BobInNJ Loc: In NJ, near Phila. Pa

I am still having problems overcoming strong light from windows when shooting interiors of houses. The photos are OK, but the windows look like crap. I tried using fillflash, didnt work. cant see trees , just whited out. I would appreciate anyone who can recommend settings to deal with this problem , Maybe shooting on a dark day or evenings would be one solution.

silver Loc: Santa Monica Ca.

There are 2 solutions to your problem. 1- you can shoot at another time of day and do some fill lighting to give the interior a better detail. The second choice is to shoot 3-5 exposures and then combine them in HDR without over working the image.

BobInNJ Loc: In NJ, near Phila. Pa

thanks, Silver- I will try both.

flashgordonbrown Loc: Silverdale, WA

you need to expose for the window and fill the interior with flash. This might take some experimenting. Try the different metering patterns while using the flash. Also, you should bounce the flash or use some sort of diffuser for a more natural look.

flashgordonbrown

photoninja1 Loc: Tampa Florida

1. you can wait 'til the exterior light is diminished and shoot with flash to balance I/O lighting.
2. Shoot HDR
3. Shoot one exposed for inside and one exposed for outside and combine the layers in P/S.
4. Close the curtains.

Situations of extreme dynamic range are always a bit of a PITA, but the above techniques can help.

robert-photos Loc: Chicago

I haven't tried this with my NEX-7 but with my Canons I would use aperture priority and spot meter (the window) for the outside, exposure compensation -1 to -2 stops, ettl flash with off camera flash, flash compensation as required to expose the interior properly. Play with ISO to make it work.

That's the best I got.... it should work for the NEX to cut the light from the outside and have the flash illuminate the interior. A flash modifier like a Stofen or Gary Fong Light Sphere would be nice. The only problem I see is possibly the slow sync speed of the NEX.

It is a bit too late to try this set up on my NEX-7 today but I should get a chance this weekend and will post the results on this thread unless you say otherwise.

BobInNJ Loc: In NJ, near Phila. Pa

Thanks, Robert; I am greatful for the replies to my question. Now, off to my manual to see if I can actually do this myself! You folks are great

robert-photos Loc: Chicago

Well my method works with my Canon 7D and 550EX....using a -3 stop exposure compensation for the camera and a +2 exposure compensation for the flash and using ettl mode.

I spent some time trying to duplicate this on my NEX-7 with a HVL-F58AM. I just couldn't see a way to get (adjust) flash compensation in ttl but got my best results with fill flash mode, aperture priority with -2 stops exposure compensation, ISO 100, f/9.0 on an 18-200mm. (I really need to do some study on this flash/camera combination)

If you are using the little on-camera flash it is just not powerful enough to illuminate the scene and fight the window light. With that F58 and a Stofen on camera I pointed the flash up and a bit behind me to get a nice softbox look.

The work around on the NEX is to go to manual flash mode and do your own flash compensation which IMO would work better than the auto functions.

That makes sense to me because you want to expose for the highlights (outside) and illuminate the shadows (inside) to balance the lighting or dynamic range of the scene. It is the same principal as using fill flash outside in bright sunlight.

I haven't time to post my photos now but will try tomorrow.