BetterPhoto Q&A
Category: New Answers

Photographing children in Natural Light

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May 24, 2008

You can adjust your speedlight so it doesn't over expose your subject. In ETTL mode you can dial it down (all the way to -3 if need be). By lowering your flash output your batteries will last must longer. Plus I use rechargables and always carry an extra set.

I shoot in manual mode, but if I had to choose a different mode for shooting fast children outdoors it would be shutter.

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May 24, 2008

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May 24, 2008

First; lose the tripod. I see no reason to use a tripod, especially with children on the move. LOL
Tripods are great for things such as slow shutter speeds, critical composition etc...rarely for people..not even in a studio setting.

"What is the best mode to shoot in when you are outside and with children that are running around?"

There is no single perfect answer.
It does however sound like you are seeking candids.

I'm a little mystyfied why; at f/4.5 you are getting image blur outside? Your shutter speeds should be quite high unless your camera is defaulting to 1/60th when your flash is active.

"Then they were coming out over exposed"

Your exposure is based on the subject, NOT the surrounding area. If the child is filling a small part of the viewfinder while in (AV) mode, your meter reads the predominant average, NOT the child. Spot metering is difficult at best with moving subjects...you may try center weight metering. Going from a tight crop to wide angle exacerbates this.

Ahh, what to do?

Use full manual within the constrains of your flash/shutter speed.

Get a good meter reading off the childs skin tones in full light and then in the shadow. If you are trying to maintain a fixed DOF, then adjust shutter speed only.

(i.e) In full sun, the reading may be f/8 @ 1/250th... shadow, f/8 @ 1/125th.

Try shooting a few w/o flash. Your goal is a good exposure.

Now the tricky part. In full manual, your flash has no idea concerning subject distance..soooo at 8 feet in full sun, the flash may be perfect as a fill light. In shadow, it behaves as the (main) light.
Most good flash heads have the ability to reduce their output..Use it!
This is where experience and knowledge of your equipment pays off. (i.e) I know my strobe and camera well. I know what 1/2 strobe output will give me at a given f/stop...weather it's fill or acting as a primary light source. Range and effect are known with experience when shooting "on the fly."

Many people simply rely on "program" mode. This is ok for candids, but be aware, you do lose a lot of creative control, but your exposure should be ok.

While a diffuser on the flash will reduce the light somewhat, it really is not necessary when you want fill light outdoors.

I'm not sure what your equip is. Each camera/flash combination communicate with eachother differently.
Some allow the flash output to "lock" so the output does not change regardless of meter readings....a very nice feature. Somw will alter f/stop..f/stop AND flash output.

You have many options to capture images of children running around..sometimes you need a flash..sometimes you do not.

We all need to be smarter than our cameras. Technology has told many that our new digital shooter will do it all.
This belief has led to some really bad photography. Cameras are dumb, dumb, dumb. Photographers need to smart, smart, smart!

Children running around in the sunshine? Lose the tripod and the flash!

In shadow areas or back lit? Meter the subject and reduce flash output.

Zooming: Yeesh! LOL...Remember, the more you "zoom" in, less light is entering the camera.

I bet you are more confused now than ever? LOL

all the best,

Pete

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May 25, 2008

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May 25, 2008

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May 25, 2008

If you already understand metering modes, please forgive the following primer.

Matrix: The meter looks at the ENTIRE scene and attempts to calculate a good exposure.
This is great if you are shooting an average scene; how often does that happen? LOL
So much can go wrong with this metering method. A bright sky and a dark foreground. The meter runs home to momma crying; unsure who (Sky or foreground) should get the attention. Personally I rarely use this mode.

Center weight: As the name implies, a greater weight in exposure calculation is given to the central part of the frame; generally anywhere from 5 to 11 degrees. Your exposure is now based on this central area, with little information coming from outside this circle. There is still (some) exposure info beyond this central area, but your camera’s internal computer lends it very little credence.
I personally use this metering method often from photographing a rock to a human face.
Some cameras allow you to set the size of your center weight.

Spot: This is a even smaller area the meter looks at when calculating exposure. Generally from 1 to 3 degrees. It’s not much larger than the target reticle you see in the center of your viewfinder. It is also probably the most misused metering method for most beginning photographers. How it is used and interpreted is for another post perhaps.

Camera’s are dumb. Remember?..actually, light meters are dumb; easily fooled.
You asked HOW to meter a person.

Ok..Outside, no flash.
Pretend your subject is wearing a dark jacket.
If you were to meter the entire person head to toe using “matrix” metering, guess what would happen? The meter (sees) more dark (jacket) than light. (Skin) Your meter says to itself “Self; I see a lot of dark, I better open up my aperture to account for this.”
Result?...A great exposure of the dark jacket, BUT, the facial skin tone is now wayyyy to bright. Yuck!
This is how aperture priority thinks.

You have a couple choices here to take the guess work out.

1) Get real close to the persons face so their entire face fills the frame. Look at the reading. This is the proper exposure for their skin, weather they are close to you are 20 feet away. This is reflected light. This method might make your subject uncomfortable unless of course you use it as a ruse to steal a kiss. LOL

2) Spot meter or center weight to the rescue. Zoom in a little. Move your camera a little to see what readings you get from various parts of their face....You might see anywhere from 1/60th to 1/250th depending on how shiny their skin is and how bright it is outside..so try something in the middle like 1/125th.

I’m including two photos for you.
One is my niece doing a cartwheel outside in bright sun. A lousy lighting situation, but it is memorial day, and of course I am always the elected recorder of the day. LOL
I was quite a ways from her, so fill flash would not work as I had to zoom in. Notice her face and skin are pretty well exposed, but the grass is really bright. I didn’t care about the grass, the subject was my niece; not the foreground or background. I spot metered off her face prior to the shot.

The second pic was also shot outside, but in late day shade from buildings.
I could have just taken a meter reading off her face, but as dark as it was I needed to add some “punch” to help saturate the color. This was a simple case of taking the meter reading (I used center weight on her face) and then dialing down my flash output to 4 stops less..on my camera that is about 1/64th output. The only way I knew this is by experimenting with my camera...Pete’s 2nd law “Know thy equipment.”
If you look carefully, you can see the catch light from my flash in her eyes.

Al the best,

Pete

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May 25, 2008

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May 25, 2008

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May 26, 2008

Just go to full manual and use those values.

Pete

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May 26, 2008

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May 26, 2008