How to correctly expose wedding dress?

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GaryK26

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Gary
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For outdoor shots of B&G in good/bright light, what is the best way to get the best exposure that will retain as much detail in the [white] dress as possible?

I read an article advising to spot meter off the white dress and then dial in +2 or + 3 exposure compensation.

What techique(s) do you use?

Cheers
Gary

(I will be shooting in RAW, so as long as I dont totally blow the highlights I should be ok)
 
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GaryK26 said:
For outdoor shots of B&G in good/bright light, what is the best way to get the best exposure that will retain as much detail in the [white] dress as possible?

I read an article advising to spot meter off the white dress and then dial in +2 or + 3 exposure compensation.

What techique(s) do you use?

Cheers
Gary

(I will be shooting in RAW, so as long as I dont totally blow the highlights I should be ok)
Click to expand...


I think what you are talking about is a technique called 'placing a white'. The camera is metering the reflected light for middle grey, white will be about +2 stops above mid tone so that's why you can meter a white then add +2 stops. I would suggested having blinkies turned on just to be sure you're not blowing the dress.


EDIT: heres a link you may find useful
http://neilvn.com/tangents/2010/10/20/exposure-metering-bride-and-brides-dress/
 
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Technique sounds ok but depends on the style of dress for me ... Layered style with folds etc would be slightly different to a flat plain White dress in full sun, as in those cases there's no point trying to retain detail that's not there, you would just end up banging a too much fill ..

In tricky situations I use a hand held meter
 
ianfrance said:
Technique sounds ok but depends on the style of dress for me ... Layered style with folds etc would be slightly different to a flat plain White dress in full sun, as in those cases there's no point trying to retain detail that's not there, you would just end up banging in too much fill ..

In tricky situations I use a hand held meter
Click to expand...
 
Shoot in RAW. Spot meter off the brightest important highlight and add between 1.3 & 1.7 exposure comp shooting in manual.

Practice first to see what works best with your lens and body combo.
 
Thanks for the info guys!
The link to the neilvn site is excellent - so much info on there.

Anyway, been having a play this morning with a creased white shirt on the washing line....

- zoomed in on the brighter lit areas of the shirt
- with spot metering set I adjusted shutter & aperature until the "needle" was pointing to between +1 and +2 in the viewfinder.
- zoomed out and took the picture

To my delight, the image appeared nicely exposed with ever so slight "blinkies" in the sky. Histogram was quite well spread. Detail (creases) in the shirt were there. Background (garden & house) were also quite nicely exposed.

It really isn't as difficult as it first seems....famous last words!
The real test is going to be the wedding tomorrow - at least I'm going as a guest / 2nd shooter.
 
Best of luck with it,now get that shirt ironed.:p:D:lol::thumbs:
 
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