any advice on this

[Brendan Mulachy]

took this today in really bright sunlight, thus causing the over exposure on the shiny lambanana (that's really what they are called), the highlights on the back of the neck/shoulders and the face being in shade.

would a bit of flash helped this or probably better a reflector of some sort to help even things out

what are the best ways to shoot in bright sunlight

 

[HoppyUK]

It's under exposed for starters, probably because the meter was fooled by the back/side-lighting. Common problem - dial in +1.0 or so exposure compensation.

But the shade side will still be darker, and fill-in flash is the easiest way to balance that, though a reflector if you have one is just as good, if not better. Adds a nice sparkle to the eyes as well. The pop-up is actually very good for fill-in. Pretty much just switch it on and shoot, then adjust the balance of flash and ambient if necessary with the independent compensation controls in Av (that's one easy way, there are other ways of doing it).

There's a danger that in bright sun the shutter speed will naturally rise above the x-sync speed, so you need to raise the f/number (or reduce ISO) to counteract that. This is what high speed sync is for, but no pop-up has that feature.

BTW, shooting into the light like that, then filling in with flash, produces great results - sun in the hair, no squinting into the sun etc.

 

[Brendan Mulachy]

cheers richard

 

[CT]

You can edit the shot to a degree Dave by using freehand masks on the under-exposed areas...


lucylamb-edit by tonky8203, on Flickr

It's not ideal as you'll never get the punch into the shot which you would by getting the exposure right in camera.

As said above, use a flash or reflector for some fill light OR move in close to your subject so that her face fills the frame and use that exposure reading in Manual Mode or press the exposure lock button - move back to your taking position and take the shot. Let the background over-expose rather than letting the main subject under-expose.

 

[hairboy]

+ 1 for fill in flash/reflector, if you want to keep the details in the sky.

But, as a rule of thumb, if you have a high contrast situation like this, always expose for the main subject. Blown out sky is better than a silhouette. Use spot/centre weighted metering, lock exposure, then shoot away.