 BetterPhoto Member |
Dark Faces in Bright Environment I will be spending March and April in the South Pacific and want to take slides for future magazine publication (I hope). I have been there before (using print film) and a problem I had was capturing people's faces. They are very black and the environment is so bright. I use a Minolta 600si with a puny flash that does help on the face problem if I'm close enough. What film do you recommend? I am leaning toward Fuji Sensia 200, but would like to hear your thoughts.
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BetterPhotoJim.com - Jim Miotke  Contact Jim Miotke Jim Miotke's Gallery |
While the right film will help a bit - and the Sensia is a great film - the thing that you really need is a stronger flash (or a reflector) and exposure compensation. Whenever the scene is predominantly bright, the camera meter is going to be tricked into thinking it needs less exposure. This makes the dark faces all the darker. You can compensate and force the exposure up a stop or two. However, this will cause the surrounding environment to look a bit washed out. Using a stronger flash - or even a reflective surface - to fill in the shadows will make a huge difference. If you can use an external flash on your Minolta, try the Minolta 5400HS flash. Also recommended is Lumiquest's light-bouncing system; I use this often out in the field for a softer effect. For a reflector, you can use anything from a piece of white cardboard to a professional fold-up reflector such as Photoflex's helpful 32" white/gold Litedisc.
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John A. Lind |
One of the responses already addressed the need to use "fill" to bring the shadowed or shaded faces up to the brightness level of the rest of the scene. The two methods, fill flash or a reflector, are the ones most commonly used by professionals. Model photographers lean toward the reflectors because they have an army of assistants to hold them. You should also look at how you are composing the photographs! People are best photographed outdoors under overcast sky because of the soft, diffused lighting. Under complete shade also works, but the background must be likewise shaded. It sounds as if you are trying to combine scenic and close-ups of people together. This creates competing subject material and neither wins. If it is the people you want, then make the scene the backdrop, slightly out of focus by using a large aperture, focus on your subject's eyes, and balance the lighting between backdrop and the people (fill, reflector, or find similar lighting levels). If it is the scene you want, then the people in it must be interacting with it and not standing in front of it facing the camera. In this case, have them do something or look at something other than facing the camera that is part of the scene. Also examine your lighting in this case. If it is a bright sunny day, the best time is early morning or late afternoon using side lighting from the low sun angle. This provides some side shadow on the face and keeps people from squinting into a sun. The worst time is mid-day (between about 10AM and 2PM) as it is the brightest time of day and leaves long, harsher shadows under the eyebrows, nose and chin. By deciding what you want, avoiding competing subject material to simplify and examining your lighting situation, you will get better photos.
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