Lighting question on 2 pics

Hello all, this is my first post in the CC section. My question is specifically about the lighting in these two photos. I know it isn't good, and I'm asking for suggestions. As a side note, the photos themselves are not pictures I'm proud of, or that showed any sort of skill, they are simply for recording fun times. But still, any advice on how I could have made these better would be appreciated. So feel free to make any critiques you like, it's all fair game .

Here's my reason for putting these pictures up for question. I'm trying to figure out if a built in flash is necessary or not for the pictures I like to take. I definitely want to avoid bringing an external flash everywhere I go. In fact, I try never to use a flash at all, but I may have paid for that mistake in these pictures.

Here's the pics, and then I'll go into a bit more detail:

Rebel T3 w/ kit lens
100 ISO
1.3 second exp time
21mm
f/22

Wow, considering the exceptionally slow shutter-speed the people are pretty sharp. They must have been extremely still for you Even the foliage seems sharp, which is pretty lucky for 1.3s exposure time.

Using your pop-up flash would have made these images a lot better. Use just enough power to give a bit of fill but not create overly harsh shadows. Pop-up flashes work pretty well for fill unless you're using a longer lens that could be in the path of the light from the flash and cast a shadow. For example I have to take my lens hood off my 24-70 f/2.8 if I use the pop-up flash on my D700.

Also, for both images I would have used something closer to f/11 and ISO 200 which would yield a higher shutter-speed.

Great scenery by the way

You've got a great eye for composition...These are well-seen photos.

Yes, your built-in flash would have helped in these photos. You nailed the problem: Keeping the sky and lighter areas from being overexposed while keeping faces and darker foreground areas light enough to see detail...This is EXACTLY what fill flash is all about...You can set exposure for the brighter parts and then fill in the shadowed faces with the flash...I hope that you will reconsider your decision not to carry an external flash as in general an external flash will do a better job than the on-board unit will.

These are remarkably sharp for such long shutter durations...I can't help but think that a little luck was involved here, so next time I would shoot for wider apertures(f22 is just unnecessary here f11 would have been fine) and higher ISOs(400 will yield excellent results) in order to get the shutter speeds up higher.

Thank you for the compliments Bob and Mark! Bob, these are actually both self portraits (taken on solo trips), so I knew I'd have to hold very still for the 1.3 second exposure. Thanks for the suggestions on the f stop. I'm still learning my way around the camera, even thought I've been using it for a couple years. I'm just now starting to play around with manual modes instead of the automatic ones. That is the reason for the f stop at 22 in both shots. I didn't consciously set it there, I simply chose ISO of 100 and played up and down with the shutter speed in manual mode. Until now I've shot all my pictures at 100 ISO. I think I'm going to start playing around with adjusting ISO and f stops, in addition to the shutter speed that I've already been doing manually.

Mark, I'm honored by your compliment about composition. To be honest, these two shots are nowhere near my favorites I've taken in that regard. I'll put a few pictures below that I like much better:

Again, very nice compositions and exposure looks quite good as well...Love your bike too!

rrblint wrote in post #15197435
Again, very nice compositions and exposure looks quite good as well...Love your bike too!

Thank you! The bikes all look similar, being BMW's with Boxer engines, but only two of them are mine. The first photo I put up is my current bike, an R1200GS. My old bike is in the highway and sand dune picture, an R1200R. The shot with the two bikes together are my two riding buddies, on their R1200GS and R1150GS (left to right).

an answer to your question. yes. a popup flash will greatly improve your photos. i'd rather have a photo that looks artificially lit than have a photo where i can't even see myself. your photo composition is quite excellent as others have already shared.