Good advice. For portraiture, *always* avoid full sun (late morning to
mid afternoon) and especially mottled shade. Both should be avoided due
to the drastic dynamic range requirements.
Snow is the exception to the sunny 16 rule. To avoid burning out snow
in full sun you need to close down a full stop. But you are advised not
to shoot under these conditions anyhow. Using negative film should give
you the leeway you need to cover exposure errors.
Portraits outdoors are best done with fill flash or with reflectors.
Fill flash with an OM is difficult because of the 1/60th second sync
requirement. You need subdued light for 1/60 to work since you'd also
like to use a large aperture for DOF control. Reflectors are easier.
Sometimes it helps to use the house to provide open shade and the side
of a white house makes a good reflector. Snow can also serve as a
reflector since the most important point is to have some light coming up
from underneath to get rid of shadows in the eye sockets. You want soft
shadow on the face to model the facial features but not too dark. The
face is correct when the shadows are 1/2 to one stop darker than the
highlights.
Avoid busy backgrounds and bright spots in the background. The eye is
drawn to the brightest part of the photo which may detract from a
portrait. Also avoid trees and poles emerging from the top of people's
heads and horizontal bars passing from one side of the head to the
other. Tends to look like an arrow shot through the head.
Good luck,
Chuck Norcutt
Robert Swier wrote:
> I think you could get good results by making sure everyone is in the same
> light, spot metering on a grey card held in front of the face of one of the
> subjects, making sure you shoot on an overcast day (which should be pretty
> common in winter), and including some other elements in the photograph, like
> a tree trunk or fence or something.
> Good luck,
> Robert Swier
> Toronto
>
> On 11/6/05, Darin <d.rhein@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>>
>>Hi all,
>>
>>Well, a couple months ago I was at a friends wedding and their
>>photographer didn't show. I reluctantly agreed to fill in, not wanting them
>>to be without any wedding photos. I was reluctant because I don't have much
>>experience with portrait photography, I prefer wildlife and nature
>>photography. To my surprise, they were quite pleased with my photos. So much
>>so in fact, that they now want me to do their family photos. Aside from my
>>inexperience at portraits, my real problem is they want the photos done in
>>the snow. So, I'm looking for some advice. Any suggestions how to achieve
>>correct exposure of the subject, without burning out the snow? Any help
>>y'all can provide would be greatly appreciated!
>>
>>Thanks,
>>Darin
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