Motorsport 1

[Yisehaq]

Hey all,
These are from last Sunday. I used a fill-flash as you might see.Needless to say, these were shot in mid day harsh lights. But it is a little bit too much for my taste. What do you think? Any advice?

[Bambi]

nice! Love the first and last one!

[Iguanasan]

Nice set. I like the action in the first one and the composition and DOF of the third.

[Marko]

But it is a little bit too much for my taste.

Not sure what u are referring to here.

Harsh light is impossible to tame at a sporting event like this. I think you've done a nice job here and the fillflash in shots 1 and 3 look okay to me as does the composition of those shots.

Shot 2 was a miss imo based on the crop through the tires more than the bit of extra fillflash.

Hope that helps - Marko

[Yisehaq]

Thank you all for your comments.

Not sure what u are referring to here.

Harsh light is impossible to tame at a sporting event like this. Hope that helps - Marko

What I wanted to say is that I expected flash on ETTL to act as only filling the shadows on the subject. But sometimes specially on white subjects, it will give me a blown-out areas. I was thinking if there may be a need to compensate the flash power -1 or so. Or any other technique?
As you said, harsh light is very difficult.
Around here, almost all sporting events are conducted around mid day and it makes it an avoidable to deal with this kind of light. But one important thing to mention is that a flash gun has been a very good friend in this situations.

[Marko]

Keep in mind that cameras and flashes are fairly stupid things, all the do is take an average (18% grey) and feed you back an average based on that grey.

And because cameras are blind, if the average was based on predominantly white or black tones (instead of a mix of tones as most scenes are likely to contain) the average will be wrong. (too dark or too light)

Then it's up to you the photographer to correct (and hopefully notice in the future before you click the shutter) this exposure by adding or subtracting from it.

In the case of fill flash if the fill flash is too bright go to minus 1 or minus 2 or even minus 3 or more. For outdoor shooting my usual fill flash setting will be at around minus 2.... But it depends on the subject, the distance from camera and the available light at the time of the shot.

Hope that helps - Marko

[Yisehaq]

Thank you so much Marko,

Keep in mind that cameras and flashes are fairly stupid things, all the do is take an average (18% grey) and feed you back an average based on that grey.

And because cameras are blind, if the average was based on predominantly white or black tones (instead of a mix of tones as most scenes are likely to contain) the average will be wrong. (too dark or too light)

Then it's up to you the photographer to correct (and hopefully notice in the future before you click the shutter) this exposure by adding or subtracting from it.

Unfortunately, I have to remind myself time and time again on that.

In the case of fill flash if the fill flash is too bright go to minus 1 or minus 2 or even minus 3 or more. For outdoor shooting my usual fill flash setting will be at around minus 2.... But it depends on the subject, the distance from camera and the available light at the time of the shot.

Hope that helps - Marko

That is what my practice on this subjects thought me last weekend.

[Marko]

My pleasure Yisehaq - but just so it's crystal clear my minus 2 is 100% NOT etched in stone.

It totally depends on the quality of the ambient light....I should have stated that first actually.

IF the ambient light is really harsh (like high noon) then my fill flash will NOT be set to minus 2. It will likely be much closer to zero compensation. For MY shooting style though, I'm less likely to go out in that harsh light so for me somewhere close to minus 2 usually makes sense for the subjects i tend to use fill flash on.

[Yisehaq]

Well noted. Marko!

[Mad Aussie]

Good work Yisehaq. I've shot thousands of this type of photo and a good flash is a must. Don't be afraid to use the flash more strongly either. My intention was to light up the face and eyes, even behind helmets and glasses. My purpose was to sell the photos back to the competitors, which I did, so their faces were important.