Advanced Techniques: Fill and Balancing

In this episode of Advanced Techniques in photojournalism, we had to use flash for “fill and balancing.”  Basically, this is the perfect technique for a sunny day when your subject is wearing a hat.  Or, if you are trying to shoot people in shadow with a bright background.  It sort of evens things out.

I tried to do part of my assignment while in San Francisco this weekend and then went down to see Marvin start the spring corn planting season.

Here are my top images.  Still haven’t decided which to turn in.  The first three photos are examples of “fill” flash:

fillbalance_blog_41Katie Ball reads a book and tries to ignore the busloads of tourists at Alamo Square in San Francisco, CA Monday, April 6, 2009.  The park was made popular by the opening scene of the sitcom “Full House” and is a popular tourist destination in San Francisco.

fillbalance_blog_1Marvin Sapp combines two seed bins of a corn planter during his  first day of spring planting Wednesday, April 8, 2009 in McBaine, MO.  The green color of the seed is the result of pesticides and anti-fungals used to protect the corn in the early stages of its life

fillbalance_blog_2 Marvin Sapp refills seed bins on the corn planter during the first day of spring planting.

And the below photo is an example of “balancing:”

fillbalance_blog_3Marvin Sapp plants a field of corn in the new tractor he purchased last January.  “It’s a slick tractor… but it is smarter than me,” he said.

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