Chasing Shadows

[griptape]

So I probably consider my weakest area of technical knowledge and ability to be flash use. I generally shoot outside under a midday sky, and when the sun is directly above (or near directly) I find myself constantly chasing for a spot to shoot from where faces don't have shadows on at least part of the face. I get lucky every now and then using fill flash, but I generally either over-expose (even when I set the flash compensation lower) or still end up with shadows.

Am I missing something easy? Is it really that difficult to use fill flash and get consistent results? I've searched for tutorials but all I ever come up with are wedding style external flash tutorials. I'm using the on-board flash on my XT, and I'm generally 12-18 feet from my subject, so I don't think range is a problem. But would I see big improvements in consistency with an external flash?

[JTL]

So I probably consider my weakest area of technical knowledge and ability to be flash use. I generally shoot outside under a midday sky, and when the sun is directly above (or near directly) I find myself constantly chasing for a spot to shoot from where faces don't have shadows on at least part of the face. I get lucky every now and then using fill flash, but I generally either over-expose (even when I set the flash compensation lower) or still end up with shadows.

Am I missing something easy? Is it really that difficult to use fill flash and get consistent results? I've searched for tutorials but all I ever come up with are wedding style external flash tutorials. I'm using the on-board flash on my XT, and I'm generally 12-18 feet from my subject, so I don't think range is a problem. But would I see big improvements in consistency with an external flash?One thing to think about, which may or may not be relavent in your paticular situation, is to get the best result, I beleive you need a lens that reports distance back to the ETTL II metering system in the camera. I'm not sure where to obtain that kind of spec info for particular lenses.

[GaryS]

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess that you shoot in Av or M mode when the over-exposures happen...

The built in flash can only sync at 1/200 of a second. So what happens in Av or M is that you set your aperature (and shutter speed) for ambient light, but when the flash pops up, your shutter speed will change to 1/200 and mess up the settings you just chose. You will notice that the 1/200 will flash on the screen, trying to warn you. Happens to me all the time.

Three things you can do (if my guess is right). Use Tv mode and set the shutter to 1/200. Then the camera will pick the right Av to work with the flash. Or use M, setting the shutter to a max of 1/200. OR, use an external flash in High Speed Sync mode. I use the external flash for fill on bright days, because I find that works best.

[griptape]

^That's actually something a lot of people don't understand, with the max sync speed, but I lower my ISO to 100 and close the aperture down as needed when I'm flashing outdoors (you're right about the shooting manual mode part though).

The focal length thing is something I'll look into though, it makes perfect sense, so thanks for that JTL.

Anyone else have experience with external flashes outdoors that can help talk me into buying one?