Backlit Subjects

[Gem]

I was wondering how to properly expose for backlit subjects, while not blowing out the background?

Here was the situation I was faced with last weekend: in Banff, we (my bro, his wife and I) were at a lookout point, overlooking Lake Louise and the Fairmont. The lookout was shaded, and it was a fairly sunny day. I was taking a picture of my brother and his wife with the view behind them, and thought the flash would brighten them up - it didn't And, I wasn't exactly sure what else to try. I'm heading to Jasper for the long weekend, and I would like to have a better result than last time :/

Suggestions, anyone? Looking back, all I can think of was to take a picture exposed for the background, then another exposed for my brother and his wife, then blend together on Photoshop?

[Richard]

Hi Gem,

In full manual, you should be able to switch to spot metering and take an exposure reading for the sky. Your TTL flash should then act as a fill flash properly exposing the foreground. Failing that if you can always use the flash compensation feature to balance your flash exposure with the natural light.

If your flash had no effect on the picture it's possible you were to far from the subject for it to be effective?

[Wicked Dark]

Spot metering and fill flash will help as Rich says, but the 'without blowing out the background' in your original post is the kicker. It depends on the total # of stops in the scene and the # that separate proper exposure of the subject from the bg. A digital camera can handle about 10 stops without clipping, if there's more than that between the subject and any part of the bg, that part will be clipped. Sometimes you just have to live with it or try to reframe the subject to eliminate as much of the bg as possible.

[Iguanasan]

Good advice so far. My flash skills suck but might I suggest you poke around in your camera's manual as it may have a suggestion.

[Mad Aussie]

Yep the advice so far is very good.

Gem ... I'm assuming you have the built in flash only. These definitely are only for short range so therefore you need to be closer to your subjects.

Here's what I'd try in this situation ...

Firstly, take the background scene and get that the way you want.
Then bring in your subjects and use the flash to fill. In your menu you should have a flash exposure setting that allows you to increase the flash strength.
Also remember that later in PP you have a certain amount of control so settings with a slightly higher ISO or aperture that allow the flash to fill the faces, and slightly create a background that's a bit light, will probably be savable later.

Also, don't forget the good old reflector. A nice white reflector of some sort will help.

[casil403]

I have tried in this case to switch over to autobracketing, take 3 or 5 shots in a row and then run it through an HDR program like Photomatrix. I then try to make it look as non-HDR as possible and have been quite successful with the technique so far. a few tweaks in LR and it is almost indiscernible that it is and HDR image.
Takes a while to do but it has worked for me on more than one occasion.
Might not be the best answer out there but it works for me so try it if you like.