Weird Haze when using flash - help please: Hi All Ignoring the obvious composition problems, I was just taking some practice shots of my kids upstairs with my A77 and the lighting...

Wezza1977uk Loc: London, England

Hi All
Ignoring the obvious composition problems, I was just taking some practice shots of my kids upstairs with my A77 and the lighting wasnt brilliant. when i used the flash i got this horrible haze over the image, now i know i can correct this via the wonder that is photoshop cs6 but would love to know how to correct it using the camera. I tried changing the iso, no avail. shot in shutter priority and image was too dark without flash or too blurred due to handheld slow shutter speed, aperture mode too dark without flash and haze with. i just couldn't seem to find a happy medium. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as i really seem to struggle when the lighting is below par.
Thanks in Advance
Wezza

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

Judging by the shadow on the left, looks like you shot through a doorway. The haze could be caused by the light from flash hitting the wall or door just outside the image area.

Wezza1977uk Loc: London, England

Didn't even consider that, I was shooting through a doorway so the door or wall acted like a reflector. So a change in position would have sorted it. Thanks for that goofy it honestly never crossed my mind. I guess sometimes you really can't see the woods for the trees lol

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

Wezza, also try to replicate the shot but remove all your filters, see if it makes any difference. Light may be reflecting on any filters that you are using. Because of such problems I have stopped using mine.

Wezza1977uk Loc: London, England

thanks for the advice bud but didnt have any filters on at the time

Out of the Fog Loc: Eastern Edge of North America

Something interferred with the way that your camera/flash read the amount of light reflecting from the subject. There may have been something off to the side that the light reflected from and caused the camera/flash to expose for that instead of your subject. The shadow on the left is consistant with a doorframe or post. This is a common problem when shooting through doorways. It can also be caused by a finger or camera strap partially covering a sensor.

If the flash had adequately exposed your subject you would probably seen a hotspot on the plastic behind them.

Shutter speed doesn't play a big roll when using a flash for illunination of a subject. As long as is allows the camera to sync with the flash. It becomes more important when you are using a flash for some other effect like filling in shadows.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Wezza1977uk wrote:

Hi All br Ignoring the obvious composition problem... (show quote)

I just ran a white balance action I created in photoshop and got this result.

bobbym Loc: Portadown co Armagh Ireland

levels and curves

Wezza1977uk Loc: London, England

While I mean no offence here I already knew I could fix the issue in pp and was asking what caused it and how to prevent it happening again I wasn't looking for others to pp the image and did mention that I knew how to fix it in my OP. thanks for your input bobbym and rmalarz but that wasn't what I was asking for. Again no offence intended

Bram boy Loc: Vancouver Island B.C. Canada

I was going to say before i got to the end , is all the boxes behind the kids clear plastic , and the bag that the boys hand is in, and the clear peice that is in front of the girls leg . Case solved to many reflecive surfaces . When yuo were in whit rock canada . Was the name of your host bob?

Wezza1977uk Loc: London, England

Bram boy wrote:

I was going to say before i got to the end , is all the boxes behind the kids clear plastic , and the bag that the boys hand is in, and the clear peice that is in front of the girls leg . Case solved to many reflecive surfaces . When yuo were in whit rock canada . Was the name of your host bob?

this confused me...i was never in whit rock canada so have no idea about hosts called bob or otherwise :D as for the question relating to reflective surfaces, yes they were clear plastic so dont doubt for a minute you are right :)

CanonFire Loc: Phoenixville, PA

Wezza1977uk wrote:

Hi All br Ignoring the obvious composition problem... (show quote)

Can't rally give you a good answer without knowing a few things. Were you using the camera's built in flash or a speedlight? What were the camera settings?

I kind of like GoofyNewfie's explanation, but I'd still like to know the settings.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

CanonFire wrote:

Can't rally give you a good answer without knowing a few things. Were you using the camera's built in flash or a speedlight? What were the camera settings?

I kind of like GoofyNewfie's explanation, but I'd still like to know the settings.

Sony A77
1/60 @ f/4.5
iso400
28-85 f3.5-4.5 set at 75mm
All that is in the metadata.

The flash was on (obviously) but I don't see is if it used the pop-up flash ( if it has one) or a shoe mount.

Nikonian72 Loc: Chico CA

Wezza1977uk wrote:

when i used the flash i got this horrible haze over the image

I do not see "haze", but I do see an over-exposed photograph. Note the detail evident in shadow on left border. That is why it is so easily "fixed" on PP.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

There is more to it than just exposure. The lower contrast is caused by something just outside the frame.