11 going on...

divamum

... well, not sure going on what, but she was actually in the mood for some pictures (first time in ages - I can DEFINITELY identify with the thread about kids not being willing to pose!) In any case, she decided to totally switch on the "I might even be a rockstar" personality while we were in the sculpture park at the art museum. I've been wanting to work on fill flash in bright light, so this was a good opportunity to give it a whirl. These were taken under an arbor to avoid the harsh sunlight. I wanted to use my reflector, but my arms weren't long enough get the right angle for shooting AND holding the board :rofl I didn't take the flash off camera simply because it was busy and I didn't want to risk breaking anything so, alas, the 430ex is on the shoe, but such is life!

Question for all you experienced fill-flashers (oo, that sounds weird - you knwo what I mean!): what do you do about the pinpoint catchlights that often go with the conditions which demand fill flash? Do you just live with them, or remove them in post or add alternatives or...? Just curious. I guess that wouldn't have been a problem if the flash had been off camera :dunno

Anyway, here's the Diva in Training (with kitty ears). What a ham!

JulieLawsonPhotography

oh my goodness look at that second one. You are so in trouble. lol

I love this set and am interested to hear about the pin point light that flashes produce.

jeffreaux2

The pin point occurs due to the size and distance of the light source (flash) from the subject. An umbrella, for instance, would have produced a much larger highlight if it were the same distance from her as the flash used in these photographs. The fact that the highlight here is located at near center of the eye....and in the pupil....is common with shoe mounted fill. I have, at times removed them.....but that doesn't always work well as it sometimes sucks the life out of the eyes. Trial and error on a per photograph basis might get you somewhere....or.....you could remove them and then replace them with some photoshopped-in replacement highlights of the size and shape of your choosing. I have never done that, but some folks do.

My personal opinion of these photos is....

I've seen that look before.....from my own two daughters....and predict that as a parent you are about to lose some control there....

Not quite yet, but ITS coming! (theres no denying or stopping THAT)

My advice is:

Love her ( of course )...and roll with the punches.:D

...oh....and I dont think it woulda hurt to have allowed a bit more ambient light into your exposures here....to bring up THAT side of the balance you are looking for.

Scott_Quier

First - these are some of the most flattering photos or your young lady you have posted to date. And yes, she has definitley added a number of years to her attitude in these!

I've done a bit of flashing (both indoors and out, I just had to carry the pun a bit further). The pin-points you are referring to - in the eyes? Yes, these are catchlights and they usually add life the the eyes. If they appear to be a bit small, then I will sometimes enlarge them in post. You have to be careful though. Catchlight usually aren't white so it's easy to make them too bright.

As for Jeff's comment about bringing up the ambient - hmmmm - I'm not sure I agree with him. But it may be more of a taste thing. In the first, I would have burned down the upper right corner a bit and/or reduced ambient exposure by about a stop.

#2 - I really like how you've mixed ambient and flash here. The ambient is doing a great job of adding detail and texture (shadows) to her face. I might have used a touch less fill to allow those shadows to have a bit more strength. Finally, I think I'd burn down her left shoulder a bit (it's a tad hot).

And, yes, looking in my crystal ball, I think I see a medium sized storm on the horizon. One that will proably last for about 3 or 4 years! :lol

divamum

Thanks all!

Yes, she's definitely starting to move out of childhood and into pre-adolescence - I am SO not ready for this.....D

Btw, one of the reasons she looks a bit different is because she just had 5 baby teeth extracted and her face is actually changing shape significantly at the moment - it's slimmed down a lot since the teeth came out last month.

As for ambient vs fill... I'm not sure. I think ultimately I agree with you both: I like it like this (and, in fact, had to dodge her face to lift the light on it further), but I can see a case for a little more ambient as well. As always, I would have preferred to use some of that strong sunlight on the reflector but 1. I couldn't reach it and 2. She HATES HATES HATES having strong reflected light in her eyes and refuses to continue. So flash it was.... I think that was turned down about 2 stops so I probably could have reduced it further and opened up another stop (I was at 2.8), but I'm increasingly disappointed with the 85mm at 1.8 and 2.0 - it's just too soft.

Does the size of the pupil itself affect catchlights, ie when folks are in strong sun and their pupils are contracted the light is smaller too? Just wondering.

Anyway, thanks, as always!

Scott_Quier

divamum wrote:

Thanks all!

Yes, she's definitely starting to move out of childhood and into pre-adolescence - I am SO not ready for this.....D

Btw, one of the reasons she looks a bit different is because she just had 5 baby teeth extracted and her face is actually changing shape significantly at the moment - it's slimmed down a lot since the teeth came out last month.

As for ambient vs fill... I'm not sure. I think ultimately I agree with you both: I like it like this (and, in fact, had to dodge her face to lift the light on it further), but I can see a case for a little more ambient as well. As always, I would have preferred to use some of that strong sunlight on the reflector but 1. I couldn't reach it and 2. She HATES HATES HATES having strong reflected light in her eyes and refuses to continue. So flash it was.... I think that was turned down about 2 stops so I probably could have reduced it further and opened up another stop (I was at 2.8), but I'm increasingly disappointed with the 85mm at 1.8 and 2.0 - it's just too soft.

With the flash on camera (or connected), changing the aperture will not cause you to adjust the FEC - the camera/flash will compensate for the change in aperture.

Maybe this is a good point to remind:

• Change the aperture to adjust DOF. ETT-L Flash/camera will compensate. Manual flash - changing aperture will change the amount of flash light in the exposure (assuming you don't change the power of the manual flash output).
• Change the shutter speed or ISO to adjust the degree to which ambient light contributes to the exposure.

divamum wrote:

Does the size of the pupil itself affect catchlights, ie when folks are in strong sun and their pupils are contracted the light is smaller too? Just wondering.

Anyway, thanks, as always!

No - the size of catchlight is a function of the curvature of the corena and the distance between the eye and the light source.

The smaller the eye, hence shorter radius of corneal curvature, the smaller will be the catchlight. Think about the passenger side mirror on U.S. automobiles. The more radical the curve of the mirror, the smaller things appear.

The further the flash from the eye, the small will be the catchlight.