Get the Picture

Went to see the Shuttle take off!

There were people everywhere waiting to see the Shuttle blast off. Some were standing on the island in the middle of the road. It was fairly crowded.

To bad it was cancelled because of the weather. Oh well, that's okay I prefer taking photos of people. Which brings me to the next set of photos.


The photo below was taken around 11:30 AM. on the beach. Normally taking a portrait of someone mid day is not good because of the harsh shadows on the face caused by direct sunlight. Fortunately the sun was behind some clouds and we had "Flat Lighting". Whether the shade is provided by a tree or a cloud the end result is almost the same. The photo was taken without flash or reflectors.

We later took photos at sunset. When photographing a person with a sunset remember to get the exposure for the sunset first. Here is what I did.

First I put my camera on "manual" and set the ISO for 100. Then I put the shutter speed at 200. This is the highest shutter speed that the camera will synchronize with the flash. Next I aimed the camera at the sun and adjusted the f/stop according to the light meter indicator in the viewfinder. I took a photo to make sure the exposure (brightness level) was good. I took this photo at 1/200th of a second at f/8. Background looked good.

All that is left now is to turn on an external flash. The built in flash in your camera is not strong enough so you'll have to use a flash that attaches to the top of your camera. Even though your camera is set to "MANUAL" both flash and camera "talk" to each other. Your flash will set itself to f/8. Now your flash will match the brightness on your subject to the brightness of the background. Both will expose properly. The end result will be similar to the photo above.

If you want your photo to come out exactly like mine you will have to invest in a second flash. This photo was taken using two flashes. One was on camera and the other my assistant held to the right of me. Using two flashes makes a world of difference when you print the photo.

When buying a flash unit buy the most powerful. Canon and Nikon flashes have built in transmitter and receiver so one will set off the other. If you have any questions about this technique call me and I will explain it to you over the phone. 727-375-0480. Typing is not one of my strengths.

To everyone that has ordered my Instructional DVDs thank you. Thanks to those of you that emailed me to tell me how much you liked them. In the future I will post some of those emails. . If you still have not ordered yours now is the time!