Afternoon/Night Portraits

[LukeH]

I have a canon 400d and am looking at doing some portraits in the late-ish afternoon or early evening. I only have my standard camera flash and was wondering if some people could give me some tips to get the best results?

Cheers

[Chairman Bill]

Personally, I'd forget the flash. If there's enough natural light, use it. If there isn't, put the camera away.  

[EduPerez]

I am with Chairman Bill on this one: flash photography is, in my humble opinion, either done right or a complete mess; and an integrated flash is probably the worst tool for this task. I would try to minimize the need for the flash, placing the subject facing the source of light; but that is most probably the complete opposite of what you had in mind. Or, you could try to join your enemy, forget the flash and try some silhouettes.

Just my two cents; that is a very difficult situation, and I wish I had a better answer...

[blansky]

One of the best times to do portraits is magic hour, around one hour before  sunset and perhaps 20 minutes after the sun goes down. Naturally you will need a tripod and cable release. A small fill flash 45 degree angle to the subject can work to add a small catchlight in the eyes. Having the subject rim lit or back lit by the sun works well and when the sun is down or almost down you can use the sun as your mainlight.

You can find this kind of information on portraits type sites.

Michael

[solardarkroom.com]

I have a canon 400d and am looking at doing some portraits in the late-ish afternoon or early evening. I only have my standard camera flash and was wondering if some people could give me some tips to get the best results?

Cheers

Try shooting in the shade. Skin tones and shadows will render very nicely. Shoot RAW and get a white balance. Shooting a piece of paper is better than nothing if you don't have one of those over-priced white balance tools. Just be careful with full sunlight patches in the background that can clip and become a problem.

My 2 cents

David

[lookit]

Try using flash exposure compensation to reduce the flash output for a gentle fill effect only.