where did I go wrong?

[bbeck4x4]

the background looks really flat, I used a flash off camera, and thought that i had everything covered.




feel free to edit, only here on dps

[jiminyClickit]

bbeck4x4, Welcome

Could you include your settings, camera info, etc.?

[jdepould]

In that instance I think a faster shutter speed and smaller aperture would be called for. Background looks slightly over-exposed and the sharpness is somewhat distracting. Also drop the ISO down, 400 is way more than you need with so much available light. If it were me I'd set the camera to aperture priority with f/5.6, lowest possible ISO, and EV -0.3 or -0.7. Obviously the off camera flash was a good idea, since it's backlit. Hope this helps.

edit: @jiminyclickit some of the EXIF is under "more info" on the right sidebar, 35mm, 1/10s @ f/18 w/ ISO400 on a 350D

[jiminyClickit]

jdepould,

After clicking on photo. . . that's where it was hiding! Thanks, that little blue link eluded me.

bbeck4x4,

Did you choose a tenth of a second, or were you set for Auto, in Portrait or something? I could fix in edit, but those settings beg the question of how this got to be as it is.

[bbeck4x4]

Thanks for the tips, a bit more detail, I was fighting the brightness of the background and turned the iso to 400 to try and tame the blinkies from the background, then i maxed the flash and varied the placement (distance/angle) to try and balance the shot. I took similar shots two weeks before and the onboard flash didn't have a chance, ordered the new flash (Sigma ef 500 super) and got way different results, than I expected.

would having a reflective umbrella helped in this instance? or would that have lessened the light also?

One other thing is I do not yet have a remote cord for it so I was firing it with the built in flash on my camera, perhaps that had a impact on the shot, but I'm new again to all of this, Did really well back in HS with a total manual camera, but have forgotten most everything again.

I am wondering if I had moved into a area that had a bit more light in the forground if that would have helped, I know that if it had been later in the day or earlier the light would have been softer, but I was trying to take the mid-day challenge I guess.

[bbeck4x4]

jiminyClickit shutter priority (from photoshop elements, exif data)

[jiminyClickit]

bbeck4x4,

Simplest answer usually works well, just changing where you sat might have given terrific results. This is a good shot from shadow/highlight viewpoint, maybe too good? Are you going for the edit?

[bbeck4x4]

thanks for the complement, but you lost me with "am I going for the edit" not familiar with the term

[jiminyClickit]

bbeck4x4,

Will you be trying to fix this background, or reshoot the photo?

[bbeck4x4]

ahh, ok, I am going to try to reshoot the next time i get into that area, it's not far from here about a hour away. But then again if it is possible to fix, this might be a good shot to learn on....?

Brian