Hello Shel, You've mentioned flatness/low contrast before. I have viewed it on two calibrated monitors - one CRT and one LCD and it seems fine to me. I'll be interested to hear what others think. Could be your monitor or mine or just an individual preference. Hopefully others will give their impressions.
As to fill flash - when shooting outdoor portraits, their can be some issues with lighting. Even when using shade and such, the lighting can be a little cold. So when shooting for color (all of my stuff needs to be color for the client), it is nice to warm it up a bit. On top of that, sometimes the eyes can look dull and dark. The flash will brighten them up a bit. The trick here is to not use too much flash. You are only trying to enhance the light a little bit, not have the flash be a main light source. So by dialing in negative compensation, the flash will pop just a bit and give the desired effect, rather than looking like a flash was used. It is a subtle use, but noticeable in side by side photos comparing flash and no flash. A very similar thing can be done with a reflector. The trick with the reflector is that it takes an extra person to hold it. -- Best regards, Bruce Wednesday, December 14, 2005, 11:01:47 AM, you wrote: SB> Looks really flat and of quite low contrast on my semi-calibrated screen. SB> Can you explain a bit about flash compensation? Why did you chose -1.5 SB> stops? Why would you chose any compensation? I know virtually nothing SB> about flash ... SB> Shel SB> " ............... " >> [Original Message] >> From: Bruce Dayton >> This was taken a few days ago at a family portrait session. I usually >> shoot each of the children individually along with the family. >> >> >> Pentax *istD, A 70-210/4, AF360FGZ on Stroboframe bracket >> ISO 400, 1/90 sec @ f/4.5, Manual Mode, Center weighted metering >> -1.5 stops flash compensation, shading provided by the father holding >> my reflective to soften the sun. >> >> http://www.daytonphoto.com/PAW/moss_025bw.htm
