Do some of the camera settings intimidate you? Do you want to learn how to develop your photography skills and learn how to use your camera effectively without always going back to the “auto” function? These challenges are for you!
This week’s challenge is: FEC - Flash Exposure Compensation
Explanation:
What the hell is FEC I hear you ask.....
FEC gives you the ability to change how much exposure your flash has in an image.
Still confused???? Let me put it another way.... You know when you take a photo with your flash and then you look at the image and see that the subject is way over bright? This is where FEC comes into play... What you do is you dial down your FEC so the effects of the flash is reduced.
You can also do this the other way.... If you take a picture and the flash is not bright enough you can wind up the FEC.
Pretty straight forward hey??
Now here is the disclaimer - While most cameras will have FEC some do not, so please forgive me. Some camera have the on the dials, while other have it in the menus. Your first task will be to see if your camera does have it and where/how it can be adjusted.
Once you figure that out you will generally see it represented in numbers like -2 -1 0 +1 +2. The number represent stops. So if you wanted to put 1 extra stop of light into the image you would dial it up to +1 and if you wanted to reduce the light by 2 stops you would dial it down to -2...
Clear as mud?
Now on with the real challenge.
This week you have to use that flash and the FEC so that while you may have used flash it is not obvious in the photo. What do I mean by this???
If you take a photo of someone outdoors your flash should be used to fill the dark areas so that they have enough light so you can see the dark bit but the image still looks natural.
Confused?
Here is an example....
You are taking a photo of someone that is standing in the shade of a tree and behind them is a bright background. You camera will try and compensate for the bright background by making the image darker, to combat this you use your flash to fill that darkness and you use your FEC to adjust how the light affects the image so it looks natural.
Your main goal is to produce a photo that has flash but it is hard to tell that you have used flash!
This will be a tough challenge so be prepared to take some knocks along the way but the trip will be worth it. :)
Here is a photo I took that used Flash to fill the shadows
Obviously I don't expect this type of quality as I was using professional strobes but the girl in the first photo was sitting in shadow and without using the idea behind FEC she would be much darker and the image would of not looked as even in exposure.. You can see the effect the fill had in the second photo.
Few Tips (optional):
Start with you FEC on 0 then take a photo, Change your FEC to -2 and take a photo, then change it to +2 and take another photo. Have a look how it affected the image.
When trying to fill in the shadows it will work best that your subject does not have a background... Why??? Its because in the photo you will see the effects of the flash and a shadow on the background. For example you would take a photo of someone on a sunset, with the sunset behind them but you wouldn't take a photo with someone standing a meter off a wall.
Another important tip - Keep your camera in Shutter priority mode and at something around 1/60 or 1/100 of a second. Don't put it in manual mode for this one as it works differently on different cameras so just to keep it simple Shutter priority mode is the way to go.
Experienced photographers who are knowledgeable in this particular setting are encouraged to offer “kind and constructive” suggestions on the posted entries. Those entering this challenge want to learn and improve.
This challenge starts Saturday, 19th and ends Wednesday, 23rd 12:00pm Central Standard Time. All photos must be taken during these dates to be considered. TAG YOUR PHOTO CSC-3 AND post your picture in this thread to receive feedback from other experienced photographers specific to this challenge.
Voting will take place Thursday, 24th and the winner will be announced 25th. The winner of the challenge will select an experienced photographer to host a new challenge. It is the winner’s option on who they want to host the next challenge; it may be someone they follow whose work they admire, or someone who is active offering suggestions on previous CSC challenges. Expect to receive constructive suggests on how to improve your skills.
How to post your photo on this link:
1) Go to your page that has the photo you wish to post.
2) Copy the “share” code in the bottom right section of that page.
3) Return to this thread and paste the code under comments
Unlike some of the other comments I read, I saw a huge difference. When I was at -2 it was way under-exposed and +2 was way over-exposed. Setting the flash isn't really user friendly with my camera, so I got so involved in that process I forgot to set the shutter speed. Mine were taken at 1/40.
