Washed out shots

Chrissy26

Hi @Moose - I have recently been to a local park just liked the one where I am going to be taking Wedding Shots. There were lot's of trees and tried out your tips with the 35mm lens. There were lot's of shadows, unfortunately the pictures ended up far to light using the flash technique. What have I done wrong? Thanks!

Moose

Howdy @Chrissy26 - Using flash outdoors can be tricky. The D3100 has a maximum flash sync speed of 1/200, which means the fastest shutter speed you can use with flash is 1/200.

If you're shooting in Aperture priority (A) with the aperture set between f/1.8 to f/2.8 at an ISO of 100 on an extremely bright day, most likely the shutter speed will hover between 1/500 to 1/2000. When flash is enabled, the shutter speed is "slowed" down to 1/200. This will most likely "overexpose" your shot when there's too much ambient light available.

More expensive speedlights have an option for high-speed sync which allow you to use shutter speeds beyond 1/200, unfortunately the SB-400 doesn't have this feature.

Your options are to find a heavily shaded area or raise your aperture to higher f-numbers. This will lower your shutter speeds and allow you to get an accurate exposure with flash outdoors. Happy shooting! :)