You. Your loved one. And the perfect sunset. Perhaps on a beach in Hawaii?

You grab your camera, hand it to the nearest passer-by, and ask them to take your picture. They oblige, hand you back the camera, and are gone in a blink of an eye. Unfortunately, you look down at the screen and realize that, while the sunset looks great, you and your loved one look like black blobs.

Something like this…

Sunset Portrait without Flash

Now, don’t get me wrong. Silhouettes can make for some stunning photographs, but you probably want to be able to show your friends that it was indeed you on that beach. So, how did this happen and what’s the fix?

It’s quite simple.

Your camera “sees” the entire scene and determines that it’s very bright–after all you’re pointing it at the sun! So, the camera adjusts its exposure time to capture the beautiful colors of the sky…and not your smiling face.

The solution really is quite simple. TURN ON YOUR FLASH! No, not the auto-fire setting. That won’t work, because your camera will determine there is plenty of light. You need to turn your flash to “always on,” “manual,” “force fire” or whatever your camera calls it. This will result in your camera still capturing that beautiful sunset, but the flash will also fire just long enough to light up your smiling faces.

It should look something more like this:

Sunset Portrait with Flash

So, the next time you take any kind of photo of people in front of a bright object–like the sun–if their face is not facing said bright object, it will be in the dark, unless you turn on your flash.

Happy snapping!

Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Exposure: 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture: f/11.0
Focal Length: 11 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV

About
I had the day off of work today so that gave me a little extra time to mess around with the camera. During the holiday season it seems like everything is a little crazier than usual so I thought something like this would be fitting.

The shot is composed of images for each item and the background shot separately with the same lighting setup. Everything was merged in photoshop with some curves adjustments and sharpening for web.

Setup:
ISO 200
1/250 s
f 11
11mm

Gear:
Canon 40D, Sigma 10-20, Manfrotto Tripod, Canon 430 EXII, Vivitar 285 HV, Gorillapod, Yangnuo Triggers, dirty laundry.

Strobist
Canon 430 exII placed in lamp (right edge of frame). Vivitar 285hv on Gorillapod stuck to top of door (left edge of frame). Each flash was at 1/2 power and aimed into the corner of the room. Triggered with Yangnuo 2.4 wireless triggers.

View er-lau’s Flickr Photostream

Camera: Nikon D300
Exposure: 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture: f/2.0
Focal Length: 35 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: On, Return not detected

Very “ghetto” setup. D300 hooked to Commodore 64 monitor used with liveview and a wired remote. My light stands are still packed up from my move so I put a flash on the floor with sync cord and bounced it off a large piece of white cardboard leaning against the tripod in front. Second flash put on top of a box in behind and used to whiten the wall. Front 1/8 Power Rear 1/4 Power. Camera F2 1/125 ISO 200.

Celebrate Movember: www.movember.com/

View jamesrdoe’s Flickr Photostream