Ugly Hedgehog Newsletter

Hi,

Please explain to me how to meter off the sky, then use fill flash for taking outside portraits.

Thanks. Ron.

PaulDBowen Loc: Belfair, WA, USA

Place a diffuser over the lens and point the camera toward the sky and take a picture. In your camera settings menu go to "custom whitebalance" and make the approrpiate selections (various with camera make and model). The diffuser can be made from any translucent material such as a shower curtain or a cut-out portion of a plastic milk bottle.

As an alternative, if you are shooting RAW, use auto white balance and then in post processing, change the white balance as desired.

ianhargraves1066 Loc: NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Florida

Its fairly simple to do. Take a meter reading of the area of the photograph illuminated by the sky and note the aperture to give correct exposure. Then set the fstop you are using on the flash unit. However doing this results in a somewhat "flat" result. Try setting the flas at 1 stop more and then 1 stop less than the aperture for the ambient light. I normally go with 1 stop more on the flash gun, but you need to try it out to see your preference. With digital cameras its real easy, you can see the result instantly. I use 5x4 film and its a week before you know you got it wrong!!!!!
Good Luck,
Ian Hargraves
igh1066@hotmail.
Port Orange,
Florida.