Blue Sky Vs White sky

Hi, I did a shoot the other day and was trying to get the sky to be exposed normal as well as the model but I would either get a dark silhouette model and a properly exposed sky or a properly exposed model and white sky. I was using a single flash for fill. How do I properly shoot to get the proper exposed model and sky?

Would be more helpful to see the photo. Can you post it?

Also, what type and flash were you using and was it mounted directly on the camera and what distance?

If you are using a flash then expose the backrgound correctly in manual mode, then turn on the flash in TTL mode and the flash should take care of the subject.
If that doesn't work then you can take 2 pictures and combine them later.

Luigi

Sounds like back-lit situation. What I like to do is to put the camera in M mode, meter the sky and underexpose it by 2 stop or so, set the flash to ETTL. Bracket the exposure for the sky and FEC for the model. Also keep an eye on the max sync speed.

I was using an off camera flash with an umbrella. I did meter for the sky in manual mode but I guess I just left it there when I refocused on the face.

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

I can't see that the flash was contributing anything to the exposure. How were you using it and what was being used to fire it? How were you metering the flash?

If I'm using flash in broad daylight, I stop down the aperture until the sky is properly exposing while keeping in flash sync speed, then I set the flash to somewhere between 1/4 and 1/1 full power, set it close to the subject, and test exposure until it's right. You can (and should) also try a large reflector for that kind of work.

Ok thanks, Ill try it out next time, now that I think of it it the flash may have auto shut off.... glad it was a friend of mine

Although the image with the model closer to properly exposed has no EXIF data, which makes me think it was processed to bring the model into a reasonable exposure range. It also has that extreme Shadows/Highlights adjustment look, but I'm just guessing. However, the other one does have intact EXIF data. We can tell a few things from that. One is that you used spot metering with Shutter Priority AE and a +2/3 exposure compensation for the ambient light exposure. The camera was not in manual. Spot metering is a wonderful tool, but it is hard to use in a meaningful way in anything other than manual mode unless you use the exposure lock button. Using exposure lock for each exposure is a lot of work and time consuming. I would suggest using it with manual mode so you can set the exposure, then fire away with a series of pictures without having to relock the exposure every time you push the shutter button. This is predicated on exposing for the sky, which is not in the center of the picture, and since the center of the picture is under exposed, I presume you locked the exposure on something else. The EXIF said no flash was used, so it seems you either used a studio strobe (not likely since you mentioned going to sleep), or you fired a portable flash with a PC cord or radio remote that wouldn't have recorded as using a flash, or you did use an E-TTL flash with an E-TTL compatible cord or remote, but it hadn't charged enough to fire. I'm guessing the second scenario since since you mentioned the possibility that it had gone to sleep and an E-TTL connection would have awoken an E-TTL flash when you activated the camera. That being the case, you would need to use either an external flash meter, a self-metering automatic flash the reads the light it puts out as reflected from the subject, or do some trial and error exposure work.

Keep trying. Remember that the pictures don't lie, well, at least not about exposure, so you should try to analyze them to see what went wrong. I've learned over the years that our memory isn't as reliable about what happened as hard facts and some of the hard facts are in the EXIF data.

So, did I guess any of that right?

You definitely needed to increase the exposure from the strobe. That would have fixed the problem. Ie, in your second image, keep that exposure for the available light, but then turn up the strobe power level to get the proper amount of light on the model. That should solve the problem. I also find it easier to do this in manual mode on the camera and the strobe. Much less guessing what its doing, and much easier to dial in the difference yourself.

If done properly, back lighting shouldn't be a problem, an in fact be an asset. I took this image a few days ago doing exactly that.

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Redirected to error image by FLICKR

Looks like the flash was turned off. The general method is expose for the background, use flash to light the subject.

oh, there was no data because the program i use to downsize creates a new file with no data thats all. And sfaust, that is what I was trying to do, I think either the flash was powered to low or auto turned off, Ill try it again next time. Newbie error if it was

CMax wrote in post #5850571
And sfaust, that is what I was trying to do, I think either the flash was powered to low or auto turned off, Ill try it again next time. Newbie error if it was

Happens to all of us at some point

sfaust wrote in post #5850406
You definitely needed to increase the exposure from the strobe. That would have fixed the problem. Ie, in your second image, keep that exposure for the available light, but then turn up the strobe power level to get the proper amount of light on the model. That should solve the problem. I also find it easier to do this in manual mode on the camera and the strobe. Much less guessing what its doing, and much easier to dial in the difference yourself.

If done properly, back lighting shouldn't be a problem, an in fact be an asset. I took this image a few days ago doing exactly that.

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Redirected to error image by FLICKR

sfaust... and everyone else....
I love this photo and others like it.... can someone tell me, in simple terms, how this photo was achieved? Is it possible to overpower the sun using 580's or do you have to have something more powerful?

tim wrote in post #5850423
Looks like the flash was turned off. The general method is expose for the background, use flash to light the subject.

As easy as that Tim..Its not rocket science..