Question: Portrait at the falls.... At night.

[CyrilVelasco]

So I'm in Niagera Falls and I want to get a nice portrait shot of my parents tonight at the falls.

From my previous experiences when I had less experience in photography and all that jazz, my pictures would always come out either with the subject way to overexposed. And you could not get the nice backlight colours of the falls. When I didn't use the flash. I got the nice colours of the falls, but of course you couldn't see your subjects.

So what tips could you give me for exposing well for both?

Should I BOKEH the falls or shoot at f/11 and get everything in focus?

Im using a Nikond d7000, I brought my tripod, and have a yongnuo speed light for better fill light than the pop-up flash.

Suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

P.s I'm shooting from the Canadian side if that helps you imagine the senario better.

 

[cwcaesar]

I wouldn't 'bokeh' the falls. Isn't that the whole reason to take the picture there? Just artistically speaking, but you may feel differently than I.

As for technique, I can't help you much there.

Maybe, pull it all in focus by stopping down, slow the shutter speed to get the silky water look, then fire the flash to 'freeze' your subjects in the foreground.

 

[ceejtank]

Make sure your metering mode is set properly. Meter your parents, take the shot, have them stay still, meter the falls, retake the shot. Merge the two in photoshop.

 

[jwbryson1]

So I'm in Niagera Falls and I want to get a nice portrait shot of my parents tonight at the falls.

From my previous experiences when I had less experience in photography and all that jazz, my pictures would always come out either with the subject way to overexposed. And you could not get the nice backlight colours of the falls. When I didn't use the flash. I got the nice colours of the falls, but of course you couldn't see your subjects.

So what tips could you give me for exposing well for both?

Should I BOKEH the falls or shoot at f/11 and get everything in focus?

Im using a Nikond d7000, I brought my tripod, and have a yongnuo speed light for better fill light than the pop-up flash.

Suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

P.s I'm shooting from the Canadian side if that helps you imagine the senario better.

Meter for the falls. Shoot with a long exposure and use rear curtain sync on your camera. You are trying to balance the exposure of the ambient light with the exposure of the flash.

If you meter for the falls (ambient light) and use rear curtain sync, the camera will expose for the falls first and then fire the flash exposing for your parents before the second curtain closes. Use manual flash and increase or decrease the power of the flash until you get it right.

 

[Patrice]

Good advice given above with respect to rear curtain sync. It's not real hard, a couple of practice shots to get the flash power right and you'll be good.

BTW, bokeh is not a verb, as far as I know. Bokeh refers to the rendering of the out of focus elements in the image, both front and back. I might be incorrect as english is not my first language.

 

[cwcaesar]

BTW, bokeh is not a verb, as far as I know. Bokeh refers to the rendering of the out of focus elements in the image, both front and back. I might be incorrect as english is not my first language.

You are correct, 'bokeh' is not a verb. But I understand what he meant by it, so I tried to answer the question in that light. My unserstanding is that he wanted to blow the background out to isolate the subject in the foreground.

 

[CyrilVelasco]

Sweet suggestions guys!! Thanks!! I'll try it out tonight and post the results maybe? And also get some critique on it?

Oh I know about the BOKEH not being a verb but is still can work as a verb is some cases. Lol

 

[cynicaster]

Meter for the falls. Shoot with a long exposure and use rear curtain sync on your camera. You are trying to balance the exposure of the ambient light with the exposure of the flash.

If you meter for the falls (ambient light) and use rear curtain sync, the camera will expose for the falls first and then fire the flash exposing for your parents before the second curtain closes. Use manual flash and increase or decrease the power of the flash until you get it right.

Do this!

In case it's not completely obvious you're going to need your tripod, and if your speedlight has a built-in diffuser, use it.