BetterPhoto Q&A
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Shooting bright white things

I have been having a little trouble shooting brides dresses. My photos turn out a little washed out. I think becuase I am using the cameras meter and the white dress throws the meter off. I could use hand-held meter, but then I am afraid that the hand-held, using an ambient light reading, will cast the dress too dark. Maybe that's okay.

I shoot NPH 400, and shoot at -2/3 (250). I may or may not use fill-flash, depending on the situation.

But, lets say we're outside, in the shade, no flash. Is there something I can do to make the dress really look great, but not wash out the people?

Or, if we're in the sun, what should I do?

Thanks,
Jerry

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May 14, 2004

(b) Rating NPH 400 at 250 is +2/3. This may contribute to your problem with fill flash as it'll give you 2/3 stop more flash exposure than if you set ISO to 400 and simply dialed in +2/3 exposure compensation.

(c) Are spot metering the dress or using matrix/evaluative/centerweighted? Are you applying any exposure compensation to this or just shooting what the meter gives you?

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May 14, 2004

A) I didn't think so. I have moved away from hand-metering because I have been assisting other wedding photographers in my area, and have found that very few use this technique. Although, I am also leaning that some of them really don't know much about photography, they just point and shoot - some in "program mode". Even though their results are great. But, I realize that I have to take their advice with a grain of salt. But, it is interesting to watch others work; you get a well-rounded education. But, I am beginning to think that I need to do periodic checks between my hand-held meter and my camera meter to make sure everything looks right. For instance, I knwo that at the beach, or any where near the ocean, my cameras meter is usually tricked by the reflection of the water. So, for that, I always use my hand-held meter. And, it is always right on. If I go with my cameras settings, they are way out of whack and give me over-exposed photos.

B) If I rate my 400 speed film at 250, I then reduce my fill flash by 1/3. This helps totally eliminate shadows outdoors, where there may be harsh shadows from the sun. (Keep in mind, I only do this outdoors.) But, mostly, I try to move into the shade. If I am in the shade, and still feel like I need fill flash, I will reduce the flash burst 1 1/3 stop using E-TTL.

C)I have to check on this. I thought I was using spot, but maybe my camera is using something else. That would explain the problem. Because in the last situation, I was careful to meter on her face, then move down to frame the picture and snap. But, if my cameras were set on evaluative, or something other than spot, that would explain the problem. I'll make sure that all my bodies are set to spot tonight.

At any rate, other than rating the fim myself, I do not use any other exposure comp.

And, this rating the film myself thing is fairly new to me. I'm trying it out based on a suggestion from someone to eliminate heavy shadows from the sunlight. So far, I've gotten some nice results.

The theory is this, rate 400 at 250. Reduce the fill flash by 1/3, and that should pretty much eliminate shadows from sunlight outdoors.

I haven't actually used it yet in practice, but I did some test shots that seem to tunr out all right. Although I did notice that the flash was a little strong on the background. Not so much on the subject, but I was using my son as the test subject, and he was standing against our white fence (about 2 feet off of it. And in the photos, you could see where the flash was bouncing back into the photo. So, it may be smart to back it off a little more, like maybe a full stop.

What do you think?

Jerry

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May 14, 2004

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May 14, 2004