Exposure nightmare(for me)

[KenJ8246]

Black and yellow and a bright orange flower. Add flash and I have problems.    What would your starting settings be for a shot like this?




Thanks for viewing.

[motleypixel]

Well for starters, the composition, DOF, and focus is great on this shot…really just a bit under-exposed.  I haven’t even looked at the exif but here’s my take on this one.

Based on an morning over-cast day (somewhat low ambient light).  I would say ISO 400 (maybe a bit less), 1/100 or 1/80th, f/8, flash on auto or manual which depending on how close it is to the subject probably somewhere around 1/8th to 1/16th pwr.  You really have to make your shutter work for you in this lack of ambient light, with of course the trade-off of the potential for a sharp/in-focus shot.

[DigitalScape]

Very nice image, Kenny.  You are right that this is an exposure nightmare - the camera meter is going to be fooled if you spot meter - probably under expose the image by 1EV.  For my camera, I would go with ISO 200 (or ISO 400 depending on the ambient light), I would use flash as fill (probably start with -1EV on the flash), and use 1/250 shutter to make sure I got the bee sharp (freeze the motion), and f/8 or f/11 for DOF.  And then if the bee permitted it, i would be bracketing that shot changing the flash power first and the DOF second.

[KenJ8246]

Thanks fellas, appreciate the tips.  Let's hope I remember them.