I was taking photos of my girlfriend on the seashore and I wanted the sea to be on the background, while the sun is setting down to the sea. The problem is that I got beautiful photos of the sea but my girlfriend came out completely dark in the photos! She hates me now 
How can this be fixed ?
Answer
Dear Brian, a romantic dinner, candles and wine may help to set things straight with your girlfriend...
As for the dark photos, you were shooting in front of the sun, that means that the main light source was behind your subject, thus leaving your girlfriend "in the dark". You need to compensate for that lack of light on your girlfriend's face and body by finding another light source coming from your direction. Your camera's flash can produce the needed "fill light". There are two things you should to take in consideration:
1. The flash is not as strong as the sunlight. It is usually effective for no more then 3 meters (~10 feet) so don't stand too far from your subject when you take the photo.
2. You should force the flash to fire by selecting the "flash on" mode on your camera. If you don't, the flash may not fire because you are actually not shooting in a dark place.
