Blown whites

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loclnor

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Lorraine
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I have a lovely, very white cat, but as of yet I have not managed to take a photo of her outside without blowing the white. Where am I going wrong?:( Please can someone kindly give me some advice with this?

url=http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=84259]
Chloe22.jpg
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this one is better but still blown in parts


Thank you for looking.
 
I'd underexpose by a stop and then lift the exposure in PP until you start reaching the threshold of blown whites. In Lightroom (and others) you can set it so the highlights blink red when they are blown. Adjust the exposure until you see red blinkies, and then back it off until they disappear.


Hope this helps.

Phil
 
Thank you both for your help - I shall try this. I didn't know I can set the blinkies in ps, I shall investigate this further. - I live and learn.

(This has got to be the best option - dying the cat???!!! - the mind boggles! I can feel the scratches at the very mention of it!! :eek:)

Thanks again.
 
Unusual to see a cat with different coloured eyes.... Is it called Ziggy, Stardust, David, Bowie by anychance :shrug:
 
Spot meter for the brightest part of the fur and dial in a little +exposure comp (2/3-1 stop) for the shadows. I see you have used Gimp for PP not sure what highlight recovery is like with that but if you shoot raw some recovery of the highlights should be possible.

Steve
 
Thank you for your comments :

Her name is Chloe - she was a rescue cat so came with the name, must admit though being a big Bowie fan myself I had contemplated changing her name to something along those lines suggested.

Although that photo was adjusted in Gimp I have now invested in Elements and am still tryng to get to grips with it, but hopefully it should make pp a bit easier. As for shooting in RAW - I'm not that brave yet!!! lol

Thank you again for taking the time to explain.
 
Enable blinkies (highlight over exposure warning) in the menu, they flash black/white on the LCD just like the red/white in post processing. Add minus compensation until they stop blinking.
 
ChrisJ_SLH said:
Could you not dye her 18% grey? ;)

As phil said, dial in a bit of negative exposure compensation. You're suffering the same problem as shooting snow. Camera is exposing for 18% grey when your puss is white!
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This is incorrect. :nono:
 
classcams said:
This is incorrect. :nono:
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Which is true.

If it was an 18% grey problem, the cat would be too dark. It's just metered incorrectly and over exposed.

Matrix/evaluative metering is probably the best chance of getting a decent result straight out of the box, but even that is not infallible. Probably easiest to enable blinkies and just dial in -1 compensation or something, until the blinkies stop. It might be best to leave the blinkies flashing on a few small and very bright areas, the ones that are in fact pure white in the sun, or the rest of the image will go too dark.
 
HoppyUK said:
Enable blinkies (highlight over exposure warning) in the menu, they flash black/white on the LCD just like the red/white in post processing. Add minus compensation until they stop blinking.
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I don't think I have blinkies on my camera - I can't seem to find them :shake: so looks like I am going to have to try Phil's idea of underexposing and then lifting it in pp.
 
loclnor said:
I don't think I have blinkies on my camera - I can't seem to find them :shake: so looks like I am going to have to try Phil's idea of underexposing and then lifting it in pp.
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Sure you do - Nikon call it 'Highlights' alert, in the playback menu ;)
 
HoppyUK said:
Sure you do - Nikon call it 'Highlights' alert, in the playback menu ;)
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:bonk: Found it!!!!!!!! Thank you Richard - If the chance arises (the cat feels like posing!) I shall try this out tomorrow!!
 
Depending what you use for PP there is a slightly more advanced approach.

I would underexpose the shot and then boost exposure in lightroom. Problem is (as mentioned above) it may be difficult to get the cat White but not blown whilst exposing the rest of the shot to your taste.

In Lightroom (and others I'm sure) there is a recovery slider which allows you to pull back some of the blown highlights without darkening the whole shot.

Phil
 
Cat and weather not playing ball today, but will try these suggestions out when I am next out with cat and camera. Meanwhile I will play with some old photos and Elements. Thanks again everyone.
 
I'm no expert, but what about spot metering off the brightest part of her fur then compsing and shooting? One thing to be aware of though is you will get more shadows - but from my experience detail is easier to get from shadows than blown highlights.

Dont be too worried about shooting in RAW either - 2 schools of though i've come accross are:

1, as a beginner shoot JPEG only that way your more likely to learn the settings of the camera and get things right first time - without relying on post process.

2, start to shoot RAW as soon as possible to learn the possibilities which are offered from 'digitally developing' your images.

Personally I'm going down route 2 - Photoshop is difficult enough to master so I figured the sooner I start the better. Also if I can recover an image which turned out be by learning what changes I need to make to it I find I am learning how to better shoot the image in the first place!

