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Does anyone have suggestions on how to handle dappled shadow / light - Is it simply just best to avoid or are there some tips on maximising results?

Natz, it is a bit hard to know the problem without knowing what you are taking photos. I assume it is people, try using the flash at the same time. Maybe post a photo you are not happy with?

It all depends rather on what sort of scene you are shooting. If, for instance, you are shooting a rainforest scene with many dappled spots of light, the best approach may be to utilise the HDR function of Photoshop CS2 to merge multiple exposures of the same scene. Here is a snip from the HDR help:
Keep the following tips in mind when you take photos to be combined with the Merge To HDR command:
Secure the camera to a tripod.
Take enough photos to cover the full dynamic range of the scene. You can try taking at least five to seven photos, but you might need to take more exposures depending on the dynamic range of the scene. The minimum number of photos should be three.
Vary the shutter speed to create different exposures. Changing the aperture changes the depth of field in each exposure and can produce lower-quality results. Changing the ISO or aperture may also cause noise or vignetting in the image.
In general, don’t use your camera’s auto-bracket feature, because the exposure changes are usually too small.
The exposure differences between the photos should be one or two EV (exposure value) steps apart (equivalent to about one or two f‑stops apart).
Don’t vary the lighting; for instance, don’t use a flash in one exposure but not the next.
Make sure that nothing is moving in the scene. Exposure Merge works only with differently exposed images of the identical scene.

If you don't have a hand held exposure meter, you could spot meter the areas needed by changing the exposure mode in camera and point out each area, i.e. shadows, midtones & highlights and the set the camera to manual exposure for each of the shots once the composition is set.
If you are shooting close-up, you could use a thin white diffusing material Plastic/bedsheet, etc. to spread the light over the subject.

Col

With difficulty. Expose for the shadow and you blow out the light, expose for the light and it's all silhouettes.

1st thing, try to make sure the sun is behind you, over your shoulder - this will help minimise any blowouts from shooting directly into the sun

Some examples of mine of different exposures...

Light exposure -



Shadow exposure (note the blown highlights top left of the house)-



You can get good results if you take a number of exposures though, try running through exposure compensation, or just changing the shutter speed to see what you get / like.

Some folks may have some tips about using High Dynamic Range merging - basically take two exposures and merge.

By the way I forgot to welcome you to the forum. Let us see what you are up to and don't be afraid to ask any questions. A really great mob here.
All the best
Col

Thanks for your suggestions - taking photos of people who are moving..... doesn't sound like it will work (well not with my level of expertise).

I will try the flash option for future shots. And will store the knowledge of other suggestions for future ref.

Thanks everyone.

Welcome to the forum

For small subjects or close portraits, you could try shading the subject with a piece of coreflute board (real estate sign material )

I have not done it myself, but saw it done quite successfully at a recent Brisbane mini meet.

Hope this helps

Cheers
Gecko

Soft dappled light is beautiful and the matrix metering will handle it very well. If you are talking about high contrast lighting then forget it. Nothing will work unless it's small enough to use flash fill. Avoid high contrast situations wherever possible is my advice.

or use ...errr...B&W or even color print film
It still has the best dynamic range for that type of work.