Too Much Flare?

[manwez]

Exposure 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture f/13.0
Focal Length 21 mm
ISO Speed 400
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Flash On, Fired


My question is: Do the bride and groom get "lost" in this picture? Perhaps a tighter crop would be better? What do you think? Thanks in advance.

[BigFuzzy]

Flare is a taste thing, so no such thing as too much or too little.

Having said that, I think it's fine. The thing I did notice on this image was the straight on lighting. I would suggest getting your flash off camera if possible, even if just holding it up and left with your arm.

Either way, they should be happy with this shot.

[Niresangwa]

Never can you have too much flare I shot an engagement session a couple of weeks back based on that whole premise.

Anyways, agree with Fuzz, the issue is more about your lighting than anything. Not only do you need to shift the axis, but I'd also suggest that you need to power it down - were you setting your flash manually, or TTL?

Looking at the rest of the set on flickr (ok, a handful) the flash looks harsh throughout.

Not sure that 1/200 @ f13 was the best choice for this. you're fighting reduced ambient light and detail as it is with that huge ball of fire in the sky. You could have moved the sun out of the frame and retained the flare, and opened up the aperture so the background wasn't so dark, and simply powered down the flash a few stops.

As it is its a fight between the sun and your strobe, the loser being detail and tone.

The composition is somewhat uninspiring, and yes I feel they're lost in this frame. You chose the flare and sun as a feature and its so far removed from them it would be tough to find a crop that would work, and retain everything... if you get in too close you're just not giving yourself enough pixels to work with for larger images.

I love seeing images where a shooter has actively gone after incorporating the sun, or flare instead of just pooh-poohing it and running for the shade. Brave shot, but it takes practice to make it work for you. Its a strong element to include and can quickly overpower the image...

[LuvYourSmile]

I think the flare is great but the crop is off....try cropping from the waist of the couple, making it into a landscape print instead portrait. otherwise its fine...just play with the cropping a bit