Lighting advice needed

W00DY

Hi All,

Was wondering... when you have to shoot in the middle of the day and use the sun as natural backlight is it best to position the sun directly behind the subjects or slightly to the side?

I am taking sporting team shots for my son's soccer club next weekend and plan on using 2 SB-800's shooting into umbrellas at the boring old 45 degree angle (as these are team shots there is no room for creativity!!!) to fill the teams whilst positioning them with the sun behind them so they are not squinting.

I have not shot larger groups in the middle of the day before as most of my stuff is late in the afternoon.

Appreciate any comments on setup.

Cheers,
W00DY

Snowgirl

W00DY wrote:

Hi All,

Was wondering... when you have to shoot in the middle of the day and use the sun as natural backlight is it best to position the sun directly behind the subjects or slightly to the side?

I am taking sporting team shots for my son's soccer club next weekend and plan on using 2 SB-800's shooting into umbrellas at the boring old 45 degree angle (as these are team shots there is no room for creativity!!!) to fill the teams whilst positioning them with the sun behind them so they are not squinting.

I have not shot larger groups in the middle of the day before as most of my stuff is late in the afternoon.

Appreciate any comments on setup.

Cheers,
W00DY

I don't know if this is the right section - but anyway: I wouldn't have the sun behind the team - you'll get nice silouettes but no faces. On the side would help with a fill light coming from the other side. Better yet - place them somewhere in the shade, with fill light - no squinting - just boy antics while you try to capture something worthwhile. Good luck.

W00DY

Snowgirl wrote:

I don't know if this is the right section - but anyway: I wouldn't have the sun behind the team - you'll get nice silouettes but no faces. On the side would help with a fill light coming from the other side. Better yet - place them somewhere in the shade, with fill light - no squinting - just boy antics while you try to capture something worthwhile. Good luck.

If I have two SB-800's being used as fill lights why would they be silouettes? The light from the speed lights would balance out against the background.

As I have to shot at the clubs home grounds there is very little shade and I don't have a lot of space to play with as there are games going on and not much extra area.

nipprdog

DEFINETELY, Shoot with the sun at the teams back to avoid squinting, and harsh light.

You'r two SB800s will do a a fine job at fill-flash.

Art Scott

with the added suggestion of investing in a FLASH METER.....You don't need the most expensive one on the market....I mean a Wein WP500 is a great weird looking, a large square box (approx 6" sq. if I remember correctly) with a tiny incident light inlet....I worked for over 2 yrs with one......inexpensive but works fantastic and takes a ton of stress out of mid day or any time of day outdoors shooting with flash.......
Shoot raw........