Tip: Better Outdoor Portraits

This is an easy technique I read about a long time ago, and it works really well. I use it a lot when shooting weddings and portraits.

Outdoor portraits can often end up with a washed-out and boring sky when you set your camera to correctly expose the person’s face. But if you set the exposure to capture the sky perfectly, you end up with a very dark or even silhouetted person. We all know you can use fill flash outdoors to correct this, but even then the exposure can be a bit unpredictable if left up to the camera.

The technique I like to use is:

  • take a meter reading from the sky
  • set your camera to Manual mode
  • set the aperture according to the depth of field you want
  • set your shutter speed to correctly expose the sky (based on the earlier


Imagine being able to take your camera anywhere and get the shots to turn out exactly the way you want, every time. Find out how...

Click here for more info!

reading)

  • turn your flash on and set it to E-TTL (or whatever the equivalent is on non-Canon cameras)

    You may need to tweak your aperture setting (or ISO, if shooting digital) if the required shutter speed is faster than your flash sync speed.

    The manual exposure gives perfect exposure for the sky, whether it’s a deep blue with white fluffy clouds, a sunset, a looming storm, or whatever. The flash will light your subject perfectly, giving a nicely balanced overall picture. You might need to experiment a little to determine whether you need to use flash exposure compensation - I get good results from my EOS 20D/580ex combo without any compensation.

    One problem that might occur is that your on-camera flash can make the subject look a bit flat, giving the photo a


    • Warning: fopen(http://rds.yahoo.com/S=53720272/K=Photography/v=2/SID=w/TID=N001_71/l=NRE/SIG=12j9vol9t/EXP=1133994062/*-http%3A//news.search.yahoo.com/news/rss?p=Photography&ei=UTF-8) [function.fopen]: failed to open stream: HTTP request failed! HTTP/1.1 999 Unable to process request at this time -- error 999 in /home/photogrp/public_html/rssfeed.php on line 352

    Warning: fread(): supplied argument is not a valid stream resource in /home/photogrp/public_html/rssfeed.php on line 354

    Warning: fclose(): supplied argument is not a valid stream resource in /home/photogrp/public_html/rssfeed.php on line 357

    Warning: date() expects parameter 2 to be long, string given in /home/photogrp/public_html/rssfeed.php on line 364

    Warning: date() expects parameter 2 to be long, string given in /home/photogrp/public_html/rssfeed.php on line 365

    Warning: date() expects parameter 2 to be long, string given in /home/photogrp/public_html/rssfeed.php on line 366

    Warning: date() expects parameter 2 to be long, string given in /home/photogrp/public_html/rssfeed.php on line 367

    Warning: date() expects parameter 2 to be long, string given in /home/photogrp/public_html/rssfeed.php on line 408

    Warning: date() expects parameter 2 to be long, string given in /home/photogrp/public_html/rssfeed.php on line 409

    Warning: date() expects parameter 2 to be long, string given in /home/photogrp/public_html/rssfeed.php on line 410

    Warning: date() expects parameter 2 to be long, string given in /home/photogrp/public_html/rssfeed.php on line 411

    TODAY'S NEWS:


    ‘fake’ overall look. A diffuser like the Lumiquest Big Bounce can soften the edges of shadows and make your lighting look a lot more natural, especially if you can combine it with an off-camera flash cord. Even better would be a mobile studio light with a softbox or umbrella. Just make sure you get the lighting direction from the flash right so that it doesn’t contradict the direction of the lighting in the background - that can look awful!

    About The Author

    Darren is the owner of One Stop Under, a web site for professional and serious amateur photographers. For photography news, links and more tips like this one, visit http://www.OneStopUnder.com.

    darren@pool-room.com


    More Great Articles:

    Are There Other Types Of Photography?
    As we have discussed there are many avenues open to a professional...

    Is using Photoshop Cheating?
    Is Photoshop really cheating when it comes to photography...

    Top Tips For Achieving Great Children's Photographs
    In my work as a pro photographer I would guess that a good 70% of my...

    Tips for Better Vacation Photos
    Photos are a great way to share your travel experiences with family...

    Sitemap
    Wedding Photography: Preserving the Memories
    A person’s wedding can be one of the most important times in...

    Landscape Photography: Tips To Enhance The Experience
    One of the great things about landscape photography is that the...

    Specialized Styles of Photography
    Photography is an all encompassing term used for all types of...

    Quick Guide to Taking Better Photos
    In my business I see a lot of snapshots taken by ordinary people....
    Click Here For More Info!