I have accepted that I will need to take a hands-on workshop in order to master OCF. In the mean time, I've been working on mastering "natural light," meaning whatever I've got around me. There are ways to modify and diffuse the sunlight without additional flash. Take a look at the photo below. Taken around 2:00PM, very harsh lighting. The tall trees helped to soften the light, and was even able to retain some detail in the sky. Processed the RAW file, slight crop and a tiny exposure adjustment to compliment the haze already provided by the local conditions.
View attachment 27528
That's a nice shot given the conditions. I guess the other point to make is these conditions limit you to certain types of shots. For example, backlight them and add a reflector in front to fill their faces. That shot works in bright sunlight. However, you don't have much flexibilty.
I took this in the middle of the day on the beach in full sun:
untitled-7992 by
JChick526, on Flickr
I used an umbrella high and camera left. The sun was camera right. Without that flash I don't think I could of gotten that shot (now I get to sit here and wait for someone to tell me I'm an idiot and tell me exactly how to do that shot without flash).
I feel like introducing light just opens up a ridiculous amount of possibilities in less than ideal conditions. I still have sooooo much to learn though. It is somewhat daunting.
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