Basic Exposure

[danny_bhoy]

Hi all,

Just looking for a little steer on something I always struggle with.

On a nice bright day, when I'm looking to capture both the subject/foreground and the details in the sky (eg nice white clouds in a blue sky), I always end up either over-exposing the sky and getting the foreground right or under-exposing the foreground and getting the sky right.

Wow, that was a ramble but hope it makes sense.

Where am I going wrong? Is there a rough guide as to what settings I should use in these situations?

Thanks,

Danny.

 

[GilesPJ]

Well it depends on what you are photographing, if you’re talking landscapes then graduated nd filters will sort it out. They are a must for most landscapes photographers, something I would not skimp on getting. Personally I use the Cokin P series), I got the Graded nd set as well as several nd filters, and you want a similar system.

The only thing you can do without one is take reading from sky and foreground expose between shooting in raw and then adjusting the levels. Or looking in to shooting HDR, combining several images of different exposures together to make the one image. But they both not as good options for quality, it always better to do in camera than after if possible.

For other subjects you can always expose for the sky and them use flash to expose the subject, there are several ways of doing it I either use a radio trigger or sometimes use a long exposure and paint flashes using the test button on the flash.
I hope that helps.

 

[danny_bhoy]

That's fantastic Giles, thanks.

Going to invest in a set of filters. I'm mainly into landscape stuff and I've lost count of the amount of shots I've fluffed by not being able to balance the exposure properly.

There's my birthday present sorted

 

[Method]

Echoing above posts. Look into filters, Cokin ones are a good place to start.

 

[Tigger.ufo]

Go for the best filters you can afford as the quality varies so much. You definately get what you pay for.

Also think about a polarising filter, it can make a huge difference to your skies.

Heather

 

[tdodd]

On a nice bright day, when I'm looking to capture both the subject/foreground and the details in the sky (eg nice white clouds in a blue sky), I always end up either over-exposing the sky and getting the foreground right or under-exposing the foreground and getting the sky right.

Try turning around. On a bright, sunny day the clouds are going to be brightly lit. The stuff on the ground might also be brightly lit by the sun, if the sun is behind you, or in its own shade if the sun is in front of you. With the sun behind you the lighting will be similar for everything in the scene, whether clouds or anything else, and that will make correct exposure fairly (very) straightforward. But if you're facing towards the sun the clouds will be backlit, the bits of "blue" sky won't look such a deep, rich blue, and the exposure for the foreground and sky will be difficult.

Here is an example of the difference it can make to simply shoot from a different position/angle/direction....

The exposure for the first image was a piece of pi55. The exposure for the second one - why even bother with the shot at all - or you could try HDR.

If you need to shoot from a certain angle for the picture you want then consider the time of day for the shoot, the position and angle of the sun at that time and the weather you want/need.