Fill flash under the pesky hat!

[candidrachel]

Ugh! Well the photo was taken at high noon so wasn't expecting miracles but that hat was the bane of my photos.

I even used flash but I wasn't sure where quite to aim itdo like the express on his face. The water was FREEZING but funnily enough kids don't tend to notice the cold. He even managed to sit down it it

My question is. How do you go about eliminating shadows from hats and especiallyt in bright sunlight?



Camera Canon EOS 550D
Exposure 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture f/6.3
Focal Length 300 mm
ISO Speed 400
Exposure Bias 0 EV

[RLucas]

In candids, such as this, it is going to be difficult. First, you can't really set up a reflector or anything like that. Second, at the angle you were at, I don't think any fill would have contributed much. For it to have worked properly, it would have need to be off camera, and lower. Sometimes you have to take what you can get. Again, I think you did very well for what you had against you, like the mid day sun. If it were me, I would bump the contrast a little more.

[candidrachel]

Thanks Luke. I was wondering about the angle. I know I am breaking the rules here by posting another photo but this photo here has the boy lifting his head so the face is out of shadow. Maybe that is the secret of hats vs shadow: getting the subject to lift their heads. Don't know..... Still bright sunlight is a challenge!

[MrJones]

bright sun light will always be a challenge and you can see the harsh shadows on his hands in the second photo.
one thing you need to understand in general is that it's not the angle of your model or the angle of the camera that will make a difference - it's the angle of light. the only reason you don't have shadows on his face in the second one is because there is nothing blocking the light from his face.
if we want to take that idea to the first photo, if you put your flash off camera and aimed it from the ground up to his face - you would have gotten much lighter shadows.