Shooting at mid day

Suppose you have no choice but to photograph an event scheduled at mid day and there is no shade. Other than choosing a lower contrast film, what would you do?

Two words: Fill Flash.

I say this in general, not knowing what kind of event you're shooting. For fill flash, set the flash at one stop or so below ambient exposure, and you'll lower the contrast quite a bit. Automated TTL flash systems are really good at this, I set mine up with a -1 compensation on the flash and let it do it's thing. Of course with flash, you have to be careful that the foreground isn't washed out and you only have a certain distance to work with depending on the film speed, the flash, etc.

Even if it's overcast, I'd still do it. Any more specifics about the event?

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Originally Posted by barmy101

Suppose you have no choice but to photograph an event scheduled at mid day and there is no shade. Other than choosing a lower contrast film, what would you do?

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I would use black & white chromogenic film (Kodak T400CN or Ilford XP2).

1. A over-contrasty black-and-white image looks much better than a colour one. It looks like you've done it deliberately whereas colour bleaches out and is obviously awful
2. The chromogenic films soak up the contrast and with a good scanner and the middle histogram slider you can manipulate the tones and bring up the mid-tones so there's detail in there. In colour it looks awful but in black-and-white it looks believable.

If I was shooting colour I would definitely use fill-in. However I'm gradually going back to black-and-white for many events

Charles

Thanks. The reason I asked is because I ran into a newspaper photographer. While I was waiting for the sun to go down a little more he was shooting in the worst possible lighting you can imagine. The event was a Civil War re-enactment so fill-flash wouldn't work there.

Hi, would you recommend using bounce flash with a pocket boucer outside also? And, do you have the chance of getting flat whites like in a wedding dress or shadows with using the fill flash?

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Originally Posted by barmy101

Thanks. The reason I asked is because I ran into a newspaper photographer. While I was waiting for the sun to go down a little more he was shooting in the worst possible lighting you can imagine. The event was a Civil War re-enactment so fill-flash wouldn't work there.

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Every paper varies, but one that I work with HATES flash, and the way they work around needing it in situations like that is timing. The will be some point where the subject looks up, reducing the shadows, or something reflective bounces some light into the shadows, etc. Very, very seldom do they see a need for flash, and the images are never poor, they just work what they have in really creative ways. Granted, I know nothing about what that particular shooter was doing, but it wouldn't surprise me to see one shooting like that.

If you can see flash in the shot then there's too much! Yeah, I know - photographers and most likely editors can tell if you did or not. I know what Sebastian is saying - over the weekend I shot an SCCA race (shots in Critique...) and had some shade on parts of the track when they passed by trees. When the cars were in bright sun, the finish of the car (regardless of color) would be one big burned out highlight, but if I shot it in the right spot it would be in shade and look good. Just a matter of timing, again.

Mbeth16: If you're outside in a situation like that, chances are you're a pretty good distance from your subject. You'll need all the power you can get out of your flash, so a bounce just wouldn't work. The flash would be far enough away that you wouldn't be able to tell the difference anyway. Your subject should "pop" with fill flash, but I'd be worried about blowing whites with digital unless you know your equipment very well. Color neg film is pretty forgiving here.