A portrait of my Niece

[phuang]

Hi, There is not much to say, all my question is address in the titel description. How Do I prevent the hat from over exposing but keep the face lightenned enough in a sunny day like this? Is flash recommanded, thanks in advance for helping me out.

[VTphotog]

I think fill flash would have worked to give you the shadow detail while allowing you to expose for good highlight detail in this picture. As is, you have done the right thing by getting your subject light enough and allowing the hightlights on the hat to blow out. (unless you were taking a picture of the hat :-))

brian

[vIZnquest]

Other than the hat the rest of the picture looks good. I would probably try fill flash if the hat was that important in the picture but it does not really detract from what I have seen.

Possibly no hat or even a darker colored hat would have made this shot better.

[RodneyBlair]

Unless you have the experience and additional equipment to pull it off, it is best to avoid shooting portraits in direct sunlight unless late in the evening or very early in the morning. Find completely shaded areas instead. Regardless of the lighting, the tonal values are all wrong here. In this scene, the white hat will be the main center of interest instead of the eyes. Our eyes see first and continually bounce back to areas where there is the most contrast. A light colored top and bright background is the solution if you must keep the white hat. Otherwise, vIZnquest offers the best solution.

There are also what appear to be specular highlights on her face giving here an uneven, unattractive skin tone. Fill flash or a white reflector for fill would have helped soften the lighting to give a more pleasing skin tone.

Framing, pose and expression are pretty good. I would have cropped a bit more from the right side and top, however.

Rodney