Over powering the sun ?

[mick_i]

I gotta a say it's a fun challenge!

[StanTom]

Never was good at thinking things thru but I kind of remember reading something somewhere about this and want to try it one day

first meter for the background ( keeping the sun out of the frame I think )
then with the camera in manual mode change the shutter speed OR the aperature to underexpose that ( maybe just dial the camera compensation to -1 or -2 0

the flash SHOULD take the image right with TTL on ( or dial the flash up +1/2 or +1 )
since it doen't care about the distant background anyway

Sounds like something like this should be a good starting point but like I said I haven't tried it yet

Hope you get some good shots and let everyone know how you did it if you find a way to do it

[jimmyd]

this subject is much talked about on http://strobist.blogspot.com just cruise the archives there. all you ever wanted to know about overpowering the sun (albeit with small speedlites and the like) is there.

[grumblecat]

You didn't mention if your using a speedlight like the 580Ex or strobes. someone earlier was on the easiest track for how to do it with strobes. The direction I've gone is to 1st remember that if your using external strobes your maximum sync is probably 1/250th so I will usually take a shot with no strobe at 1/250th and try to get the background to look how I want by changing the f -stop once you get that down you can add the strobe on the model and change power until they are lit like you want.

You will find as Frank said that you need a lot of power but there are a couple things you can do to get something decent. First I find that I cannot use a modifier other than a bare reflector during the brighter parts of the day. Also you will need to work with the light as close as you can and still get the coverage your looking for.

Not sure if any of that helped but maybe a different take on the same material will help.