Photographing People In Very Bright Areas

[olgap]

Is it possible to photograph people in a blindingly bright area and get a reasonable picture of both the individual and the surroundings? We have a marble quarry near here that is impressive and visitors like to have a picture of themselves standing in front of it. However, any picture I have ever taken of a person in the foreground turns out over exposed, even when focusing directly on the face. Apart from the odd inclusion of some other type of rock, the rock faces are pure white and highly reflective.

[Mr Guy]

My first thought would be expose for the background, then add flash to brighten the face.

[jdepould]

Originally Posted by Mr Guy

My first thought would be expose for the background, then add flash to brighten the face.

+1. That's about the only thing you can do. Only problem is your flash sync speed. It's usually around 1/250s. You'll really have to stop down and turn the flash way up to get a balanced exposure.

[olgap]

That sounds like it would work and I will try it when the weather clears up a little and post a picture at that time. My Fuji S5200 does not have any flash adjustment that I have found, other than auto/forced flash, no flash or red eye, so I will have to take my chances with forced flash. I have been practicing this method around home this afternoon and I find that while it does work, I can not get too close to the subject because the flash creates quite a glare on the face. I find that standing back about two meters from the near subject I can avoid this glare which should be perfect for the marble quarry.

[zespri]

My camera has a few metering options. The default one takes a sample from all over the frame (not just the face). But I can change it so it just meters from the middle, kinda like spot focus, but for metering. Do you have something like that?

Otherwise, try walking in close so only the face is in your frame, and metering before stepping back and taking the shot. The bright area could come out underexposed, but that's much easier to fix post processing than over-exposed.

Or... just set the exposure manually. After the first couple of times you'll work out what the appropriate setting is, and since it's a shot you take often, it would be worth the experimenting to get it right.

[zapp]

try diffusing your flash with kleenex, transparent/opaque plastic, a credit card to bounce it .... anything to put it somewhere besides right in the eyes

also try using a sunglass lens as a filter to kill some of the light and soften things a bit