How to Properly Use Flash During the Day Outside?

[IgsEMT]

Outdoors:
On the sunny day: (sunny16 - at ISO 100 1/100sec f/16 - You'll BLOW OUT the whole image at 2.8). Thus you'll need to first set you ambient expure correctly. If shooting at wider apertures outdoors (lots of light), look into ND filters.
Once you set the ambient expsure, add flash to it (preferably off camera) at about 1-2 stops UNDER the ambient... this gives you soft enough light to fill in the shaddows and yet natural looking image w/o "flash" look.

Good Luck

You did see where he wanted shallow DOF?

Yes I did. Not impossible if done correctly. Unfortuntly many people do not know how to properly set exposure and/or using a flash. In situations as above, ND filter would be of great help even substituting flash for a reflector would probably do more good then harm.
Few weeks ago I was invited to teach a seminar, I was the youngest "instructor" there. It killed me how many participants knew every little megaFLipin details about their camera, lenses, and all other tech knowledge, and knew how and why two lenses at 50mm, for example, would give minor different result BUT had no clue HOW to use inverse square law, or what 2/3 lighting is... Point being, above image can be captured IF done properly.

 

[cgipson1]

Outdoors:
On the sunny day: (sunny16 - at ISO 100 1/100sec f/16 - You'll BLOW OUT the whole image at 2.8). Thus you'll need to first set you ambient expure correctly. If shooting at wider apertures outdoors (lots of light), look into ND filters.
Once you set the ambient expsure, add flash to it (preferably off camera) at about 1-2 stops UNDER the ambient... this gives you soft enough light to fill in the shaddows and yet natural looking image w/o "flash" look.

Good Luck

You did see where he wanted shallow DOF?

Yes I did. Not impossible if done correctly. Unfortuntly many people do not know how to properly set exposure and/or using a flash. In situations as above, ND filter would be of great help even substituting flash for a reflector would probably do more good then harm.
Few weeks ago I was invited to teach a seminar, I was the youngest "instructor" there. It killed me how many participants knew every little megaFLipin details about their camera, lenses, and all other tech knowledge, and knew how and why two lenses at 50mm, for example, would give minor different result BUT had no clue HOW to use inverse square law, or what 2/3 lighting is... Point being, above image can be captured IF done properly.

I agree.. if done properly!

 

[kundalini]

Personally, I think for a photo like the OP posted would be better with more DoF for an environmental type portrait. It doesn't sing a song for subject isolation. Of course, the subject in this photo couldn't hear the song anyway since he has a rope pluggin up his ears.

OP, if you are using the built-in flash only, your example demonstrates its limitations. It's just doesn't have enough power. A hot shoe mounted flash can work though, but I would still stop down the aperture to expose for the ambient.

I agree with IgsEMT that a ND filter will help in these situations to knock down the strong ambient light.

 

[nycphotography]

A shutter on a DSLR doesn't open all the way for the faster speeds. Instead it uses a pair of shutter curtains separated by a slit, and pulls that slit across the frame. This typically takes something like 1/200th of a second, even for the highest shutter speeds, say 1/4000. The width of the slit ensures that each part of the frame is only exposed for 1/4000th of a second, though, even though the whole operation takes much longer.

The flash is, we can pretend, instantaneous. So, at 1/4000, you'll get one teeny little strip of flash exposure somewhere in the frame, wherever the slit happens to be when the flash goes off.

High Speed Sync is family of technologies that overcomes this by stretching the flash exposure out to that 1/200th of a second, so every strip gets about the same amount of light from the flash.

GREAT explanation.

 

[gregtallica]

If you haven't, read the whole Strobist 101. However, what happened here can be looked at from this page, it has a great write up WITH PICTURES. This is the page that made me get a flash.

Strobist: Lighting 101: Balancing Flash and Ambient, Pt 1

It touches on setting up the ambient exposure then how to enhance the image with your flash.