can not get the lighting right even with fill flash ?

[topcat07]

Hi everyone,

need some help with lighting , was trying to get the details on the swans feathers but was just completely over exposed and washed out due to the light? So i tried with a flash but didnt help at all :thumbsdown:

what am i doing wrong please?

No flash

DSC_1337 by AdamSWilkinson, on Flickr

flash


DSC_1338 by AdamSWilkinson, on Flickr

this is a lot better but sort of did it by accident and not sure how ? flash did not fire . little washed out left hand side


DSC_1308 by AdamSWilkinson, on Flickr

 

[seriousrikk]

Flash would not help with this, if the feathers are already over exposed adding more light will just over expose them more.

What you need to do is apply exposure compensation of approximately -1 to -1 2/3 stops in order to retain detail in the first two shots.

The third is better as the swan fills more of the frame. In the first two the swan is relatively small so the camera meter exposes for the majority of the frame. Wheras in the last shot the swan is very central and taking up more of the frame - the camera meter takes the white swan into account and drops the exposure accordingly. Notice the water is much darker, this shows the reduced exposure (which is spot on, btw, any less would be too little)

 

[Ivan S]

I'd suggest changing the metering mode used from ''multi segment'' to ''spot'' or ''center weighted'' or use some exposure compensation, maybe under by 1 stop.

 

[topcat07]

Flash would not help with this, if the feathers are already over exposed adding more light will just over expose them more.

What you need to do is apply exposure compensation of approximately -1 to -1 2/3 stops in order to retain detail in the first two shots.

The third is better as the swan fills more of the frame. In the first two the swan is relatively small so the camera meter exposes for the majority of the frame. Wheras in the last shot the swan is very central and taking up more of the frame - the camera meter takes the white swan into account and drops the exposure accordingly. Notice the water is much darker, this shows the reduced exposure (which is spot on, btw, any less would be too little)

thank you Richard that makes a lot of sense was driving me nuts as to why i couldnt get it right at the time

p.s awesome photos on your website!

 

[topcat07]

I'd suggest changing the metering mode used from ''multi segment'' to ''spot'' or ''center weighted'' or use some exposure compensation, maybe under by 1 stop.

thanks Ivan , just wondering if the swan was exposed correctly using spot what would happen to the water out of interest would it be much darker or lighter?

 

[Ivan S]

thanks Ivan , just wondering if the swan was exposed correctly using spot what would happen to the water out of interest would it be much darker or lighter?

Yes, the water would get darker.

This is a situation where shooting in raw instead of jpeg is of benefit, you could then bring up the water in lightroom to a much better exposure

 

[neil_1980]

Answer to that question is in your last picture where the exposure is more suited to the swan

 

[HoppyUK]

Adam, you need to get to grips with how an exposure meter works, and then you'll know when it's likely to struggle and what to do about it.

Meanwhile, are you familiar with the histogram and do you have blinkies (highlight over-exposure warning) enabled? These are the ultimate guides to good exposure, showing what is actually on the sensor (the meter is only guessing) and blinkies are especially quick and easy to read.

 

[topcat07]

Adam, you need to get to grips with how an exposure meter works, and then you'll know when it's likely to struggle and what to do about it.

Meanwhile, are you familiar with the histogram and do you have blinkies (highlight over-exposure warning) enabled? These are the ultimate guides to good exposure, showing what is actually on the sensor (the meter is only guessing) and blinkies are especially quick and easy to read.

I read about the exposure metering spot + matrix but never quite sure when to use each one yet

Yeap have the highlight over exposure warning on , it highlighted the whole swan pretty much on the top two pictures . I did have a look at the histogram at the time of taking the photos but couldn't make much sense of it. All i know is if it is bunched up the left to dark or bunched up to right to bright

 

[HoppyUK]

I read about the exposure metering spot + matrix but never quite sure when to use each one yet

Yeap have the highlight over exposure warning on , it highlighted the whole swan pretty much on the top two pictures . I did have a look at the histogram at the time of taking the photos but couldn't make much sense of it. All i know is if it is bunched up the left to dark or bunched up to right to bright

Flashing blinkies tell you everything you need to know in this example, warning that the swan is over-exposed and blown. Reduce exposure, minus compensation, until they stop. This will make the water darker, but that cannot be prevented with camera adjustments, in a case like this with extremes of light and dark.

Histograms look more complex than they are. They just show the distribution of tones in the image, as recorded on the sensor. With the swan on dark water, with correct exposure it should show a large area on the left (dark water), very little in the middle (because there are few mid-grey tones), and a peak on the right (bright swan). If you had a grey goose swimming around too, that would show as a peak around the centre.

Stick to matrix metering for now. I rarely use anything else and it will usually get you close, then adjust as necessary.

 

[topcat07]

Flashing blinkies tell you everything you need to know in this example, warning that the swan is over-exposed and blown. Reduce exposure, minus compensation, until they stop. This will make the water darker, but that cannot be prevented with camera adjustments, in a case like this with extremes of light and dark.

Histograms look more complex than they are. They just show the distribution of tones in the image, as recorded on the sensor. With the swan on dark water, with correct exposure it should show a large area on the left (dark water), very little in the middle (because there are few mid-grey tones), and a peak on the right (bright swan). If you had a grey goose swimming around too, that would show as a peak around the centre.

Stick to matrix metering for now. I rarely use anything else and it will usually get you close, then adjust as necessary.

Great information much appreciated, thank you!

 

[topcat07]

I have just had a thought , what is the difference between adjusting exposure with say the shutter speed and exposure button (in my case a push button and wheel)?

I'm guessing the exposure button would be used in a scenario when you are in apature priority mode but didn't want to adjust iso, f stop? I'm also guessing it is making the sensor more or less sensitive to light?

Are my guesses along the right lines or of the mark completely

 

[philthejuggler]

I have just had a thought , what is the difference between adjusting exposure with say the shutter speed and exposure button (in my case a push button and wheel)?

I'm guessing the exposure button would be used in a scenario when you are in apature priority mode but didn't want to adjust iso, f stop? I'm also guessing it is making the sensor more or less sensitive to light?

Are my guesses along the right lines or of the mark completely

Changing the shutter speed will not change the overall exposure - just the balance between aperture size and shutter speed typically. (Sometimes it also adjusts ISO if you have that on auto).

Exposure compensation changes the whole exposure.

FWIW it's difficult to tell without me having the files to play with, but it doesn't look like you've totally blown the highlights on the swan - an adjustment of highlights in Lightroom would probably bring back some detail.

Phil

 

[bovey9]

in the first two the camera has exposed for the water, in the last one with the swan much larger in frame it has exposed for the swan. As others have said spot metering or exposure compensation is the way to go. I have a canon 1DX and even that needs a little advice when it comes to metering

 

[FrattonFreak]

In this type of image its going to be difficult as you have a dynamic range and both ends of the scale. Do you expose for white feathers or expose for the dark water. The dynamic range of the sensor is not as great as your eyes so it will likely expose one correctly and not the other depending on how you are using camera

Its unlikely you can expose both correctly so....

In photoshop create a layer mask, adjust exposure for top layer for the water then unmask the swan underneath and adjust the exposure for the swan's feathers.

This is probably the best way where the images is adjust to correctly expose bith elements