More photographic adventures

In my on going quest to take better pictures of these boys, I got Don Marr's 'Available Light'...like 4 months ago. I have only skimmed it. Well, after taking some of the scariest pictures ever at the pumpkin patch this past weekend(Shadowed eyes, etc., oh, and I promise I will get those up soon), I decided to pull the book out. I know lotsa other gals like me have the book, and I figured it would be fun to read the book together, post pics with each other, and so forth...so, I started a little 'read along' at Clickimoms. Oh, yes, that link again. lol I am learning so much there. Anyhow, here is my project for this week. Paul was the best model ever. I first asked Pete to do it, but I got lotsa frowny faces!

Okay, this is part of the 'sunny day' project. This is a BAD sunny day pic. It is 12:00 noon. No clouds. The sun is high in the sky, to his left. See the harsh shadows? You cannot even see his eyes! And, the part of his face that you can see is just too light.  iso 100/1/4000/2.0

Okay, so to remedy this, I put his back to the sun. I spot metered the face for proper exposure. because the sun was so high in the sky, I had to get down below him, kind of using his head as a flag.

iso 100/1250/2.0

If you look real close, you can see me in his eyes snapping the pic. he he he.

See the sun just peeking out at the top right of his hair? So, this is better than above.

Okay, so these are my open shade projects. 

This is the open shade I was working in. Please note that the pink flowered tree was not a canopy. It was in the background, and not over Paul. Still, some of the rosy bounced light did make it into the scene. Will talk about that in a sec. This is like the 'tunnel of light' discussed in 2-14. Light is bounced off the wall. The wall is a tan color. The hedge is obviously green. I have taken pictures here before, because the light is nice. Now I know why. Anyhow, I have noticed in my past pictures that the skin tones have a yellow or green cast. I assume the hedge was to blame for some of that(like if they are facing the hedge, the bounced light is greenish).

Okay, so I have camera CWB set to shade setting. I took a picture of Paul at the very edge of this open shade(his tippy toes are in the sun). I am in the sun when taking pic.

1000/2.0/iso100

Light from the edge of open shade is nice and soft. I think this shows that. He is rosy though. I wonder if bounced light from the wall to the the pink flowers is causing this?

Okay, so I move him deeper in. I put his back to the bushes, so the wall is the reflector. By moving him further back into the shade, the light should have more contrast. I think I see more shadows on the face. Just a bit more.

400/2.0/iso100

Still not crazy about his color. Thinking about the colors of the wall, flowers, and bush...all of these things can bounce some hue onto his skin, making it a different color cast. Knowing this, I decide to try some custom white balance using my gray card.

I move Paul back to the edge of the open shade for some nice soft light.

I think the color is much better. Still a warm image, but not as orange/yellow. Now, looking at this, I think that if I had pivoted him just a hair to the right, the left side of his face would have more light.

800/2.0/iso100

 Oh, and I did not check my f. stop before snapping in the sun. I could have raised it(I took the sun pics after the shade pics). What a goof-I was at my max shutter speed in the first pic.

Okay, here are yet more...
This is at the edge of the shade, but I turned his back to the light. Used spot meter for exposure, and I had him back up to get a rim of light on head.

Here, I had him stand on the edge of the open shade, with his back to the shade. I used a fill flash set at -2.

One more in open shade, just working with comp. :)

I was not thrilled with my first edit, so here is a lighter one...

Flare fun at the park. I am such a dork. I was laying on my belly to get this shot. I am sure I looked like a total nut job. Not to mention I had a big gray card sticking outta my back pocket. If any moms were thinking about befriending me, I am sure they quickly did a 180...Anyhow, I have a few things to learn in re to flare...found some answers to my burning questions...will play again. Yeah, wonky composition, I know. I was trying to get the sun in the frame and went nuts.

ss200/2.8/iso200