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Too much or not enough fill flash?
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Jan 15, 2012 16:30:11   #
KG
 
Last night, I took a photo of my wife on the balcony of our hotel room.
The sun outside was rather bright, so I put on a flash unit with 1/4 CTO gel.
I dialed FEC to +1 stop.

But now that I'm looking at the photo, I can't decide if it was too much fill flash or not enough.

On the one hand, she looks somewhat dark, so I should have used more flash power.
On the other hand, the shadows cast look really hard and the flash reflection is showing on the skin. So upping the flash output would only make it worse.

One thing I'm thinking about is using a (large) sheet of paper as a diffuser and upping the flash output by 1-2 stops. Do you think this would work?



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Jan 15, 2012 16:37:19   #
tkhphotography Loc: Gresham, Or, not Seattle
 
just curious, how much room to your right of her was there? Could you have moved to the right more and had her turn in a little and still used the flash?

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Jan 15, 2012 16:47:10   #
KG
 
There was about 50% more room (of the width of the shot) to the right. Any further and the door would block the view.

Could you please elaborate on what would moving achieve?
I don't follow.

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Jan 15, 2012 18:04:06   #
English_Wolf Loc: Near Pensacola, FL
 
It depends of what you tried to achieve as main subject:

The woman? Flash: Enough, Natural light: too much
The outside with her? Too much, natural light, too much
Outside? Too much of both

So, essentially over exposed.
Histogram confirms it.

Note: That she looks at you, is making me believe she is the main subject. If so, you are a mean person for cutting off her right foot!!! (That slight tilt of the camera would have balanced the whole picture by the way).

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Jan 16, 2012 07:24:47   #
heyjoe Loc: cincinnati ohio
 
I like the ships in back ground,would like to see her foot

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Jan 16, 2012 07:35:47   #
JimH Loc: Western South Jersey, USA
 
Apart from the technical solutions offered, I have a peeve about people wearing sunglasses in portraits. Unless it's for effect, tell them to take off the Ray-Bans and don't have them face into the sun. Squinting is just as bad.

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Jan 16, 2012 07:52:28   #
ephraim Imperio
 
English_Wolf wrote:
It depends of what you tried to achieve as main subject:

The woman? Flash: Enough, Natural light: too much
The outside with her? Too much, natural light, too much
Outside? Too much of both

So, essentially over exposed.
Histogram confirms it.

Note: That she looks at you, is making me believe she is the main subject. If so, you are a mean person for cutting off her right foot!!! (That slight tilt of the camera would have balanced the whole picture by the way).


Correction! It looks like it is the left foot that is cut off in the photo.

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Jan 16, 2012 08:42:35   #
English_Wolf Loc: Near Pensacola, FL
 
ephraim Imperio wrote:
English_Wolf wrote:
Note: That she looks at you, is making me believe she is the main subject. If so, you are a mean person for cutting off her right foot!!! (That slight tilt of the camera would have balanced the whole picture by the way).
Correction! It looks like it is the left foot that is cut off in the photo.
Right, left, did not pay attention to the crossed legs. :shock: :oops: :mrgreen:

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Jan 16, 2012 09:06:00   #
Andrea Loc: Naples, Florida
 
I think it is beautiful. Not every photo has to be a work of art. I think you captured the moment and the memory. Your wife looks happy and relaxed so I think it is great.

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Jan 16, 2012 09:08:52   #
suzie123
 
KG wrote:
Last night, I took a photo of my wife on the balcony of our hotel room.
The sun outside was rather bright, so I put on a flash unit with 1/4 CTO gel.
I dialed FEC to +1 stop.

But now that I'm looking at the photo, I can't decide if it was too much fill flash or not enough.

On the one hand, she looks somewhat dark, so I should have used more flash power.
On the other hand, the shadows cast look really hard and the flash reflection is showing on the skin. So upping the flash output would only make it worse.

One thing I'm thinking about is using a (large) sheet of paper as a diffuser and upping the flash output by 1-2 stops. Do you think this would work?
Last night, I took a photo of my wife on the balco... (show quote)


I'm no pro but I think it looks great! Job well done. I like the boats in the background also.

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Jan 16, 2012 09:14:00   #
lincoln85 Loc: Sun City, Arizona
 
Deleted by Admin. Don't re-edit/repost pics without explicit permission from the OP.

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Jan 16, 2012 09:17:54   #
English_Wolf Loc: Near Pensacola, FL
 
lincoln85, What the hell is this repost about? A weird remake?

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Jan 16, 2012 10:29:50   #
RayT Loc: Crestwood KY
 
What you're dealing with here is two different areas, with different exposure levels. The easiest way to handle this situation is to go to Manual mode, take a meter reading for the background (being sure to keep the shutter speed at or below the max sync speed), put your flash in ETTL mode (+-0) for the foreground. If you want to be certain of your shot, shoot a second one at ETTL -1/3.

Try it in your back yard, with the subject under a ledge or tree, anything to create a sharp difference between the foreground and background exposures.

Good luck
Ray

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Jan 16, 2012 10:44:10   #
PNagy Loc: Missouri City, Texas
 
I like the shot, but would like it more if one foot were not cut off and you had cloned out the dark shadows behind her legs. Since the shadows are on an uncomplicated canvas, removing them should be easy. I might also have used curves to put a little pop into your wife. But, as I said, I like the shot and agree with another critic who said that not every photo has to be artistically perfect.

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Jan 16, 2012 11:20:39   #
twowindsbear
 
Had there been a bit more distance between the lady and the balcony wall, the shadow of her leg would have been less harsh.

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