TIPS NEEDED! outdoor winter portraits-KIDS

sinjans · Dec 11, 2009

I have a shoot tomorrow afternoon. (keep in mind that it gets dark here at 4:00 this time of year) It's going to be a cloudy day with sunny breaks. There is snow on the ground. The kids will be wearing black coats with red scarves i think. I will mount my 580ex for use when necessary, but i think most of these shots will be from a distance, with some close portraits. Unfortunately i dont have quality glass yet and will be using my 18-200IS. Any exposure/white balancing tips, aperature or pose suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Any other tips or experiences are also value added. Thanks in advance

Inst!nct · Dec 11, 2009

When you make photos of something very bright like snow, it's usually best to use a bit of exposure compensation to the + side, for example +1/2 or +1.

This works because of the following: Your camera's light metering system is calibrated to the brightness of average gray ("18% gray"). That means that in evaluative metering mode, the camera will determine the exposure so that the average brightness of the whole image is 18% gray. Snow is brighter than 18% gray, so if you let the camera decide without exposure compensation, it will tend to make the snow too dark (gray) instead of white. By setting exposure compensation to +1/2 or +1, you deliberately overexpose a little bit, so that the snow becomes white.

If you have other (darker) things besides the snow in the photo, you should take this into account also - the less snow, the less it's necessary to use + exposure comp.

You wrote that sometimes the snow was washed out - probably you had some darker things in the photo that the camera tried to make lighter, and the snow was overexposed.

Use the histogram to check your exposure after making a photo. Here's an interesting article about using the histogram to check exposure: Understanding Histograms.

On the 10D (which I have), you can set the LCD review to "On (Info)" (instead of just "On"), so that the camera displays the image and the histogram and other parameters after you make the photo. Probably it works the same on the Digital Rebel.

anddd

One of the reasons it's difficult to shoot snow scenes is the large range of exposure values. The snow is quite bright and there may be parts of the scene in deep shadow (like people's faces).

Your eyes can accomodate this dynamic range, but the camera can only handle 5 or 6 stops. Without resorting techniques like blending in Photoshop or using graduated ND filters, it'll be a compromise at best.

The advice given above is very sound. Use the histogram to check your exposure and keep it as right as possible without blowing highlights.

indeedies · Dec 11, 2009

That about sums it up Instinct :lol:

sinjans · Dec 11, 2009

Thanks Instinct. This is a free shoot but i want to do a good job. What do you think on using flash to brighten up those slightly underexposed areas?

BoxPhotographer · Dec 11, 2009

When outside in the cold, bring extra batteries.

GeneralBenson · Dec 11, 2009

BoxPhotographer said:
When outside in the cold, bring extra batteries.

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

IgsEMT · Dec 12, 2009

What do you think on using flash to brighten up those slightly underexposed areas?

I'm a flash user 99% of the time. In doors or outdoors, still use it. It adds a bit of flavor to my images, they aren't flat by natural light and flash accents the subjects. Many others will disagree, but that's my style

indeedies · Dec 12, 2009

Curious to hear/see how the shoot went...

sinjans · Dec 12, 2009

Well thanks again folks. We had a sudden stormy day so far so we had to postpone

I am still absorbing all of your comments and will repost as soon as we get a good day. cheers

Shockey · Dec 12, 2009

Almost always use some form of fill flash at least for outdoor pictures.
Set your blinkies to go off and ride your exposure compensation dial to keep your exposures at a point where they are not quite going off, makes it very simple to get the best brightest exposure you can.
Of course sometimes the sky or background will blow out to get a decent exposure on your subject and that is fine.

RPetterson · Dec 12, 2009

thank you for this info! It was alot of help for me and I didn't even post the question lol

sinjans · Dec 13, 2009

Today is the day. Yesterday threw amazing light my way after all, however i was committed to driving my father to costco while the sun broke through the dark clouds. Very disappointing.

Thinking about setup. I will be positioning these children just below a bridge next to some trees. aiming for a longer than average exposure to smooth the water falls in the background. I did this with the inlaws a few years back and it worked wonders, however i am now using children and being 30-40 feet away accros a small duck pond with snow on the ground and i'm wondering if i am aiming too high here. I'm really aching for a St-e2 transmitter and a 70-200 2.8L today. Some day i guess.

Any other tips and techniques will be appreciated.
Also if i get blown out exposures today i was thinking on using a ND4 filter. Any advice on using these with portraits? Assuming i can get the kids to stand still

sinjans · Dec 13, 2009

Also i plan on using f3.5-5.6. Would anyone advise on a smaller aperature?

GeneralBenson · Dec 13, 2009

IgsEMT said:
What do you think on using flash to brighten up those slightly underexposed areas?

Click to expand...

I'm a flash user 99% of the time. In doors or outdoors, still use it. It adds a bit of flavor to my images, they aren't flat by natural light and flash accents the subjects. Many others will disagree, but that's my style

Very often when trying to use fill flash with subject on snow, the snow in the foreground will be blown out by the flash. If the flash is powerful enough to rech the subjects, they it will likely blow out the foreground snow, or at leat help it get there. Also, you're going to have a nightmare with kids in black coats on white snow. Not a good idea. It's hard enough to control snow from going pure white, without also trying to control black from going pure dark. I would suggest that you/they rethink their outfits. Midtones would work well, since you can let them record a little darker to help keep the snow in, and then pull them back out a little in post.