Taking Portraits Outdoors
Taking pictures outside should be a no-brainer, right? There’s plenty of natural light from the sun, so why do so many outdoor photos come out underexposed and disappointing, like the top image in Figure below? Your digital camera’s built-in flash is convenient, but it isn’t terribly smart. Outdoor portraits are a perfect example. If you leave the flash on automatic when you shoot outdoors, you can guess what happens: The camera decides that there’s plenty of light and doesn’t trip the flash. Sure, the camera’s correct in concluding that there’s enough light in the entire frame. But it can’t tell when your subject is sitting in a shadow.
Everybody with a little picture taking experience knows how ornery and feeble an automatic flash is, indoors or out. If you’re too close to the subject, it overflashes, turning your best friend into a nuked-out ghost. If you’re farther than about eight feet away, the flash is too weak to do anything useful at all. Believe it or not, the camera’s automatic mode is wrong about half the time. No matter what kind of camera you have, you’ll take your best pictures when you decide to use the flash, not when the camera decides.
1. Forcing the flash to fire
The solution to the situation in Figure below is to force the flash on a very common trick. If you’re close enough to the subject, then the flash provides fill light to balance the subject’s exposure with that of the surrounding background, as you can see in the bottom photo. (If you’re using your on-camera flash, stand within about eight feet of the subject so you can get enough flash for a proper exposure.) The fill-in flash can dramatically improve outdoor portraits. It eliminates the silhouette effect when your subject is standing in front of a bright background and frontal light is very flattering. It softens smile lines and wrinkles, and it puts a nice twinkle in the subject’s eyes.
How do you take your flash off auto mode? Most cameras offer a couple of different flash settings. Look for the icon that represents a lightning bolt with an arrow tip on the endthe universal icon for electronic flash. Generally, if you push the button next to this icon, it cycles through the flash modes on your camera. These modes usually include auto flash (no icon), red-eye reduction (eyeball icon), no flash (universal “circle with a diagonal line through it” icon) and forced flash (standalone lightning bolt icon). For a fill-in flash, use the forced flash mode. (In full automatic mode, by the way, you may not be allowed to change the flash mode. Try switching into Portrait mode first.)
Bright backgrounds often fool the digital camera’s exposure meter. The camera may expose the background properly, but throw your subject into darkness. The solution is right there in the camerathe fill-in or forced flash feature. Look for a single lightning bolt in your camera’s mode options.
2. Creating a flattering effect with rim lighting
Once you’ve experimented with fill-in flash, try a variation that pros use to create striking portraits: rim lighting. Position the subject with her back to the sun (preferably when it’s high in the sky and not shining directly into your camera lens). Now set your camera to fire the flash (the lightning bolt, not the automatic setting). If the sun is shining into the lens, block it using your hand or a lens shade.
The first thing you’ll notice is that the sun creates a rim light around the subject’s hair (Figure below). You’ll also notice that her eyes are more relaxed and open. In one swift move, you’ve made your subject more comfortable and improved your chances for a dramatic portrait.
Remember how you were told to always have the sun at your back when taking a picture? That’s not the best advice for portraits. In fact, you want the sun on the model’s back to create a rim light effect. Notice how this model’s hair and shoulder are highlighted.
Remember to turn on your fill-in flash so the model’s face isn’t underexposed. When it works, rim lighting creates portraits that you’ll be very proud of. It’s not the right technique for every situation, but sometimes it produces jaw-dropping results.
3. Taking advantage of open shade
Working in open shade, like the shadow of a tree, produces less dramatic portraits than rim lighting, but very pleasing ones nonetheless. Open shade eliminates harsh shadows around the face and keeps the subject from squinting. Here again, forcing the flash on your digital camera is a great idea. Look for a subtle background without distracting elements. The beauty of this technique is that you capture an evenly lit, relaxed subject with a perfectly exposed background. You won’t even notice that it was shot in the shade.
