Raccoon Eyes? Or a really rough night? :)

[Theresa Earle]

What could I have done to reduce if not eliminate the shadowing under the man's eyes?



Nikon D50
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1250)
Aperture: f/9.0
Focal Length: 50 mm
Focal Length: 50.4 mm
Exposure Bias: -1 EV
Flash: No Flash

[SusanH1970]

I could be wrong, but it looks to me like you were shooting in pretty harsh sunlight. What time of day was it?

To avoid squinting and harsh shadows, your best bet is to shoot outdoor portraits in late afternoon - about 3 hours before sunset. Or, move your subjects to a shaded area.

Here is an example of the soft lighting you get in late afternoon. This is almost SOOC - just some minor levels adjustments in PP.

[kencaleno]

you needed fill flash: Just double the iso you are using. Meter the scene, select an f-stop for the DOF you want,set auto flashgun aperture to same f-stop, and take your shot,this will give a 2:1 ration-your fill will be 1 stop darker that the main subject.

[Theresa Earle]

Thank you so much.....the shots were taken at 3pm or so. Both tips are greatly appreciated!

[Jim Bryant]

try putting the sun behind them and using a bit of fill flash next time.

[Chandel Weiss]

Ya i would of tried putting the sun behind also

[Lize]

another way to reduce the hard shadow in such a setting is to use a reflector to bounce the light back into the shadow area's. Best is always to avoid the hard light if you can (unless it's the look you're going for ofcourse)

[wannabehorsephotographer]

Oh man...I fought with this one for awhile! First off very cute shot! They look very happy and I love the deep blue sky.

Second...Open Shade!!!! If you can't shoot right before sunset, put them in the shade and either adjust your white balance or warm a little in RAW.

Other suggestions above - fill flash, reflector, sun to their back all good too, but open shade is my fav! Another option is to make sure they both have their faces lifted towrd the sun. Spend a lot of time studying the way light shines on people's faces. Pretty soon you'll be able to see those raccoon eyes before you even take the shot.

You can fix it in post if you want and have a program with layers. Just select the dark area with a feather around 125px (give or take depending on your resolution) create a levels adjustment layer. Move the white and grey input sliders until the selection looks similar to the rest of the image and then paint on the mask where it doesn't quite match up.

[Theresa Earle]

Thank you so much Wannabe! Excellent suggestions.