(From left to right: Sushma Malik, Pallavi Puri, Poonam Sethi, Rachna Puri.)Sushma Malik, far left, applies henna to Pallavi Puri’s hand at Shanthi Mandir, a Hindu temple in Columbia. The women are celebrating Karva Chauth, a festival in which Hindu women fast so that their husbands will have long lives. Puri, who has lived in Columbia for 4 years, said she has no intention of leaving the city. “My husband plans to stay here, so I guess I’ll have to stay here,” she said with a smile.
(Camera f/2.8 at 1/30th and 800 ISO, Daylight White Balance, RAW; Flash: TTL, green gel)
My select is from my take at the Shanthi Mandir Hindu Temple in Columbia. I’ve been comparing the select to another shot from the take (number 0874) that has basically the same composition and identical exposure settings. The only difference is that my flash didn’t fire in one of the shots. Both my select and the similar shot were taken at f/2.8 at 1/30th and 800 ISO. The use of bounce flash definitely makes an impact, and I think it is pretty close to a proper exposure, but I’m a little afraid that I’m not utilizing the full potential of the flash. The camera settings should indicate that there was not a whole lot of light in the room, and working at a 30th of a second is somewhat slow for me to hold the camera in one hand with my flash in the other. I guess I’m thinking that I could have told the camera to underexpose the shot based on the light meter so that the TTL flash would have pumped out more light, allowing me to use a faster shutter speed or lower ISO or both. I feel like I’m using the flash so a degree, but I’m still trying too hard to use available light when it would be easier to use more flash.
In any case, the room I shot in had fluorescent lights, so I threw my green gel over my strobe. I primarily shot in TTL, and used bounce flash the whole time.
