bright lights causing shadows...

[lanesmama]

#1 What am I doing wrong with these pictures? I uploaded them to photobucket and copied the link just like in the tutorial page and they come out tiny. #2 I guess you can kind of see here what I am talking about with it being small... this picture was taking on a super bright day with Nikon D40- 50mm. The sun is obviously in front of her but I couldn't have gotten this shot if I moved between her and the sun. I used 3200 and fstop was 5.0. What else can I do to limit/eliminate shadows in these situations? Or am I just stuck having to use a flash? I am waiting on some dslr books from our local library but there is a waiting list and I'm anxious to learn... or point me to where I could find some info- everything I find says to get between the light source and the subject.

 

[Ryan L]

They tend to do that...your job is to compensate for it somehow.

 

[480sparky67 67]

Hang on....... I gotta get my cheater out.

I assume the sun is to your right. I guess you need to pay attention to details.

 

[lanesmama]

ok I know that... Just wondering how to do that or where to find the info. I'm asking on the beginner page because I don't know. ...and if you were referring to the size of the photo, I did it exactly as in the tutorial. The pictures are normal sized every where else I view them.

 

[Ryan L]

Flash, reflectors, diffusers. You have to be able to change the lighting by either overpowering the current light (flash, reflector), or by changing the light currently on her (diffuser; shower curtain, sheet, diffusion panel, whatever you can think of)

 

[lanesmama]

Thanks... I was hoping I could change the settings and that would help. Just starting so I don't have any of those other than the camera flash and I am trying to learn without using it so it doesn't become a crutch.

 

[Ryan L]

you dont have a white sheet?

 

[mickmac]

Take the picture at a different time of day when the light isn't casting shadows in that particular shot. Its about looking at what you are going to shoot before you do it.

 

[Kbarredo]

Either you use a fill flash or you use something to block the sun to even out the lighting. Or you could shoot in an overcast day.

 

[tirediron]

As others have mentioned, using additional light and/or reflectors is one solution, but IMO, a better one is to take the picture in a different location. This is essentially 'dappled light'; similar to what you get when standing under a deciduous tree in at noon. This is probably the single worst type of light to try and photograph in, although it can be used to artistic effect, until you're more experienced and familiar with your equipment and basic lighting, it's best avoided.

 

[lanesmama]

Well of course I have a white sheet. But by the time I got that set up there would be no way she would hold still. She would be wanting to check out this white sheet that isn't supposed to be in the middle of a path by 2 ponds.

Thanks everyone for the help. I will have to practice in the evening instead of the midmorning!

 

[Robin Usagani]

here is your photobucket page.. yes.. the photos are small

Pictures by lanesmama1113 - Photobucket

 

[Derrel]

WHY would you even WANT to eliminate the shadows in the image of the little girt pausing to smell the flowers? That makes no sense at all. There "are shadows" in the scene. The shadows are the clues to the lighting. The shadows give tremendous depth clues, and convey the time of year, the time of day, etc. Shadows are not inherently bad. You were making a location portrait using natural light; would you prefer the blinding blast of a powerful, on-camera, hot-shoe flash? I think a bit of analysis is in order. When I look at the photo of the little girl smelling the flowers, even though it is a very tiny picture, I can see that the shadows cast an interesting lighting pattern on her face. Whatever is the lightest in a portrait tends to "pop out", while darker areas tend to recede; in this case, the shadows very,very effectively focus attention right where it needs to be--on her face and nose.

 

[vtf]

Everyone else has touched upon the shadows, your pic tho is thumnail size 160x120. Try 800 on longest side to make them larger to post.

 

[lanesmama]

I was only wanting to get rid of the shadows because everyone makes shadows seem like they are a bad thing! (really new...I'm sure you can tell! :/

Do I change the size on photobucket or did I put them on my computer wrong? When I resize them in photobucket they get blurry. grrr