I'm a bit late to enter the challenge, but wanted to say thanks to you Brendan for your great explanations and critiques. I have learned a lot from this
I'm sorry I missed this thread - I have appreciated reading through it though and I hope I learned something to try out on my camera in my own time. Your comments and explanations were very helpful Brendan.
@agima I think I have found another part of my camera and another assist to taking better pictures. I have started to train my eyes to look for new things in my pics and new photo opps. Progress made, but lots more to learn and practice.
Thank you for a wonderful and challenging challenge.
@atrog Looks like you are brand new to 365, Welcome! For the time I've been on I have learned so much! Not sure why you got the invalid data entry but I get that when I try to upload a picture on a day that has already been selected. You can only have one pic a day with a regular account.
@myhrhelper I am! Thanks!
I'm not sure why either.
The photo posted to my profile fine, and I tagged it with the tag for this challenge, but it was when I tried to post it on this page that I got the error. I'm not sure what happened. :/
Thanks for your reply though. :)
@atrog You will some times get the error if you are trying to post more than a couple of URL or if there i something in your text that the system thinks it might be spam.
Try just posting the copied URL from you image.
Oh I did look at your image before making my judgement and I almost selected it. What was missing was some information as to how you used FEC to take the photo as it was hard to tell, but I do know from experience that the photo you took is quite difficult to do, so well done.
@agima
Interesting. I just copied the share link from the page, so who knows, but if it doesn't work next time I'll just share the URL.
Thank you. :)
and thanks! I used the FEC to adjust my in camera flash to -1.3 so there was some fill flash but it wasn't overwhelming. I actually just got my camera a week ago yesterday (Wed.) so I'm going to try to watch these challenges because I think it will be a good excuse to learn all of the functions I might not otherwise think to use.
@atrog if next time you try to enter your pic on the post and can't let me know, I can try to help too if you need. Great pic by the way - I'm excited to learn these settings since I just got my first DSLR recently and now I'm learning the settings - it is so fun to expand my capabilities!
Missed out on this one... (The weather was to nice to crawl behind the laptop to even take a minute and upload... I did you some flashy shots hehehe... O well) but guess what... next one I might be able to join in as a proud owner of my first DSLR :-))) (YAY) @agima@myhrhelper
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Unlike some of the other comments I read, I saw a huge difference. When I was at -2 it was way under-exposed and +2 was way over-exposed. Setting the flash isn't really user friendly with my camera, so I got so involved in that process I forgot to set the shutter speed. Mine were taken at 1/40.
Thank you for a wonderful and challenging challenge.
Oh well. Maybe next time. :)
I'm not sure why either.
The photo posted to my profile fine, and I tagged it with the tag for this challenge, but it was when I tried to post it on this page that I got the error. I'm not sure what happened. :/
Thanks for your reply though. :)
Too late for official entry but feedback welcomed
Try just posting the copied URL from you image.
Oh I did look at your image before making my judgement and I almost selected it. What was missing was some information as to how you used FEC to take the photo as it was hard to tell, but I do know from experience that the photo you took is quite difficult to do, so well done.
Interesting. I just copied the share link from the page, so who knows, but if it doesn't work next time I'll just share the URL.
Thank you. :)
and thanks! I used the FEC to adjust my in camera flash to -1.3 so there was some fill flash but it wasn't overwhelming. I actually just got my camera a week ago yesterday (Wed.) so I'm going to try to watch these challenges because I think it will be a good excuse to learn all of the functions I might not otherwise think to use.
Feel free to ask questions if you need a hand.
@atrog if next time you try to enter your pic on the post and can't let me know, I can try to help too if you need. Great pic by the way - I'm excited to learn these settings since I just got my first DSLR recently and now I'm learning the settings - it is so fun to expand my capabilities!
@agima @myhrhelper