Blown out

KTBoom2006-E510

how do you not get a blown out sky? My pictures always seem to have a white sky

jeffreaux2

KTBoom2006-E510 wrote:

how do you not get a blown out sky? My pictures always seem to have a white sky

There are several wasy, but I assume you want detail in a sky that is also a portrait photo. Usually for a portrait we meter for the subject?

To get detail in a sky you have to meter for exposure in the sky...and usually use fill light on your subject. We have steamy white featurless skies here all the time, so I rarely worry about it...unless there is actually something there of interest. I have had success just metering the scene as if I were shooting a landscape...getting detail in foreground and sky....then moving my subject into that scene...and seeing to it that they are lit well enough.

Very few of my portraits contain any sky.

KTBoom2006-E510

jeffreaux2 wrote:

There are several wasy, but I assume you want detail in a sky that is also a portrait photo. Usually for a portrait we meter for the subject?

To get detail in a sky you have to meter for exposure in the sky...and usually use fill light on your subject. We have steamy white featurless skies here all the time, so I rarely worry about it...unless there is actually something there of interest. I have had success just metering the scene as if I were shooting a landscape...getting detail in foreground and sky....then moving my subject into that scene...and seeing to it that they are lit well enough.

Very few of my portraits contain any sky.

Ok, thanks. I was wanting to know for the wedding I will be doing.

Another question I have is how to get the detail on the dress. I tried metering off it and it still was to bright. here is an example:

I was using my niece to try and take pictures out in the bright sun b/c the wedding is at 2:00 outside.

jeffreaux2

I adjusted the highlights in your image to get them inside the histogram...and it looks like this...


Is this what it looked like straight from the camera?



I then added in some fill light and exposure...retaining highlights to get this...(there are still areas with no detail!)



It is clear to me that you are NOT in sun, but rather a mix of sun and shade. I guess this because of the bluish tint to the dress in the shadows that is less evident in the highlights. Your camera cannot capture all of the dynamic range in this scene. This is exactly why shooting portraits outdoors in anything other than shade is tough work. You need to either get her out into full sun....or into the shade. A mix will probably give you these types of results.....:D .....unless you are capable enough with fill flash to lift the shadows some....while still retaining the highlights in the dress. If your camera has a histogram, it would be in your best interests to learn how to view it in order to know exactly where you stand on exposure.

My method...that may or may not be the only or best is to take a reference shot, and then increase exposure so that the information in the histogram is as far to the right(highlights) as possible without touching the edge (overexposed). This sometimes forces me to come back later and set a black point in the image during PP....but I have gotten the most out of my highlights...as well as captured detail in the shadows...and avoided dark noisy underexposed areas in the image.

Will the wedding be in full sun? If so, I would meter the scene....and then watch the histogram to be sure the dress is not blowing out. Your best bet will be to shoot in manual....and maybe metering off the green sunlit grass would be a good starting point.


I really wish I had your problem instead of mine.... I am in negotiations with a couple to do a night time....outdoor wedding "under the stars" at a local historic plantation. It would be 100% lit by flash....with absolutely nothing to bounce light from. Not my idea of ideal conditions!

Scott_Quier

KTBoom2006-E510 wrote:

Ok, thanks. I was wanting to know for the wedding I will be doing.

Another question I have is how to get the detail on the dress. I tried metering off it and it still was to bright. here is an example:

I was using my niece to try and take pictures out in the bright sun b/c the wedding is at 2:00 outside.

I'm suspecting that you didn't meter properly or you didn't lock the meter reading prior to making the image. Finally, after the shot, you didn't chimp to make sure that you got it correctly. If you had, I believe you would have seen that it was blown, adjusted your settings, and done it again.

OK - so how to fix this. I would get really, really close to the dress and get an exposure reading with your camera - make sure you aren't casting a shadow on the dress! Then, switch the camera to manual and dial in those settings, adding about 1 stop because your meter is going to try to make that beautiful white dress all sorts of 18% gray - and brides don't like gray gowns! Take the shot. Chimp. Make an adjustment (though, if you did the above, I don't think you'll need to make any adjustments).

Another way is to get an incident light meter. Take that light meter to the gown and get an exposure reading. With your camera on manual, dial in that exposure and make the image.

However, like Jeff indicated, your model is in the shade (indicated by the very much brighter background and the blue cast on the white dress) and the above technique will get the background blown out. So....

Meter the background. Underexpose that by a stop (because you want the attention of the image viewer on the model, not the background). Use flash (either on-camera or off-camera) to light your model according to the aperture you've set on your camera. But, if you are using off-camera flash, you need to be mindful of your shutter speed.

pathfinder

You just cannot shoot folks in bright sunlight, with shadows on their faces, without fill flash and have an image that you like.

Adding ETTL fill flash, with the camera in Manual Mode, solves so many of these problems. Shooting in shade, consider gelling your flash with a light blue gel, and set your white balance for shade.

The first image above looks too green and way to blue to my eye also. A gray card for a custom white balance will save a lot of time processing later, as well.

KTBoom2006-E510

The picture I posted was the original. i didn't do anything with it. And i have a flash that I will be using. I have no idea how to use the histogram. Have to read up on it.....

Mnemosyne

One thing I try to do, is shoot with the sun at my back as much as possible. And I try to avoid shooting between 11 and 2, outside if I can help it.

pathfinder

You prefer frontal lighting, over side lighting or backlighting? Really??

Mnemosyne

pathfinder wrote:

You prefer frontal lighting, over side lighting or backlighting? Really??

In the middle of the afternoon, with the sun directly overhead, absolutely Makes the colors pop. I don't get the luxury of playing with lighting as much when I shoot candid so I take what I can get.

But when the sun starts to set I also don't have much to work with. When the sun reaches that height that it makes a perfect side or back light, it falls behind all the trees So I lose it during golden hour.

But I'm referring to candid Pj stuff, portraiture I do it completely different.