Peninsula Outdoor Painters

1/250 second, F 6.5, ISO 100, Lens Focal Length 35mm APS

Nestled in an unincorporated area of Redwood City, the Emerald Hills Country Club turned a small lake into a "swimmin' hole", complete with a mini-water slide and changing houses. It was here that the Peninsula Outdoor Painters chose to paint landscapes inspired by lake's natural surroundings. The entrance was a little hard to find, but when I did, I was greeted by Sue Mendelsohn, a member of the POP and the subject of an upcoming Journal article. She had just started on a fresh water color when I arrived, so as she worked, I went about adjusting my composition and exposure.

First The Good News: Sue was painting by the water's edge, so a composition that included the painting and her hand was easy. Had she been a left-handed painter the situation would have been different because her arm would have obscured the canvas. The Bad News was the fence that surrounded the little lake had gaps through which the morning sun came shining through.

In these two test shots, you can clearly see the zebra-stripes that crossed her face in the left shot. The stripes were still obvious when I added a single speedlight  and a shoot-through umbrella. It still wasn't exactly what I wanted, so I made some adjustments to the lighting and the exposure. First, I lowered the ISO to 100. This would allow me to reduce the ambient exposure somewhat because I was locked into a shutter speed of 1/250 of a second, the camera' highest flash sync speed. Next I moved the flash to a butterfly position (aligned with the nose) and moved it as close to my subject as possible. 

As you can see, the flash exposure was boosted slightly, and the ambient (sunlight) exposure reduced a bit. The final photo still had highlights created by the sunlight, but they are hard to detect, as you can see in the left sample. Because of its position close to the subject, the flash had no effect on the lower edge of the photo, as you can see by the light-stripes on the bench and easel. 

Next Time: I am not totally without resources if a similar lighting dilemma occurs. I could have used a second umbrella as a "scrim", or light shield, to prevent any direct sunlight from hitting my subject. The "shadow" created by the scrim could then be lit with a flash, which bring the  exposure back to where it belongs, This presumes that I thought to bring a second light stand and a second umbrella, something that I don't normally do. But when I am next called upon to make an outdoor portrait, I will give it some careful thought.