The Launch

[rtbaum]

My wife and my sister-in-law coerced me into going to the beach this weekend. I really do not get into swimming and brought my camera to keep myself entertained. This young woman and her companions were enjoying the water on a hot day and she began having her friend launch her off his shoulder high into the air. I took advantage of the situation and took the shot



I actually was quite surprised that it came out so well!!

[NorthernFocus]

You caught the action perfectly. The water drops frozen in time are excellent. It is underexposed. If you were shooting auto exposure it is due to the bright water dominating the frame and the young woman being backlit. Easily corrected with post processing.

[rtbaum]

Really, It is more my processing more than under exposure. I generally take photos during daylight and process at night, somehow things always look better at night

Better?

[NorthernFocus]

...Better

Yes, IMO.

[AB26]

Hi Randy,

I am not going to agree with Dan on under exposure. The exposure was perfect for the light you had. The only thing you really needed in this shot was more light. Flash to fill in the "underexposed" areas. Don't be shy to use flash in bright sunlight.

[NorthernFocus]

...I am not going to agree with Dan on under exposure.... The only thing you really needed in this shot was more light....

[Manfred M]

Nice action shot and Dan is bang on with his exposure comment. With the reflection off the water, you are working outside the normal lighting conditions that the reflective light meter in your camera is measuring to.

I run into this all the time when shooting snowscapes and I will generally dial in about +1 stop of exposure compensation to start. Your histogram certainly shows a sharp bias to the left. The other workaround is change to spot metering mode and meter off the skin of your subject; this will also get you a better exposure.


Andre - if you check the metadata, this image was taken with a 400mm lens on a crop frame sensor. I can't think of any flash that would crank out enough light to brighten up the scene at this distance

[ClaudioG]

Erm ... does anyone see where that water is running off the young lady? Really sorry, i just feel it's distracting. And i promise I'm not trying to be gross bout it. I love the look in her eyes though, alot of excitement

[dje]

Hi Randy

Good candid capture.

As the girl is mostly in shadow, I would personally just raise the shadows on the image rather than the brightness of the whole image.

Dave

[NorthernFocus]

...As the girl is mostly in shadow, I would personally just raise the shadows on the image rather than the brightness of the whole image....

A good suggestion as it will retain more contrast between the water drops and BG. Same net effect as Andre's suggestion. Never thought about it but the shadows tool kind of is the PP version of flash

[dje]

Never thought about it but the shadows tool kind of is the PP version of flash

Yes but the shadows tool has it's limits, especially with skin tones. I've found that if you push it too far, skin tones can become un-natural and reddish looking.

Dave

[rtbaum]

In the edit, I actually did both; I raised exposure, adjusted fill light, did something that I rarely do.....adjusted brightness. Flash really was not an option.... as I was high, dry, and 50' away . I had the 400mm on for shooting what I have come to refer to as "Targets of Opportunity", primarily skittish bugs and birds. One of the young woman's friends had seen my kit and engaged me in conversation re: photography; I considered it a fair bet that his group would not mind being my subjects. The young lady was clearly having a ball, as she should being surrounded by three young guys. I merely took advantage of an opportunity. All the rest was luck.

[NorthernFocus]

...Flash really was not an option.... as I was high, dry, and 50' away....

50 ft is nothing with a Better Beamer. Don't you set up your flash and Better Beamer when you go to the beach on a sunny day?

Early on when I started shooting birds, I followed someone's advice on a forum similar to this and bought and SB-800 and a Better Beamer. Clearly it was not possible to successfully shoot birds without flash. Going on six years or so now and I have NEVER used a flash for wildlife of any kind and the BB never came out of its packaging after the day it arrived in the post. Then again I suppose one can argue that I haven't been very successful shooting wildlife

No doubt there have been one or two times over the years when I wished I would have had flash available to me. But EVERY time I'm in the field I'm thankful not to have that extra bit of gear in my backpack. Maybe some day when I live somewhere that I routinely shoot out the car window, I'll toss it in the back seat and bring it along

[rtbaum]

50 ft is nothing with a Better Beamer. Don't you set up your flash and Better Beamer when you go to the beach on a sunny day?

Early on when I started shooting birds, I followed someone's advice on a forum similar to this and bought and SB-800 and a Better Beamer. Clearly it was not possible to successfully shoot birds without flash. Going on six years or so now and I have NEVER used a flash for wildlife of any kind and the BB never came out of its packaging after the day it arrived in the post. Then again I suppose one can argue that I haven't been very successful shooting wildlife

No doubt there have been one or two times over the years when I wished I would have had flash available to me. But EVERY time I'm in the field I'm thankful not to have that extra bit of gear in my backpack. Maybe some day when I live somewhere that I routinely shoot out the car window, I'll toss it in the back seat and bring it along

I can barely manage the 400mm when I am out shooting, last memorial day, I brought my binoculars on a ramble. They are currently sitting on the forest floor, somewhere in a State Park in Wisconsin. I am pretty sure the flash and better beamer would suffer the same fate!!

As to your wildlife photography, I can only aspire