Have fun

Neil
 
Roadkill_6mm said:
I'm no expert, but what about spot metering off the brightest part of her fur then compsing and shooting? One thing to be aware of though is you will get more shadows - but from my experience detail is easier to get from shadows than blown highlights.
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Neil, if you spot meter a bright white you will need to add some +'ve exposure compensation as the meter will try to make the white into grey;)
 
The problem in the first photo is that parts of the cat are lit by direct sunlight while much of it is in shade. You can't choose one exposure that will handle both lighting conditions for a correct exposure. If you expose for the highlights the rest of the cat will look too dark. If you expose for the shade you will blow the highlights, as you have done.

What you need to do is to reduce the difference in lighting intensity upon the cat. There are many options....

- Use fill flash to brighten the shadow areas;
- Use a reflector to bounce some light back into the shadows;
- Place a shade over the cat so that there is no direct sunlit hitting the fur;
- Wait till the cat moves into the shade;
- Shoot from the sunny side of the cat rather than the shaded side;
- Change your shooting angle so that the sunlit parts form no more than a bright "halo" around the edges of the cat, rather than great big patches of blown white;
- Wait for some cloud cover to soften the light on the cat;

Failing any of those things, shoot raw and set an exposure to just blow the highlights slightly. Then use your raw editor to pull back the highlight detail and fill the shadows/midtones.
 
Obviously taking a good shot of my cat is not as straight forward as I first thought, and as soon as I complete this mission with hopefully good results I shall post them. Now I just need some decent weather at the weekends and a cat who will pose!.... this may take a while..... don't hold your breathe :D

Thanks again everyone:)
 
tdodd said:
The problem in the first photo is that parts of the cat are lit by direct sunlight while much of it is in shade. You can't choose one exposure that will handle both lighting conditions for a correct exposure. If you expose for the highlights the rest of the cat will look too dark. If you expose for the shade you will blow the highlights, as you have done.

What you need to do is to reduce the difference in lighting intensity upon the cat. There are many options....

- Use fill flash to brighten the shadow areas;
- Use a reflector to bounce some light back into the shadows;
- Place a shade over the cat so that there is no direct sunlit hitting the fur;
- Wait till the cat moves into the shade;
- Shoot from the sunny side of the cat rather than the shaded side;
- Change your shooting angle so that the sunlit parts form no more than a bright "halo" around the edges of the cat, rather than great big patches of blown white;
- Wait for some cloud cover to soften the light on the cat;

Failing any of those things, shoot raw and set an exposure to just blow the highlights slightly. Then use your raw editor to pull back the highlight detail and fill the shadows/midtones.
Click to expand...

Some top tips here, more than I could rattle off at the top of my head!
 
loclnor said:
As for shooting in RAW - I'm not that brave yet!!!
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This problem is *exactly* why you should gird up your loins and brave the RAW experience.

Beg, borrow or steam a copy of lightroom and give it a go.

Andrew
 
Been out with the cat today, she refuses to sit in the shade, runs hell for leather if I try and shade her with something... likewise with the flash, did manage to get between her and the sun, but then she wouldn't open her eyes as the sun was in them!! - I've had quite a time - never work with children or animals eh!!:lol:



Dare I ask? How do these look? Dialled in some -ve exposure (after looking at blinkies) and then adjusted them in Elements.

:love:
 
That cat is breathtaking. I've never seen one so pure white before.

great pics too - no blown whites this time!
 
Exposure wise they look good to me, and the posture next to the ornament is a nice touch. Now, if you could just get to see the eyes, it's not like animals can't have their eyes open when looking towards the sun.......

20090221_161201_1039_LR.jpg


Maybe you just need to be patient.
 
Lovely dog shot - True she did have her eyes open some of the time - just not when I was pointing the camera in her direction - patience is definitely needed for this one - she is a bit of a diva and was well aware that I was photographing her - note the slit eyes, she knew exactly what she was doing, she waited until I had the camera pointing away from her until she opened them and as soon as I pointed the camera in her direction they were shut again!!! :lol:

To be honest I was more concentrating on getting the white right this time, so didn't worry too much about her eyes! One day it will all come together .. it's just a case of catching her in the right mood!!

 
I like it with her eyes closed. The pose is great in your first non blown one, she looks so calm and confident and neat, plus the eyes match the statue shes leaning against! The only thing for me would be how busy the rocks and lamp and stuff makes it look, considering you were concentrating on only exposure I think you got a great pic. Oh and I would definitely shoot in raw. It's none more difficult, and makes things easier after you've taken the pic and allows you to do more with it.
 
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The 2nd of the 2 you posted I love - for me the surroundings don't detract in the slightest, she's such a fantastic white my eyes are drawn to her!

She looks very relaxed - and as said, the whites are lovely.

White animals aren't easy though, always takes a bit more work!
 
Wait for cat to die, take to taxidermist, position where you want..............job done............:)
 
Thank you everyone for taking the time to post your extremely helpful (and some bizarre:lol:) comments and suggestions and words of encouragement. They really are appreciated. Next time out I may even try shooting in RAW as that obviously seems to be the way to go.
I love this site everyone is so helpful and friendly.
Thank you again. :thumbs:
Lorraine
 
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