To blinkie or not to blinkie...

tambola

that is my question. Are blinkies ok or not? I cannot stand them, but set me straight if I am looking at this all wrong. Is lost detail in clothing wrong? When I took some shots of my very pale daughter outside, in her white dress and hat, the only shots in the sunlight that didn't have blinkies were flat out underexposed. I think I can save a few, but tell me for the next time...what do I do? Save the white dress for a cloudy day? I am embarrassed to post the pics, they look awful. Thank you so much, I appreciate any advice.

Cason

Don't be shy. Post the pictures so we can see what you are talking about. Also include the EXIF!

tambola

how do i upload exif data? Oh, and what can be done about the blue cast on her hat? anything? how did I manage that? is it because I didn't have my uv filter on?
thanks again!

sirsloop

wtf is a blinkie??

As far as the photo goes... the problem in the detail is caused by limited dynamic range. In order to get the face exposed correctly, the hat gets overexposed. This can be solved in three ways...kinda...

First would be to use diffused flash to even out the light on the subject. That would be the best option in this case, IMHO. Second is multiple exposures and blend them together... but its not possible on a moving subject. That works well on things like landscapes. Its either HDR, or pseudo-HDR (blended images). The third is kinda a wash (HA!), but you can underexpose the face on purpose and brighten it up PP. This is not ideal because it usually looks unnatural. *edit... a 4th way would be to shoot raw and use the larger dynamic range of that format to get the detail, brighten the entire image RAW PP, then resample into an 8 bit jpg. The light in that photos isn't too far off... I think a RAW shot would be able to compensate for that level of light differential.

The blue? Umm... white objects in the shade tend to have a blue hue. I think if the sky was red they would have a red hue. Maybe its cause blue is closer to black in color frequency so thats what the sensor picks up. I'm not 100% sure on that one so don't quote me

*edit.. I also just checked the EXIF - its overexposed because you dialed in +1 EV and metered the face.

~Jan~

sirsloop wrote:

wtf is a blinkie??

I wanna know, too! I love that photo, by the way.

hamster

I'm gonna guess a blinkie is the blown out area blinking on the camera's info screen.

~Jan~

hamster wrote:

I'm gonna guess a blinkie is the blown out area blinking on the camera's info screen.

Ooooooh. I'm such an airhead.

tambola

do you want me to describe how dumb I feel right now?
I must have inadvertantly changed the exposure compensation! I am actually quite happy, because it leads me to believe my exposures would have been a little better if I had not done that. Maybe?
thanks so much for clearing that up for me.:D I never thought to look at my exif, in fact, I don't know how you did it....

oh yeah, i did shoot in raw+jpeg, so can i possibly adjust it to correct some of it? I'm 100% ignorant about raw files.

~Jan~

tambola wrote:

do you want me to describe how dumb I feel right now?
I must have inadvertantly changed the exposure compensation! I am actually quite happy, because it leads me to believe my exposures would have been a little better if I had not done that. Maybe?
thanks so much for clearing that up for me.:D I never thought to look at my exif, in fact, I don't know how you did it....

oh yeah, i did shoot in raw+jpeg, so can i possibly adjust it to correct some of it? I'm 100% ignorant about raw files.

If you have the RAW file, you can drop the exposure down 2 stops, which should most definitely take care of those blown areas.

sirsloop

I wouldn't feel dumb about it... everyone has shot a bunch of photos without realizing EV was jacked up from previous shooting. The trick is catching it, kicking yourself in the ass quickly, and shoot on

tambola

sirsloop wrote:

I wouldn't feel dumb about it... everyone has shot a bunch of photos without realizing EV was jacked up from previous shooting. The trick is catching it, kicking yourself in the ass quickly, and shoot on

I have a tendency to learn lessons the hard way. I bet from now on I'll remember to check my EV.
I learned to always check my ISO too.....:pissed

sirsloop

Heh heh... well you don't forget that way!!

Now when I start shooting I go through all the settings on my camera's BEFORE I start, format the CF, and then start shooting. I've had the first few horses shot on tungsten outside.. reviewed after 20 minutes and was like WTF!! THEY ARE ALL BLUE!! :cry

ShepsMom

I absolutely love blinkies!! I discovered them by accident and at first was really PO'd thinking that was something wrong with my camera .
Along with blinkies i do rely on histogram to adjust exposure properly. Good experience for me was shooting Great White Egrets. With them, you really have to pay attention, the surrounding area isn't as important while shooting white subjects, but then again, i would chose cloudy day, early morning or late afternoon to do my shooting.