Easter eggs! And the importance of a flash, all the time.

[sir pball]

So TFMPB (The Future Mrs. Pball) has been on the Big Egg Hunt throughout NYC for the last few weeks - long story short, Faberge commissioned 260+ giant easter eggs from a multitude of artists and "hid" them around the City; they aren't actually hidden but it's still quite a chore to look at the map in the mobile app, trek to every one, snap the QR code, and "crack" it. She had well over half, but Thursday night the contest closed and they were all trucked to Rockefeller Center.

Anyway, we went down today so she could collect the rest. The technical aspect is the fill flash; look at the deep, overly contrasty and harsh shadows in the background compared to the nicely balanced eggs, faces, and (this is oddly important to me for portraits) the under-hair shadows. In direct sunlight, with deep shadows that are six, eight, ten stops below the rest of the photo, it's vital to have a good flash to fill them in. My rule is to have it on, even if it's just the built-in unit popped open, unless I'm *sure* I won't need it; with today's modern balanced matrix TTL metering you'll do less damage (if any at all) with it on and unneeded than otherwise. I was getting some seriously weird looks shooting in blinding sunlight with a gigantic flash hanging off my DSLR but the results are what matters. Well, and lots of people cleared out of our way when I directed the scene like a hotshot with my fancy flash and gigantic hyperzoom lens and commanding mannerism. It's not photobombing if you do it deliberately.

Split Egg


f/1.8 closeup


Neon!


Who knew deconstruction was still cool.


Random, just technically very nice (plus she's hot )


Celebrating the first monkey we shot into space.


Babar!
"

STAY AWAY FROM ME CREEPY TERRY RICHARDSON!!

[flamin lib]

1. I only use available light.

If flash is available, I use it. If 1000 watt kleig lights are available, I use them. If a small nuclear device is available, well maybe that too . . .

[sir pball]

3. Oh, the sun is meant to be beat..

..hence the SB800. Shit, I can fit the battery pack for my strobes in a backpack...but I never did walk round with a brolly box over my head. Yet!

[Major Nikon]

5. The sun is nothing more than a big nuclear device

I look at it from the other direction. The sun is just another light source that I can use at my discretion as ambient, fill, key, or accent.

[NYC_SKP]

2. Flashes schmlashes... She is ADORABLE,

Good on you both!

[Sherman A1]

4. Cool!

Interesting shots, thanks for posting.

[JohnnyRingo]

6. I like Neon...

I can tell you used a flash, but you still kept the aura of color light and reflections. I'm not sure how you did that, but well done.

[OriginalGeek]

7. not to derail the thread or anything

but if that young lady in the pics is TFMPB, I think you should get to that future sooner rather than later.

And a hattip for the neat egg pics.

[sir pball]

8. Well ahead of you, date's set!

Everything's booked, just waiting on the invitations

(October in NOLA, if you were curious)