First umbrella shot against the evening sky

I've been wanting to try this. It's not the best shot in the world but it's gratifying to know that I'm reasonably close. 5DM2 & 580exII thru an umbrella. I'm anxious to hone my skills at this type of shooting.

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Great start I love shooting a portrait against a dramatic evening sky

WB seems a tad bit off, you should have gelled your flash with a CTO to match the setting sun, but that comes with practice. Also, I would have dragged the shutter a bit more to get some more detail in the sky and to brighten it up a bit. Otherwise nice job for your first try!

Dave

Nice image. I would just warm it up some.

It is a good shot but the dog is a bit dark. What shutter speed were you using? More ambient light would help I think.

Can you explain this a little more? Never heard of gelled or anything about a CTO.
Thanks
Mark

Mark,
you can put a bit of colored film called a gel in front of the flash to make it more the color of a sunset. Gels come in lots of colors, one of the most common is CTO "color temp orange" You can also gel to match the color of incandescent or fluorescent lights indoors, or for creative effects.

I'd adjust the WB a bit and maybe brighten it up... (although I am kind of prone to over exposure...)

Thanks gonzogolf

MaBryan wrote in post #9631173
Thanks gonzogolf

No problem. Roscoe and Lee make sample sizes of their theatrical and cinematic gels that just happen to be the right size to fit a canon flash. Check your local theatrical supply house to see if they have free or cheap swatch books and try them yourself. Lots of gel holder plans in threads on here.

gonzogolf wrote in post #9631204
No problem. Roscoe and Lee make sample sizes of their theatrical and cinematic gels that just happen to be the right size to fit a canon flash. Check your local theatrical supply house to see if they have free or cheap swatch books and try them yourself. Lots of gel holder plans in threads on here.

You got a nice shot there going but you made it really challenging for yourself with the black dog in the mix!!

The Rosco gel swatch books are total gold!! I finally found them at a theatrical supplier here in Dallas and talked my way into multiple copies of several sample kits they had.. the small and large gel books free of charge. Check out two very good reference books by Joe McNally... The moment it clicks and The Hotshoe diaries. Yes, he shoots nikon, but the information about the flash and gel use is universal and very cool stuff. Like I said, reading those two got me tweaked to play and expand my skills with my flash itself. Hit the Rosco site and search your immediate area for the Rosco supplier near you.

Thanks for the C&C folks! Yes, I have some Rosco gels on order and I'm anxious to test them. As for the black dog, she's next to impossible to shoot!

Muskydave22 wrote in post #9629940
Also, I would have dragged the shutter a bit more to get some more detail in the sky and to brighten it up a bit. Otherwise nice job for your first try!

But a brighter sky is one which is also much lower in color saturation.

The issue might not be WB of the flash source at all, but with overall WB setting...I tried simply warming the entire photo and the sunset colors in the sky became more prominent as well as improving flesh tones!

I saw some of the shots you posted to another thread. I think those were much better that this one. Were you holding out on us?