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Bright background under exposed subjects
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Registered Users Posts: 66 Big grins
Hello! I just had Steve from Smugmug fix one of my photos (THANK-YOU) and he refered me over to you guys for help. I guess what happened is the bright background fools the camera meter and under exposes the subjects. Any tips on 1) not having that happen in the first place? Do I up my ISO? (we were outside, kids under tree near water, yes was sunny, but early morning) 2) how do I correct it? I have PSE9?
Thanks!
Thanks!
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You can use EV adjustment to 'over expose' your shot (assuming you're using an automated mode). This takes some practice in terms of just how much you should correct your exposure. The classic example is a shot with snow, in which case you'd start at somewhere between 1.5-2 stops of over exposure (+ev) to correct for this. This same thing, by the way, holds true with darker backgrounds (just in reverse). You could bracket your exposures, basically if you're in one of these instances you could take several exposures with various levels of corrective (both positive and negative) EV adjustment, but knowing that if you're scenes over-all bright you'll want to go positive, and dark positive, I wouldn't bracket for these types of shots.
You could also use a grey card (ideally held by your subject pointed at where the camera is going to be) and meter off of that and establish your exposure (filling the frame, or at least the section of the frame that your meter is active in). This is exactly what we did in initial photo classes, while learning exposure. Then you can move back, compose, and make your shot. While somewhat cumbersome, this works quite well to get you a solid exposure. The benefit of this is it makes it dead simple to establish a custom white balance while you're at it.
Additionally, and really just mentioning these as a point of reference. You could also use an incident meter, which measures the light cast onto your subject so it does not care what colors are involved. Now, there's also the Zone System, which is a bit more involved but does yield ultimate control over your intended exposure. It also takes practice to know what zones are reflected in your scene.
Simply upping the ISO won't help, as it'll just average at this higher ISO value. You can always chimp and evaluate the image and histogram. Keep in mind that in these situations the histogram will be heavy to either the right (with a bright background) or to the left (dark background) regardless of how 'perfectly' the shot is exposed. While I'm thinking about it, many cameras have a mode where any highlights that are blown out blink. This is generally a good indication of an over-exposed images at least.
You can adjust your exposure in PSE (which I can't get into because I don't have PSE), but this has some negatives in that it tends to introduce noise and in my opinion it's far easier to simply get the exposure right in the first place. Although I'm certain there's someone who can help out with that.
not an elements user....so no help there...however...to not have this happen again:
1- use and incident meter for all metering or shoot and chimp and make sure to meter off subject only (spot meter)
2- also use fill flash and do not worry about washing out background.
3- meter for background and use fill flash ......if done correctly (manual mode) this should give great results.......
Personally I opt for a mix of 1 and 3......I meter with a handheld incident meter and use fill flash.....
Regards,
Stephen Marsh
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~binaryfx/
http://prepression.blogspot.com/
Hi there!
Go to page 45 in your D40 manual. Check out metering! Then just go and sit outside and see how different elements in your environment meter differently (And try different metering modes). No offense ( to any of us) but you can buy all the gadgets in the world, and it will never trump understanding your camera and it's settings.
Camera Settings.
1. Keep White Balance ( WB) on AWB until you know or understand what it is you want. If you shoot RAW files ( NEF in nikonspeak) you can adjust WB later.
2. Shutter Speed, ISO, Aperture; learn the relationship of those 3 things and never look back. If you google all three of those together you'll find plenty of articles to suit.
Thanks! I do agree that I have to learn why /how the camera works.....will check out the metering info....Whats so bad is I just ordered another camera and having a hard time with it learning what it does since I am familiar with my d40 Just ordered the d7000 and have d700 on order to check out. As you can tell I know my d40, but I dont......I have been constantly learning the camera over the past 3 years! I really always thought with the bright background, underexposed people that was just a bad picture and didnt really think about how it could be corrected....or if it could be.
Assuming you are standing in the same light as the scene you wish to capture, meter off your hand, open up one stop.
That said, a true Incident meter is useful to have. But you can fake it for the time being!
Author "Color Management for Photographers"
http://www.digitaldog.net/
Oooh, nifty trick! I learn something new every day. (I also forget something new every day; pretty much it's break-even.)
I prefer not to use spot meter only because I'm not smart enough to remember to set it back to matrix when I'm done. Instead I'll use +/- exposure and just chimp.
Then you will have an idea if the exposure your meter is giving you is in the ballpark. Check out the backlit skier in the link
Set your camera up in Manual Mode, set the correct aperture, shutter speed, and ISO, and fire away..
Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
A great point. I still check incident meters using 1/100 @ iso 100 in bright light (I do not posses a calibrated light source).
I love my Sekonic L-358, but most folks have not ponied up for one, so they need to be able to understand the limitations of reflected meters.
I think understanding that the sunlight out of doors is remarkable consistent, and that understanding Sunny 16 helps me interpret what my in camera reflected light meter is saying. I could also meter off an 18% grey card, or even better a Lastolite non specular grey reflector, but all those techniques take just a few second to set up, and can cause a candid shooter to not be ready when the time comes.
If you know sunlight and shade exposures by heart out of doors, then you can set your camera and fire away as long as a cloud does not pass over the sun.
Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
If you'll take what Pathfinder suggested; with the Shutter Speed, ISO and aperture you can do like I do, and not know another darned thing about your camera! No crap really. I often read posts here in dgrin and then look up in my manual to see what the fuss is about because all I know is manual mode. Knowing manual mode allowed me to have both a Canon and Nikon ( 5DMKII & D700) and shoot with both the last year or so. Manual Mode: it's for photos!
I'll probably puke the first time I ever use one...but really understanding the tools at hand cannot be overstated! Light....it is about light!:D
Hahahahah
They really shine evaluating light, but that's a complete aside. I should have state so originally, but my point was sunny 16 is so accurate I trust it to effectively calibrate meters (including my own L-358). Really, the ultimate example is (and I think of this simply because I saw an original print last Friday) Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexcio was shot without a meter. What else can you say about knowledge of light and evaluation.