Tips on photographing polyester flags.

[wild-bill]

Most of the flags I have are inexpensive polyester printed flags. The Texas flag is nylon-I fly it on most days and want one that will last. But for flying just a few days a year, the poly ones are good. They are just a few dollars on Ebay and don't require much of a breeze to fly. But when a bright sky or the sun is behind them, they are semi transparent and look washed out. One way to get a good pic is to be sure the sun is in front of the flag. My friend is Hungarian, so I got this one and will mail it to him-he lives in Vegas. Thought I'd get a few pics before sending it to him.



I've been wanting to visit Russia for a few years now. Here's the Russian flag in the sun.



And another trick is to use flash fill. Flash will not be effective on a bright day, so wait until the sun sets. And the range of the flash will not be more than a few feet, so get as close as you can. Here's my Christian flag right about sunset with no flash. Notice it looks transparent and is taking on the color of the sky behind it.



This one was taken a few seconds later with flash fill. It also helps the pole appear it's natural color-white.

[coasterville]

The make sure the sun is behind you is a good tip for any outdoor photography. Shooting into the sun is just plain hard, albeit unavoidable at times.

Welcome to the group!

As an aside: I was able to visit Hungary last fall. Picked up a flag while I was there,not the kind you might expect:

(My apologies to those who have already seen these)


Hungary Flag by Coasterville, on Flickr

(Note the three color sections are sewn together, not printed, the seal is printed but looks to be a higher quality printing process than usual. It is a 3'x5' approx. flag with a pole hem instead of header/grommets)

Here have a closer look at the emblem

Hngary Flag - coat of arms detail by Coasterville, on Flickr

I also have the $cheap printed poly plain Hungarian flag as well in my international collection.

[wild-bill]

Hi David. Nice Hungarian flag. Yes the sun behind you makes good pics. But sometimes a sidelit shot makes for some nice shadows that give the picture texture and depth.

[marc.allen]

Great Photography dude, nice stuffs you got there! Nice Country flags too

www.manilaflorist.com

[wild-bill]

Great Photography dude, nice stuffs you got there! Nice Country flags too

Thanks Marc Allen.