Becca Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Please help! We finally had a beautiful sunny day here, and I took my Rebel XTi outside to practice some settings. But I failed pretty miserably, and I really need some advise. Here's a photo I took and it looks all shadowy, even though it was taken in bright sunlight. What did I do wrong?? I did use a circular polarizer on the lens, so I know that has something to do with the color being off. I didn't realize I shouldn't be using that unless there's some reflective source of sunlight in the shot. I think I had the camera set on Portrait mode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heisiam Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Rebecca, when it's bright sunlight outside try placing your subjects so that the sun is not shining directly on them, for instance, maybe under that tree so they are in the shade. Their faces will still be well lit but you won't have those harsh shadows... make sense? Adorable kids btw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Debbyo Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Hi Rebecca, I know your plight. I'm quite new at using my new Rebel xti too, and I've had similar results. I think after reading up on it one solution would be if we use our fill-flash for the shadows that happen with sunny days. But, I'm not too worried about it, I think I'll gradually get the hang of it, but in the meantime I'm reading Scott Kelby's book "the Phtoshop Elements Book for Digital Photographers" and it has fantastic tricks & info for correction. I'm picking up a wealth of information about PSE 5 on it. HTH and Good Luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDecker Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Becca, I think if you did use the flash you might have been too far away. I imported the pic into PSP and ran the fill flash filter, then played with the sliders a bit and got the following. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ursula Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Becca, Cheryl is right. When you are photographing people and objects in full overhead sun you will always get shadows because the contours of the face or object naturally create a shadow. Fill flash is certainly an option, but as a professional photographer, I don't really enjoy using flash unless I must. The suggestion Cheryl gave of finding a shaded area is the perfect one. You'll have good color in your pictures which can often get washed out in full sun, and even lighting. You can also find a place to place your subject in the shade but with a reflective surface nearby, such as a white wall, or concrete which will lighten your subjects face more evenly. If you want to take photos of people in sunlight choose the hour and a half just after sunrise and just before sunset. Those times of day, sunlight can be beautiful. Here are a few of examples of photos I took on the same day at the same time of day, right around 12 noon, some are in shade and some are in bright sun. You can see that the lighting in the shade is much more even and flattering. No flash was used in any of these shots and the camera was a basic point and shoot with few extra options. You're control with your rebel is even greater! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Becca Posted April 23, 2007 Author Share Posted April 23, 2007 Rebecca, when it's bright sunlight outside try placing your subjects so that the sun is not shining directly on them, for instance, maybe under that tree so they are in the shade. Their faces will still be well lit but you won't have those harsh shadows... make sense? Adorable kids btw Makes perfect sense! Thank you for the tip. That particular pine tree in the background doesn't provide too much shade, but in about a month, we'll have a chestnut tree that will have leaves again, which should be perfect! Yesterday I took some shots with my point & shoot camera that came out gorgeous under that tree, even though it's still leaf-less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Becca Posted April 23, 2007 Author Share Posted April 23, 2007 Hi Rebecca, I know your plight. I'm quite new at using my new Rebel xti too, and I've had similar results. I think after reading up on it one solution would be if we use our fill-flash for the shadows that happen with sunny days. But, I'm not too worried about it, I think I'll gradually get the hang of it, but in the meantime I'm reading Scott Kelby's book "the Phtoshop Elements Book for Digital Photographers" and it has fantastic tricks & info for correction. I'm picking up a wealth of information about PSE 5 on it. HTH and Good Luck! LOL...I have that book on my desk, but haven't opened it yet. Guess I should start, huh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Debbyo Posted April 26, 2007 Share Posted April 26, 2007 Rebecca, you really should get into that book. I let it sit on my shelf too long as well and now wish I hadn't. I love his humour in it too. Besides the humour tho, he uses a lot of techniques that are much quicker & better than I have been using -so needless to say my book is now well-worn and full of bookmarks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennk Posted April 26, 2007 Share Posted April 26, 2007 Becca, Cheryl is right. When you are photographing people and objects in full overhead sun you will always get shadows because the contours of the face or object naturally create a shadow. Fill flash is certainly an option, but as a professional photographer, I don't really enjoy using flash unless I must. The suggestion Cheryl gave of finding a shaded area is the perfect one. You'll have good color in your pictures which can often get washed out in full sun, and even lighting. You can also find a place to place your subject in the shade but with a reflective surface nearby, such as a white wall, or concrete which will lighten your subjects face more evenly. If you want to take photos of people in sunlight choose the hour and a half just after sunrise and just before sunset. Those times of day, sunlight can be beautiful. Here are a few of examples of photos I took on the same day at the same time of day, right around 12 noon, some are in shade and some are in bright sun. You can see that the lighting in the shade is much more even and flattering. No flash was used in any of these shots and the camera was a basic point and shoot with few extra options. You're control with your rebel is even greater! Ursula, I love your suggestions and even more those pictures! I am such a concrete learner. i really like to know what the end product will look like and you gave it! Thanks! Jenn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.