Author Topic: Results and Feedback for the "Fill Flash" Weekly Photography Assignment  (Read 1427 times)

keithsnell

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Thank you to everyone that participated in the "Fill Flash" assignment.  The guidelines for the assignment were to create an image where "flash is used to supplement the ambient light on the subject, or to balance the light on the subject with a brighter background by "filling in" the shadows."  I noted that an image that effectively uses fill flash should not look "over-flashed."

Congratulations to one of our newest members, Dave Leiker of Emporia, Kansas, who goes by prairiedust.  Dave's image of Rosa Fix and Spirit was chosen as People's Choice and Editor's Choice for Artistic and Technical Merit.


Rosa Fix and Spirit
People's Choice and Editor's Choice for Artistic and Technical Merit
Photographed by Dave Leiker


In the description of his image, Dave described his flash settings as:  "A fill flash set at -1 was used to tame the dappled lighting in the front of the barn. The mottled lighting was chosen to add energy to natural light and to play on the patterns in the horses' coloring."  I also notice in the EXIF data that Dave used a "center weighted average" metering mode, which was a very smart choice for this "mottled lighting."  Most modern matrix metering is heavily weighted towards the active focus point, which means your exposure can swing wildly depending on whether the area you are focusing on is in the sun or shade, resulting in exposures that are either too dark or too light.  On the other hand, "center weighted averaging" hearkens back to the "old days" where the more basic meters simply averaged the light falling on the scene, with the center portion of the scene more heavily weighted in the determination of the exposure.  (Thus the name "center weighted averaging. :))  As Lars said in his comment to Dave's image "it's nice to see a real pro at work!"  You can see more of Dave's images here:  FlyoverPeople Galleries

Thank you to everyone that participated in the "Fill Flash" assignment.  I hope that reading my long-winded explanation of fill-flash techniques, experimenting on your own, and seeing the images submitted by other participants helped you in your quest to become a better photographer.

Keith
« Last Edit: September 13, 2009, 09:31:47 PM by keithsnell »