Shootout with the Police (56k WARNING)

[savona]

I had a shootout with a detective today! :)

This gentleman needed a couple pictures for a campaign he is doing. He wanted just some basic headshots and we decided to mess around a little.

C & C Please...

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2)


3)


4)


5)

[Ronald S. Jr.]

Looks like you guys had fun. I like number three the best. Nicely done!

[critical_focus]

Hahahahah, I love cops.

Looks like a cool shoot, Steve. Congrats.

I like the last one, with his hands on his hips, badge & cuffs at the ready to fight crime!

[Mr. Champy]

Steve, I love your balanced lighting. Can you please tell me how (from metering the background to the subject) you achieved it.

[savona]

Steve, I love your balanced lighting. Can you please tell me how (from metering the background to the subject) you achieved it.


I imagine there are several ways you can go about it. The way I choose is the manual way.

First thing I did when I found the location I wanted the gentlemen to stand in is pointed my camera at the sky and took a meter reading. I adjusted the shutterspeed/aperture so the sky would be exposed correctly. Now that I knew my sky would be exposed correctly, I stopped down a stop (sometimes two) to expose the sky in the high side of the histogram but not blown out. I found this helps keep the shaded parts of the building from turning black. I then set my flash to -1 power (this can be done on the flash or camera if you shoot canon, not sure about nikon or others) and took a shot. I check my histogram after every location move to make sure I am still good and make adjustments as needed.

Now here is the more automated way I do it if I am shooting quick.

Set the camera to AV (aperture priority), I like to use evalutive metering but some say partial would be better. I guess you would have to experiment. When the camera is set to AV mode it will automatically use an external flash for fill. I then focus on the subject and hit the FEC button (looks like a star or *) on the camera. This will fire the flash and the camera will automatically adjust the FEC to expose your subject properly. This works most of the time to give you decent photos, but manually adjusting everything gives you full control over the two different exposure types (flash and ambient light).

I hope this helps. The way I learned was to go outside with a doll, Yes one of my daughters dolls. :) I set the doll up so the sun was at its back and just experimented.

Let me know if this is clear. As I have NO formal training it is often hard for me to explain things.

[Mr. Champy]

Thanks for the lesson Steve. I'm going to give it a try tomorrow (I have a shoot....wish me luck) and I'll let you know what happens.

[savona]

Thanks for the lesson Steve. I'm going to give it a try tomorrow (I have a shoot....wish me luck) and I'll let you know what happens.

GREAT! Make sure you create a new thread for the shoot, I would LOVE to see them!