p.2 #1 · Best way to eliminate harsh shadows for outdoor portraits
Easiest way is to put the person in shade near the edge and light will indirectly illuminate them.
Second way and preferable is to use a "scrim" that blocks the light from above and you have portable shade. I use the Lastolite and other pop-out collapsible diffucsers that go from round ones up to 38 inches in diameter to oblong ones that are 2x6 feet in size. You can buy these diffusers in 1-stop and 2-stop types. I like the 1-stop that only cuts the light to the subjects by half and also diffuses the light hitting the face of the subject.
Third way is to have the subject hold an umbrella and have it so it blocks the light hitting their face. Lots of inexpensive and also decorative umbrellas available. I like the paper and silk ones sold at Chinatown shops.
Fourth way is to go early or late in the day and use flash for fill lighting. When photographing couples for their engagement albums I start two hours before sunset and have them backlit by the sun (no squinting this way) and fill their faces with the flash. It often takes an hour for both of them to get comfortable working with me and over any shyness or concern about how they will look in the pictures. The second hour is the most productive but I have to work against the setting sun. By water there is a twilight effect that lasts more than an hour after sunset and is great light for photographing people.
p.2 #2 · Best way to eliminate harsh shadows for outdoor portraits
AcuteShadows wrote:
By "powerful", I meant more powerful than the average internal flash. Distance and settings are important, if you shoot wide open with an ND filter, and cannot go below 1/200th of a second, then you need a more powerful flash.
Let's say the fill is -2.0EV compensated for a somewhat dramatic, but still better-than-full-shadow, result. The GN of a built-in flash on a D7000 is 39ft, so at 7 feet, one gets about f/5.6. That's enough to compensate for "sunny 16" with a 1/200s shutter, albeit at full power. Thus the built-in is surprisingly useful for fill, particularly for snapshots, and is conveniently always there. I'll grant a regular flash is more useful, just saying discounting the built-in may be short sighted. In a pinch, it will do the job.
And adding an ND filter to achieve shallower DOF does not affect the outcome.
p.2 #3 · Best way to eliminate harsh shadows for outdoor portraits
kaplah wrote:
Let's say the fill is -2.0EV compensated for a somewhat dramatic, but still better-than-full-shadow, result. The GN of a built-in flash on a D7000 is 39ft, so at 7 feet, one gets about f/5.6. That's enough to compensate for "sunny 16" with a 1/200s shutter, albeit at full power. Thus the built-in is surprisingly useful for fill, particularly for snapshots, and is conveniently always there. I'll grant a regular flash is more useful, just saying discounting the built-in may be short sighted. In a pinch, it will do the job.
And adding an ND filter to achieve shallower DOF does not affect the outcome.
p.2 #4 · Best way to eliminate harsh shadows for outdoor portraits
AcuteShadows wrote:
But wouldn't that only work if you shoot at f/11, and not work if you shoot at f/2?
If the setup gets enough fill-flash at f/11, and you add five stops of ND filter then open the aperture five stops to f/2, the amount of light coming in (from flash and ambient both) is unchanged.
p.2 #5 · Best way to eliminate harsh shadows for outdoor portraits
kaplah wrote:
If the setup gets enough fill-flash at f/11, and you add five stops of ND filter then open the aperture five stops to f/2, the amount of light coming in (from flash and ambient both) is unchanged.
True, but you need to have an ND filter with you, maybe for several diameters. Then, for five stop, you may need to combine an ND 0.6 and ND 0.9 filter. While possible, if you want to use quality filters (I use B+W after machanical failures of three aluminium filters), this gets quickly more expensive than an SB-900. So my choice would be the flash. But if you have lenses with identical diameters (my small bag with Summarit lenses and without a flash), then you take a .9 and a 1.8 and adjust ISO or shutter speed to match the nearest ND filter intensity to the situation.
May 15, 2019 at 06:14 AM
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p.2 #6 · Best way to eliminate harsh shadows for outdoor portraits
AcuteShadows wrote:
True, but you need to have an ND filter with you, maybe for several diameters. Then, for five stop, you may need to combine an ND 0.6 and ND 0.9 filter. While possible, if you want to use quality filters (I use B+W after machanical failures of three aluminium filters), this gets quickly more expensive than an SB-900. So my choice would be the flash. But if you have lenses with identical diameters (my small bag with Summarit lenses and without a flash), then you take a .9 and a 1.8 and adjust ISO or shutter speed to match the nearest ND filter intensity to the situation. ...Show more →
Or you can get variable ND filters, which is my preference anyway.
p.2 #7 · Best way to eliminate harsh shadows for outdoor portraits
AcuteShadows wrote:
[...]this gets quickly more expensive than an SB-900.[...]
I'm at a loss as to why an SB-900 would have anything to do with this. If the pop-up has enough power for fill, then an SB-900 will also, although at greater cost.
The only thing the NDs are doing is facilitating more-isolating DOF. The power of the flash, once sufficient without ND, is not a factor.
p.2 #8 · Best way to eliminate harsh shadows for outdoor portraits
kaplah wrote:
I'm at a loss as to why an SB-900 would have anything to do with this. If the pop-up has enough power for fill, then an SB-900 will also, although at greater cost.
The only thing the NDs are doing is facilitating more-isolating DOF. The power of the flash, once sufficient without ND, is not a factor.
Hm, yeah, you're probably right with regard to the ND filter not changing the situation, if flash power is sufficient. I remember shooting with a variable ND filter at f/1.4 (Nikon D750), which pushed the variable ND filter very close to the max. But there was a second intervening factor: I tried not to use the flash at full power, so that I could take shots more quickly. Anyway, the variable ND filter was rather mediocre (a "pro" product from a budget company). It influenced both the AF and image quality. So I actually sold back these variable NDs to the shop as used. I also had some difficulty adjusting the variable ND filter, as its intensity changed with very minor adjustments. Nor was there a way to calculate the settings in advance. This episode is from three years ago, and I probably just extrapolated from the specific situation to "internal flash does not work well" in general - although it might work well if you know what you're doing.
