blown highlights

[holty]

how do you stop blowing the highlights when the rest of the pic is ok ??
it was a hawk i took the bird +background look fine for correct exposure but the highlights have lost there detail

 

[AJQS]

Possible solutions:

Underexpose and increase selected areas exposure in post production; Use graduated filters; Fill flash; Different Light setup (if you have control) or Not worry about it if it doesn't detract from the subject.

 

[stupar]

Have the highlights lost their detail before or after you have tried to recover them in post?
If the highlights are blown for the sky but the rest of the image is exposed accurately then you could try to recover the sky in post processing.

 

[woof woof]

how do you stop blowing the highlights when the rest of the pic is ok ??
it was a hawk i took the bird +background look fine for correct exposure but the highlights have lost there detail

Spending more time with your kit learning what you can get away with will help, like exposing for the highlights and boosting the shadows post capture or pushing things as far as you can and letting the highlights look as if they've blown and recovering them post capture. There'll always be times when you can't capture the whole dynamic range though and on those occasions maybe it's best not to care quite so much as some of us do, the internet is full of pictures with blown bits.

 

[droj]

You have to expose for the highlights - I don't mean meter them as if they were a mid-grey, but take account of them. It was a basic of photography in colour transparency days and that translates over into digital. These days, we have histograms for quick review. Also, but this doesn't remove the need to take care, using raw should provide some more headroom (recoverability) than just shooting in jpg.

Modern cameras (sensors etc) have made all this easier because there's less degradation (noise) if you need to lift the shadows in processing later to compensate for an exposure that protects the highlights.

 

[mrtoad]

Expose for highlights within reason
Then do recovery if required in the raw data remaining if necessary
Call up the PP cavalry
Crop the worst areas if practicable
Don't beat yourself up over it
Cheers
Geof

 

[mrtoad]

You have to expose for the highlights - I don't mean meter them as if they were a mid-grey, but take account of them. It was a basic of photography in colour transparency days and that translates over into digital. These days, we have histograms for quick review. Also, but this doesn't remove the need to take care, using raw should provide some more headroom (recoverability) than just shooting in jpg.

Modern cameras (sensors etc) have made all this easier because there's less degradation (noise) if you need to lift the shadows in processing later to compensate for an exposure that protects the highlights.

My point exactly
Trannies were unforgiving
Many were binned