My first outside couple shoot, need help

[goodguy]

Had an outside shoot with a couple this weekend, it was an unpaid shoot which I made as part of my continues efforts to improve my photography.
Very sunny beautiful day.
I brought one off camera set up with umbrella.
Tried to shoot couple with sun in their faces and with my back to the sun, set the umbrella so it will fill in light to remove any harsh shadows.
Shot in Aperture mode and flash was on TTL.
The faces came out over exposed or in some shots under exposed, tried all sort of different set ups, moving light around and changing aperture and shutter speed but didn't help (ISO was all the time 100).
Put on ND filter and same.
So I took them to a shadowed place and tried to shoot there but again I either got over exposed or under exposed faces.
Eventually I gave up and shot them in shadow without flash, only then they came well exposed but the background was completely blown out and honestly there was nothing really amazing about these shots.

I would appreciate any help, information or advice to get good results in such conditions.

 

[tirediron]

First and foremost, good job for recognizing the need for fill light out of doors! It would help greatly to see some sample images and full EXIF data.

In general in situations like this; we want to position the clients so that they're not squinting, that is with the sun towards their back, but ideally not directly behind them and use your light to match or balance with the ambient. Unfortunately, TTL is almost always the worst choice in this situation because it doesn't know what you want, and (as you found out) because of the nature of the way it meters, it's very inconsistent in such situations.

The best way to do this would have been with your flash in manual exposure, and using the guide number method (or a flash meter) to determine exposure. This would have ensured consisten results and allowed you to "dial in" exactly the amount of light you wanted.

 

[table1349]

^^^^What iron said. also........

The Golden Hour. Yes I know it can be God awful early or when they want to eat supper, but it will provide the best conditions for outdoor portraits.

The Golden Hour Calculator for Photographers

 

[goodguy]

First and foremost, good job for recognizing the need for fill light out of doors! It would help greatly to see some sample images and full EXIF data.

In general in situations like this; we want to position the clients so that they're not squinting, that is with the sun towards their back, but ideally not directly behind them and use your light to match or balance with the ambient. Unfortunately, TTL is almost always the worst choice in this situation because it doesn't know what you want, and (as you found out) because of the nature of the way it meters, it's very inconsistent in such situations.

The best way to do this would have been with your flash in manual exposure, and using the guide number method (or a flash meter) to determine exposure. This would have ensured consisten results and allowed you to "dial in" exactly the amount of light you wanted.

Thank you for the reply.
So you are saying to have the client with the sun at their back and the camera is facing the sun ?
I also understand TTL in this situation is not recommended, not a problem putting it in manual, my Pocket Wizard works great in both modes, so I understand simply use it in manual, keep adjusting the settings until I get the right exposure ?
Isnt shooting directly at the sun a problem ?
Never done that before.
Also a friend of mine told me to try High Speed Sink.
I never shot HSS and I dont even know if any of my flashes has this mode (got SB-600 and Yongluo 568EX)
Would HSS be another method because this way I am not stuck at maximum shutter speed of 1/250 ?

 

[JacaRanda]

Just a thought that I may use myself. Do a couple of test shots before setting up flashes and umbrellas etc. Then chimp. Zoom in and see what you have and then add what you need. (practice in the conditions beforehand).