Impromptu Wheat Field Shot

bobcool · May 25, 2007

My daughter and I were on our way to the store and I saw this wheat field near our neighborhood. Remembering that there's always a photo opportunity if you are always looking for one, I figured why not? So, we got out and I had her walk about three feet into the field and then turn around and "smile for daddy." It was almost dusk, as the sun was setting behind her. I tried a method learned here to try and not let the flash block out the ambient light, and I think it turned out pretty good. Any suggestions how I could have made this better?

The only adjustments were some cropping, black values and white balance in Lightroom....

Scott_Quier · May 25, 2007

It looks to me like you got the shutter speed just about perfect. The sun comes through without blowing.

I'm thinking your FEC could have been set a little more negative, maybe somewhere between 2/3 and 1 less than what you had it set at.

bobcool · May 25, 2007

Yes, I did dial down the flash on one shot, but it was too low and the result was poor. I think I dialed down too low, and time was running out as the sun was setting fast, so I just went back to TTL and took the last few shots. I can try to reduce the exposure in PP to see if I can get it toned down a little. Thanks for the feedback!

Elaine · May 25, 2007

She's a pretty girl! I like her expression and her hair in #1. The ambient light looks good, and the fill is really close but seems a bit too bright, IMO. (I think I'm agreeing with Scott!)

bobcool · May 25, 2007

Here's my problem - if I reduce the exposure on her face, then the highlights show up more. If i try to reduce highlights, it over processes it. I tried some cloning to eliminate the highlight on her forehead that was splitting it down the middle:

Is this better? I'm not sure, since now her face is not as separated from the background, which to my eye, was one of the cool things about this photograph. Is there a better way to do this? Anyone want to give it a try with the original photo?

dogwood · May 25, 2007

It's always best to get this kind of thing right in camera to avoid all the post hassles. Just a suggestion-- it looks like you might be shooting with a bare strobe in the hotshoe? Try getting your strobe off camera and use a modifier-- for evening shots, soft light works well. Either a softbox (the photoflex mini fits hotshoe strobes) or white umbrella would work well. Here's an example using a single softbox (no post work needed):

I'm actually trying a very similar shoot next weekend-- field, models, twilight... so your thread here is of particular interest!

bobcool · May 25, 2007

Very nice shot, Pete!

Yes, getting the flash off the camera and in a soft box would have worked wonders, but this was a spur of the moment-hop out of the car-hurry up and pose kinda thing. That being said, I'm going to try the holdtheflashwitharmextendedtotheside method and see if I can get the light traveling across her face instead of directly at it. Thanks for the feedback, and good luck on your field shoot! Bring mosquito repellent!

dogwood · May 25, 2007

Bobcool:

Another option if you really want to shoot with strobe on cam is a $5 DIY fun foam diffuser. Search "fun foam" on the lighting forum at dpreview.com.

They're cheap and produce amazingly even, soft light from an on-camera strobe. One guy over on that forum swears by using two strobes with the fun foam diffusers-- one as key and one as fill. I haven't tried that but his results look nice considering he's using Canon strobes.

But yeah, I understand your shoot was spur of the moment. Nice shots-- better than what happens to me so many times when I see a location I should shoot and instead decide I don't have enough time and just drive past instead.

EDIT: turns out I have that fun foam link bookmarked so here it is: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1025&message=18308364

LCD · May 25, 2007

How lucky for you that your daughter is a willing model. I especially like the first shot.

Impromptu Wheat Field Shot

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