Full Sun and Fill Flash. And I mean High noon sun on the beach. No reflector no shade anywhere!!

Still don't get how to use it properly.

Specifically-

1. How far do you dial your flash down.
2. ettl or Manual?
3. What mode on your camera?
4. Any workshops, books, tutorials that can help specifically with full sun.



For some wacky reason (I think I read it) I thought AV mode also set for fill flash automatically.

I've been experimenting and so far my shots are blown out. I dial down the flash more, still not right...

Thanks!!

Hey chelo,

it all depends on what you're going for. If you're looking to incorporate the sun and want to head for f22, you're going to be blasting your subject with full power light. If you're just looking to add some flare and can open up more, you'll need less light.

The problem with TTL is that it doesn't understand what you're trying to do. It's trying to meter for the whole scene, which is saying "whoa, there's way too much light here for flash." So, you're definitely better off going full manual in those situations.

There are some good books out there, but nothing beats hands on study. If you can, try to make it to Zack Arias's OneLight Workshop. www.onelightworkshop.com
I guarantee you'll understand your strobes better after his workshop.

I did go to Zack Arias's One Light... It was pretty shady out that day. and it was all off camera stuff...It's not clicking for me when it comes to full sun.




I'd like to avoid racoon eyes.

Have you tried setting your flash to High Speed Sync? It allows your flash to sync at faster shutter speeds than your typical max (200-250). This might be why you're blowing out your shots.

No! I've never tried it.... never thought of it!!
I'm going over the manual again now.

I mostly use shady natural light, so I'm embarrassed but very grateful for your input!!

http://www.planetneil.com/tangents

Read all the articles. There's a lot of information and it'll probably take you a while to process it.

karen

So, why are you shooting in high noon sun? The best times for portraits are early in the morning or dusk. Just curious.

High speed sync will only work with on-camera or dedicated sync cord. Forget using it with your pocket wizards.

Also, you might want to look into a reflector to kill the racoon eyes on portraits.

Thanks Karen!!

I have some difficulties as well. What camera / flash are you using?

I typically use reflectors outside... much easier!

T

I recently had a wedding on the beach, no shade. Of course I couldn't choose the time or location

and have you seen this thread- Gary's wedding in ocean place? indian wedding Full sun, but great lighting...



I have a 40d, 20d and a 580ex II...There was a thread a while ago about reflectors and what to do if you don't have someone to hold it.I'll have to read that again.

ahhhh...

I just had a similar wedding:
http://www.shanesnider.com/slideshows/crystalty

Full 3:30 p.m. sun behind their backs. I can tell you that with a lot of the shots, I had an off-camera strobe set up and firing. But really, the key is shooting manual and being able to chimp and adjust your exposures for the situation.

I've actually done a lot of beach shooting now. If you end up doing a lot of outside work, you're going to start learning how to deal with trade-offs - blowing out a dress in favor of skin tones, finding slivers of light that work with the composition. It's very tricky, but you'll get the hang.

Here are a couple beach shoots with lots of sun:
http://www.shanesnider.com/slideshows/dawnbrock
http://www.shanesnider.com/slideshows/heathercasey

If you have any questions about how anything was shot, you can pm or email me.

Shane

When I have to shoot around midday I will use a large reflector panel on a frame. I use it to reflect and often to diffuse the light. Love it! You might want to try that. I also need to know more about using a flash in these situations, I guess. I do everything I can NOT to have to use flash...

Good luck!
Claire

Ok so go to program mode in full sun.

Understand that your camera allows you control of the exposure and the flash exposure.

Exposure control is contrast control

Determine if you want your subject brighter than the background

Or darker

And adjust your exposure compensation accordingly. +1EV and -1FEV for 'fill'

-1EV and +1EV for contrast on the subject

I'll answer your questions, but this is for off camera flash (I have the 5D with the 580EX for reference)

1. I set my synch speed to 1/200 or 1/250 (Note that if you have a lot of ambient you can push your synch spped a bit higher and not get the dreaded black line on the shot) - then dial in the aperture to expose the scene correctly - normally somewhere in between f8 and f14 (@ ISO100) - but it depends on how you want the scene exposed (I might meter off the mid range in the sky and then under expose by half a stop.
2. Manual - in full sun the flash has no idea what it's doing..... if the sun is bright you need it between 1:4 and 1:1 (generally closer to the later).
3. Manual, and explained in 1.
4. practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice......oh yeah and when you think you have it......practice, practice, practice.

Probably part of the problem is Canon's E-TTL program - if the scene is brighter than a certain value, it assumes you want fill flash, and lowers the power required by 2 stops.

This means that if it's close to their threshold, some pictures will look more "flashed" than others.

I use my Exposure Compensation for my backgrounds, and my Flash Exposure Compensation for my subject. Need the background darker? Turn the EC down. Subject brighter? FEC up.

If you think of those two controls as your brightness controls, it becomes a whole lot easier. I aim to just fill in the shadows, but not be able to tell the flash was there (except for the catchlight, of course!).

Fill flash is any flash that ISN'T the main source of light - it's just used to help control the shadow contrast.

Hope this helps!

Shan