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Lighting for Portrait - Images Too Dark


 
 
I tried to photograph my daughter with a lot of lighting in the room and a white sheet behind her. She was in a box with red foil paper and a pearlescent bow. The photos came out very dark. Did the flash reflect from the bo877777777777+w and paper? What can I do to fix this?


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October 19, 2001

 

Phil Banton
  This is just my guess, you could have metered off of the white sheet, makeing your camera think the room was much brighter than it was, like when your subject is in front of a window.


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October 19, 2001

 

Mark A. Braxton
  Dear Lisa,
Looks like a cute setup you had. A lot of times, we amateurs make the mistake of matrix metering for portraits. The best metering for this would have been metering on your daughter's face and synchronized flash usage. The reflection off of the box still could have swayed the metering though.

I would try lowering the light level in the room also. This also could be a situation where a high f-stop and slow shutter speed might help also. A sync flash cord might also not be a nice investment.


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October 21, 2001

 

John A. Lind
  Lisa,
Looks like you got a lot of reflectivity from the flash on the red foil. The give-away is the white "hot spot" just above the bow. When a strong reflection occurs from a colored surface, the light that bounces around picks up that color. This is most probably why the entire photograph has a pinkish cast to it and all but the hot spot is underexposed. I suspect you were using an on-camera flash just above the lens as no shadows on the white sheet are evident.

You didn't mention lighting details. This type of photograph begs for off-camera flash. A single light, mounted up higher above the camera and angling down at the subject could work, and might get rid of the hot spot. If you cannot move the flash higher, then try angling the box slightly and move the bow toward the upper corner facing the camera. A vertical composition, and moving closer would make your subject fill the frame better, if you can get the flash off of the camera and keep it well above the lens.

-- John


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October 21, 2001

 
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