When to metre for the sky and when to for the face?

[gturner]

The easy cheat method is to overexpose the sky to the point just before it is completely burnt.
Using RAW and a Lightroom you can then pull it back up to 4 stops using the exposure brush or filter tool.

The only downside is that you can lose some sharpness and increase noise on the subject.

Here is a quick example where I used the filter to drop the exposure of the sky by 3 stops. Add a little contrast and saturation and I think it is a pretty decent result.

[Biomech]

Contributing Lightroom+RAW win


Before and After by C-17, on Flickr

[ajax_andy]

Originally Posted by Biomech

Contributing Lightroom+RAW win


Before and After by C-17, on Flickr

How did you do this? I would really appreciate some tips on the steps you took

note - not the B&W conversion part but bringing the detail out in the sky

[Doug Sundseth]

Originally Posted by ajax_andy

Great advice thank you I have a canon so 1/250 for me. I always shoot in manual so no problem there... I think I just need to practice and use the helpful advice given in this thread.

Other way around. Most Canons are nominally 1/200 (sometimes 1/160, really) max synch speed. Nikons are usually 1/250, though my D7000 claims 1/320 (and I think the D40 was unlimited because it used a different shutter technology).

You can check your actual max synch speed by shooting a simple subject at gradually increasing shutter speeds and noting when you start to see banding on the top or bottom edge of the photo (the location of the banding will depend on the direction the shutter moves across the sensor).

If you're using the expensive company-brand speedlights and the right camera bodies, you can also use HSS (high-speed synch), which fires the flash at lower power multiple times during the time the shutter is open. This allows much higher shutter speeds (though, as noted, at the cost of flash power).

[ajax_andy]

Originally Posted by Doug Sundseth

Other way around. Most Canons are nominally 1/200 (sometimes 1/160, really) max synch speed. Nikons are usually 1/250, though my D7000 claims 1/320 (and I think the D40 was unlimited because it used a different shutter technology).

You can check your actual max synch speed by shooting a simple subject at gradually increasing shutter speeds and noting when you start to see banding on the top or bottom edge of the photo (the location of the banding will depend on the direction the shutter moves across the sensor).

If you're using the expensive company-brand speedlights and the right camera bodies, you can also use HSS (high-speed synch), which fires the flash at lower power multiple times during the time the shutter is open. This allows much higher shutter speeds (though, as noted, at the cost of flash power).

Ahh ok thanks I'll see what the max synch speed is.

I have a youngou flash and a Canon 450d so not sure if I can set HSS... its something I was reading earlier though and was going to check out whether that combination worked.

[Biomech]

Do you have lightroom?

open RAW photo. Select the gradient tool in the developer module. Click at the top of the picture and drag it down maybe 1/3 way. Slide the "exposure" slider to the left.

Job done :P

[ajax_andy]

Originally Posted by Biomech

Do you have lightroom?

open RAW photo. Select the gradient tool in the developer module. Click at the top of the picture and drag it down maybe 1/3 way. Slide the "exposure" slider to the left.

Job done :P

Thanks, no I used photoshop but someone showed me the way you mentioned a while ago in that so I'll use it from now on... seems like an easy and effective way of doing things

[graciousness]

Hi Andy,

Just to explain maximum flash sync speed, here's the page from Neil van Niekerk on the subject. Yes, I know, I keep referring to his website, but so far, I haven't found any other sites that explains this well. It will answer your questions, too, about shutter speed and how it does not directly affect flash exposure.

http://neilvn.com/tangents/2008/12/1...sh-sync-speed/

[ajax_andy]

Originally Posted by graciousness

Hi Andy,

Just to explain maximum flash sync speed, here's the page from Neil van Niekerk on the subject. Yes, I know, I keep referring to his website, but so far, I haven't found any other sites that explains this well. It will answer your questions, too, about shutter speed and how it does not directly affect flash exposure.

http://neilvn.com/tangents/2008/12/1...sh-sync-speed/

Great link! Thank you

I got the following from the article and please can you confirm i've understood it correctly?

Shutter speed has no direct effect on flash exposure - however setting it at maximum sync speed would then allow me to open the aperture more thus increasing the range and effectiveness of my flash.

So whilst changing the shutter speed alone doesn't affect the flash exposure, then changing the aperture does.

This would apply to both manual and TTL modes on the flash

A couple of other questions if that's ok?

If using TTL do I meter for the background i.e. ambient light and the flash works out how to correctly expose the subject? Or do I meter for the subject?