Exposing for white feathers

gramps

gramps

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I always find it very difficult to get it right with white feathers, I am particularly having problems with Little Egrets in 'good' light.
I have tried all methods of metering, Matrix, Centre-weighted, Spot and Spot Highlight-Weighted but there is almost always an area of blown white, particularly now with the D500 for some reason.
I always shoot in RAW and open initially in Adobe ACR or Capture NX-D so can manipulate the available data, where it is there ... but the results often look awful with the heavy shadowed areas around the subject revealing noise when lightened and areas of white feather either blown or approaching grey.
I do check 'blinkies' but it doesn't seem to really help me.
Obviously the key is in the initial exposure and as yet I don't seem to have the key :(
What is your recipe for success?
 
Just drop the exposure a bit (even with spot metering).;) Given endless amount of time and a static subject, I would be inclined to take several exposures going from 0 down to -1EV. However, we rarely get the stars to align in such a manner. :banghead:
 
In my personal opinion,the only way to get a correct exposure for a white bird is to first get it in the right light ,basicaly you can get the wrong light for photographing white birds(which i know you are aware off) ,low sun and bright cloudy days is the only way to go ,bright mid day sun is just going to leave you p***ing against the wind ,saying that if you have no option and the only oportunity you have is bright mid day sun then i would go down the Manual route and metre on something light brown or grey and use your fstop to get the correct exposure on the cameras metre needle and see then if you need to dial in any exposure compesation,even then its down to a bit of practice and experience dealing with the light you have .
I am not great at explaining things via the written word ,so i hope you can understand what i am trying to say ....
 
You mention " good light" but if it was good light then you would be able to meter for the whites easily. Are you shooting in strong light? No big secret just watch your blinkies and your histogram. Whites in strong light can be a killer as we are all aware however in overcast conditions, at dawn and dusk all should be good. As above -1 EV can be a good starting point. The metering will depend on the background as much as the subject matter!
 
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FourRingCircus said:
Just drop the exposure a bit (even with spot metering).;) Given endless amount of time and a static subject, I would be inclined to take several exposures going from 0 down to -1EV. However, we rarely get the stars to align in such a manner. :banghead:
Click to expand...
To me its just not a case of dialing in -1 thats the lazy way if you are photographing a a subject that does not hang around ,if you are specificaly going out knowing you are going to photograph a white bird then Manual is the way to go ,its a challenge and the fiirst few shots may not work but eventualy you should get something near ....its a case of getting all the componenets to work togethere ,ie the magic triangle or as you say John getting the stars to align togethere
 
markyboy.1967 said:
The metering will depend on the background as much as the subject matter!
Click to expand...
Me personaly Mark i dont think the background matters when i expose for the bird ,its the bird i want correct..not trying to funny here as i am finding this intreasting as to how others go about it .
 
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Thanks all for the input.
I guess Mark hits the nail on the head in that I probably don't mean 'good' light and 'strong' light would be more accurate ... today for example even at 8am it was very difficult.
I'll check the video John, thanks. :)
 
den said:
Me personaly Mark i dont think the background matters when i expose for the bird ,its the bird i want correct..not trying to funny here as i am finding this intreasting as to how others go about it .
Click to expand...

I always check my background when deciding on the metering. Say i use spot metering on a white burd with dark woodland behind. This then renders the woodland black in most cases, i try the same image but with say matrix then the background is lighter so to me it can make a difference- this cones into effect when you dont get a chance to do a set up before hand especially.
 
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markyboy.1967 said:
Say i use spot metering on a white burd with dark woodland behind. This then renders the woodland black in most cases,
Click to expand...

This is the sort of problem I have been getting ... up the background and the noise pokes through.
But it doesn't have to be a dark background, 'a normal' background becomes very dark when spot metering off a very white bird and sometimes I turn a 'normal' background black and still have areas of blown white on an Egret.
I guess there are times when it's just not a good idea to shoot Egrets! :thinking:
 
For video I use an external recorder with a 7 inch screen which shows the exposure gradation right through the picture which often amounts to several stops. Just set it for white by changing exposure means that whites are never burnt out and the darker areas can be brought back in post processing. BUT there are times when it simply does not work. Not really checked but i guess it cannot deal with more than 2 or 3 stops difference in a frame. Best conditions already stated as light cloud and even light on subject and background. SO

"I guess there are times when it's just not a good idea to shoot Egrets!":thinking:

Regen
 
markyboy.1967 said:
I always check my background when deciding on the metering. Say i use spot metering on a white burd with dark woodland behind. This then renders the woodland black in most cases, i try the same image but with say matrix then the background is lighter so to me it can make a difference- this cones into effect when you dont get a chance to do a set up before hand especially.
Click to expand...

Exposing for the whites is just that, if the lights harsh then the bg is going to be dark. Won't using matrix and lightening the bg, blow the whites anyway? Genuine question :)

Edit- reason for asking, I use matrix all the time, I never change metering and have (hopefully) learnt how the meter reads the over all scene and alter the exposure accordingly.
 
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Try a trial of EasyHDR3 - this is an excellent way of getting around the problem because you can expose at -1EV and then use the program to edit it to a much greater degree than usual - save as a TIFF then use PS or whatever for the final editing - much easier than using layers
.
 
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