I get what you mean.

No, spot metering is using a camera capability to meter on a very small spot, usually the center spot and ingnore the rest of the frame. Its usesful in those circumstances as it measures only what you want it to. Not all dslr's have that as an option though.

OK, so checking my menu settings, I have these available in Metering Mode:

Evaluative
Partial
Spot (defaul, chosen)
Center-weighted average

...and, I have a setting for Auto Lighting Optimizer:
Disable (Default, chosen)
Low
Standard
Strong

So what should I have selected as a default for every day shooting...what should I select in harsh light...and low light, like a museum? Sorry, just not sure how this works.

Ace and Deuce wrote in post #14729170
OK, so checking my menu settings, I have these available in Metering Mode:

Evaluative
Partial
Spot (defaul, chosen)
Center-weighted average

...and, I have a setting for Auto Lighting Optimizer:
Disable (Default, chosen)
Low
Standard
Strong

So what should I have selected as a default...what should I select in harsh light...and low light, like a museum? Sorry, just not sure how this works.

I dont have the lighting optimizer so I am clueless on that one. Read your manual so you can understand the difference between the metering modes. I'm surprised that spot is the default though.

gonzogolf wrote in post #14729233
I dont have the lighting optimizer so I am clueless on that one. Read your manual so you can understand the difference between the metering modes. I'm surprised that spot is the default though.

Cool, thanks. It's the default unless someone said/recommended something about switching it wayyyyy back when I first got my camera. I'm not sure, but I think someone did recommend moving one of those settings. Time to do some reading!

Thanks!

Something wrong with exposure. Looks overexposed, but it is not.
Something like "highlight" settings if I remember correct. I turned this off.

To get good shots in situation like this, use lens hood, AV and get Canon flash which supports HSS, this mode makes big difference under harsh sun.

Does the t3i have Highlight Tone Priority? That could also help

Ace and Deuce wrote in post #14729058
Apologies, but I am still a bit new...this isn't choosing an auto-focus point, correct? I'm not sure if I get what you mean.

Spot Metering just evaluates a certain point in your shot. All Canons, except the 1D series, meter the center. There is probably a ( ) reticle in the middle of your viewfinder, this is for your spot metering. If you need to spot meter something that is not in the center of your frame, you need to center it, meter lock, and recompose. This is independent of your AF point. The 1D series however, can spot meter off of your AF point eliminating the need to lock and recompose.

Tiggity-T wrote in post #14729850
Spot Metering just evaluates a certain point in your shot. All Canons, except the 1D series, meter the center. There is probably a ( ) reticle in the middle of your viewfinder, this is for your spot metering. If you need to spot meter something that is not in the center of your frame, you need to center it, meter lock, and recompose. This is independent of your AF point. The 1D series however, can spot meter off of your AF point eliminating the need to lock and recompose.

+1. It also helps if you use back-button focusing so that your AF is on the back-button, and your metering is on the shutter depress. That way you can meter and lock and still be able to AF separately.

But remember if you use High Speed flash the power of your flash will be dramatically reduced. For this kind of situation.. Also a good thing would be expose for the highlights if you shot raw, later in post you can bring the shadows back.. It's easy to lift shadow than recover highlights.

Using "evaluative" metering will normally give you a more balanced exposure, this should be the default for new photographers