Diffusion and Flash

Yesterday I had the pleasure of doing some "pre-wedding" shots with Anne and Dan, the couple whose wedding I'll be shooting next weekend. When I woke up, it was raining and within half and hour Anne was calling me to cancel the shoot. We had planned to shoot outside and she was concerned about getting her dress dirty. I told her not to worry, that we could shoot inside and have a ball; which we did.

I arrived at 2:00pm, just after the rain had stopped, but it was still cloudy, creating a great diffuser for the sunlight. Big tip here - when shooting pictures of people and their faces, if it's sunny, go to a shaded area - no flash necessary. If you must shoot in bright sunlight, you should try manually turning on your flash and seeing how it changes the shot. For all you people who say "but my camera knows when to flash..." not here it doesn't. It's bright as can be outside and your camera sees no reason for extra light. This is what we call "fill flash", because it fills in the shadows on people's faces.

Hats are the worst. Ever get pictures back and you can't see anyone's face due to the shadow of their hat? Try using the flash next time and you'll see, it's like magic. For many of you, seeing this in your own camera for the first time; it's exciting. You might think, "Wow, now I see how this lighting thing works!"

So... with my gear set, I helped Anne hang some sheer drapes on their living room windows and asked her to jump up on the cabinet that runs the whole length of the room. I already had my remote wireless flash on a tripod, off to camera left and that let me make a beautiful fashion shot.

My favorite image was actually without a flash. I just boosted my exposure compensation up 2 stops for a spontaneous vision I had in my mind and we put it together very well(the one of him standing and her sitting, looking up at him)

Another favorite is the one of Anne's necklace that she got from her friend. Take a look at the photos for yourself and you decide.

Labels: faces, fill flash, flash, lighting, photography, pictures, pre-nuptials, shooting, sunlight, weddings