Shooting event in mid day sunlight

[michaelpieren]

Hi There,

I've been asked to shoot an event outdoors. It starts at 2 pm.
Will most likely be clear and sunny with limited shade.
Most photos will be portraits. Some being candid.
I have a couple 32" diffusers that will help. I was thinking about using
an ND filter.
Any comments or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Would like to come away with a good amount of nice portraits without
harsh lighting.

Thanks much!
Michael

[oldwolf]

Find the shade or make shade with your diffusers. You can also use the reflectors to bounce light back and fill in shadows on your subjects. Get the subject's back to the sun and use fill flash. The sun can be used to get nice rim lighting. Find a wall or building that can bounce light back at your subject.

Stay away from the ND though. It's just more glass between your sensor and your subject so it could degrade the image.

[michaelpieren]

Just purchased a larger, 40x60, diffuser/reflector.
Will use your advice.
Still hoping for some cloud cover though!
Thanks again! Appreciate it!

[PnwGuy]

Other than the diffuser/reflectors, you can use your flash for fill. Meter for the ambient light, and use ETTL for the flash.

Get your flash off the camera though. If you have two speedlites, use one as a master that only triggers the second flash which can be on a stand or held by someone close to your subjects. A flash diffuser would help as well.

If you have only one Speedlite get an off camera flash cable (ETTL compatible) and get the flash off the camera,

With an off camera ETTL cord, and two 580EX IIs, or 1 580EXII and a 430EX you can do a heck of a lot with lighting.

I did my first shoot (bright light, limited shade) since taking a speedlite class and used one 580 for the trigger( It didn't fire any fill) and had my daughter close to the subject with the second 580 with a Gary Fong. I also used a diffuser for a couple of the shots in addition to the fill.

I got some good shots and exposure was good. Flash made a huge difference. Saw some flaws and there's room for improvement but it was very encouraging to feel in control of the lighting for a change. Before when I used my speedlites it was more of a "hope this comes out right" ordeal.

OK, enough babbling, good luck with the shoot.