I had to pull off the road to get thissunset photos. The clouds added to the dramatic effect. To add to the scene, there were some wildflowers on the shoulder of the highway.The instant feedback of digital photography helps to make photos such as this possible. When I first took this photo, the flowers were too dark to be seen in this shot into a dark sky. When I used a fill-in flash to illuminate the flowers, they were washed out because the flash put too much light on them.
So, what technique did I use to cut down on the amount of light? I did not have my DSLR on this trip. I was using a smaller camera, with manual settings, but with limited capabilities and no ability to change the direction or intensity of the flash. I therefore used an instrument that every photographer has. A thumb. I experimented with putting my thumb over part of the flash surface until the digital screen showed that I added enough flash to illuminate the flowers, but not too much over-expose their color.
I hope you have a chance to use this little photo-tip some day, and I hope that the results will be pleasing to you, and others.
Check out fabulous travel photos of our recent trip to Isla Borremeo, Italy at Viva la Voyage!
9 comments:
A jaw dropping moment captured and an excellent tip for those of us who love (but sometimes are defeated by) the challenge of light (which would be most of us, i think).
A clever use of a thumb to take a photo. My father used his thumb a lot in photography. Unfortunately, his thumb appeared in the photos.
This is a gorgeous image Julie! Great job!
Cool capture! Very pretty.
Never used it but I will... thks.
Is it what we call "the rule of thumb?" :-)))
Gorgeous shot. Nice tip using the thumb over the flash.
Amazing image Julie, so dramatic, have never heard of the thumb technique before, but it sure worked fantastically for you here.
excellent! wow...I'm just blown away!
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