[tweet25]

1) How could I have shot this to not have the shadow on her face? I liked the shot the first few times I looked at it, now the shadow is bothering me.

2) Am I getting past the 'snap shot' photo and starting to get closer to portrait photo? (well maybe not portrait- maybe one step above 'snap shot') thank you

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Last edited by tweet25; 04-10-2012 at 09:29 PM. Reason: adding photo

One of 3 ways. A Move them into shade. B. Expose for the shadows ( in this case shade of about EV 13 or 12) so with your wide open aperture of 2.4, ISO of 100 and shutter of 1/800 or 1/1000. C. Expose for ambient light and use fill flash which opens up a big can of new things to buy and learn.

Here's one I did last Saturday, similar situation,with flash.

[tweet25]

One of 3 ways. A Move them into shade. B. Expose for the shadows ( in this case shade of about EV 13 or 12) so with your wide open aperture of 2.4, ISO of 100 and shutter of 1/800 or 1/1000. C. Expose for ambient light and use fill flash which opens up a big can of new things to buy and learn.

thank you - I tried using my camera flash for a couple of photos and they were so over exposed I gave up. Is the camera's flash bad for using outdoors as well?

I try to get the photos as they happen, so having them move to the shade to for a greeting isn't going to happen. :-(

when you say Expose for shadows... do you mean slow my shutter speed down?

thanks again

thank you - I tried using my camera flash for a couple of photos and they were so over exposed I gave up. Is the camera's flash bad for using outdoors as well?

I try to get the photos as they happen, so having them move to the shade to for a greeting isn't going to happen. :-(

when you say Expose for shadows... do you mean slow my shutter speed down?

thanks again

Using flash outdoors for fill is when you should use it. It does require some understanding. I was shooting with both my camera and Pentax hot shoe flash in manual exposure. The camera was set for roughly a "Sunny 16" rule and the flash at about 1/8th power. Successful use of flash requires (besides practice) understanding that you are figuring out two exposure settings, one for ambient light and one for flash light.

In terms of Exposure Value, EV15 (aka the Sunny 16 Rule f16 - 1/100, ISO 100 or equivalent) is the amount of incident light on a bright sunny day. In shade, like underneath the brim of a hat or someones face turned away for the sun or standing in shade is a EV of 12 or 13, so f8, 1/100, ISO 100 or equivalent.

Understanding Exposure Values and the Exposure Triangle of Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO or Sensitivity will allow you to make photographs that you want. I recommend Bryan Petersen's book "Understanding Exposure". Also, you can get a more in depth understanding here. Ultimate Exposure Computer

If you invest the time to learn the principles, you will be much happier with your photography. I haven't shot anything but manual exposure in over 3 years and have no idea if the meters in my cameras work. I do use a little Digisix meter and I have a flash meter to speed session setups. Flash is a second set of variables in addition.

[Rockinghorse Winner]

I think the dog in the first photo is distracting from your main subject - a crop at that point would improve the photo. I like the expressions on their faces and the dynamics of it. Love that second photo!

[tweet25]

I think the dog in the first photo is distracting from your main subject - a crop at that point would improve the photo. I like the expressions on their faces and the dynamics of it. Love that second photo!

thank you - I had the people in the first photo centered so I cropped to that side, I will try a different crop.