The right flash exposure values for your outdoor portrait photographs

• published: 16 Jul 2015
• views: 4367

http://www.GoodLightMag.com/18 - Care to step outside? We’re going to have to in order to demonstrate how best to make your model stand out; while making your background stand in. To figure this out, we took a trip to the lake. On the day itself, all of this happened really fast. To be fair though, I didn’t need a lot, just the lake, the camera, a flash, and Veronika. When I looked back later I discovered that I had a total shooting time of a massive fourteen minutes, not too shabby. If I’m being honest I have to admit that this was partly due to the unpredictable (wet) German weather we encountered on the day. To summarise the issues you will encounter taking a photograph such as this: using only natural light leads to a washed out background; but when the background is exposed correctly, the model is severely underexposed. Now, there are days that these “issues” are going to be a good thing, but not today! The solution to the problem is to use available light for the background while using a flash for the model. This creates a “double exposure” giving me total control over my photograph and the result is not going to be washed out. If you’re asking why I’d use a flash on such a fast shoot, when I have an abundance of natural light; the answer is due to a number of factors. In short, when the model is in front of the lake, with a wide horizon, she is underexposed by the available light. But if I exposed the model correctly, I’d end up with a washed out background. What you see is a combination of light and flash, perfect! Now, before you pack your stuff and head off into the woods, please bear a few important factors in mind. (And yes, I did just put bear and woods into the same sentence.) You’re going to have to take care with the settings for your camera and your flash. Also, if you’re shooting a model in front of water in this way, you’ll want to get the correct lighting for the background and the model but you’ll also want to ensure that the water actually looks like water; that’s where depth of field comes in, so choose your aperture carefully. Before the arrival of the rain, it was quite a bright day, so I had my ISO dialled right down, this may not give you the very best image possible, but it will give you the chance to have your shutter speed slow enough to sync a flash without using high speed sync. To meter the light, I used the water as my reference point as the water is effectively the ambient light in my scene. I underexposed the water a little as I have a preference for darker, richer skies and water. Choosing between hard and soft flash-light for your model is a matter of personal taste. Soft light beautifies your model, so you’ll want to use it often, however, it looks quite artificial in nature. Hard light emphasizes wrinkles and skin issues but looks much more natural on a sunny day. You’ll have to pick your poison carefully. Experience will take some of the guesswork out of your flash power settings, but experience only comes with time. If you don’t know, it’ll be trial and error, but it can still be quick with only one test photo thanks to your histogram. Start out with a setting of 1/8th, or when using two speedlights, a good starting point may be 1/16th. Then, shoot the test photo, and get in close for it. By following the tips in this article, you’ll be able to capture superb shots of your subjects that jump right out of your photographs, giving you an awesome model shot and an awesome scene. Links to the products shown in this video: Indra 500: http://goodlightmag.com/indra Easy-up Softbox, 60cm x 90cm: http://goo.gl/am3hgM Mitros+ speedlight: http://goo.gl/b1Yteu Canon 5D MK III: http://goo.gl/ofiYVw