Overexposure?

Will James

Will James

Suspended / Banned
Messages
526
Name
Will
Edit My Images
No
Hi all,

Took these the other day...all straight from the camera as I am yet to do some PP, but I wanted to know why the sky is s overexposed? I realised when I got home that I had the ISO on 200 which I forgot to turn to 100.....is this the reason for the overexposure? I'd also like to know if there is anything I can do to make the first two more colourful (when taking it - not in PP)? I've seen shots from others and some are so crisp clear and colourful...

#1
img1605xn.jpg


#2
img1752e.jpg


#3
img1763lm.jpg
 
Last edited:
I struggle with situations like this where the sky is a horrible washed out grey and used to get results like this all the time (in fact still do majority of the time lol).

I now tend to take 2 shots and meter 1 for the sky and one for everything else and then combine them in PP. That way I get a well exposed sky and a well exposed ground.

No doubt you'll get some much better advice for the issue than that so ill be checking this thread too to hopefully learn something ;)
 
Last edited:
the long and the short of it is that your camera doesn't have enough 'dynamic range' to capture all the tones in the scene - it can really either do the lighter sky or the darker foreground, unlike the human eye the sensor can't record all the tones like we can.

there are a couple of ways around it though, firstly make sure you're shooting raw.

1) expose somewhere in the middle and use your raw processing software to create two versions of the photo - one which correctly exposes the sky and the other which correctly exposes the foreground. if the differences between the two isn't too great you can have good results with a single raw file. i've done this many times. with better software like lightroom you can use the adjustment brush to change the exposure without messing around merging two images.

2) simply take two images, one metered against the sky, the other the foreground and merge them in photoshop. i've done this too and as long as the camera is in the same or near enough the same position it's easy to do and gives you great results - in photoshop you can use the Align Layers tool to make sure everything is lined up correctly.

3) use a ND filter. this special filter has a darker area which reduces the light which hits the sensors so you should have a correct exposure straight from camera.

i don't have an nd filter, i've always gone for the software alternative and i've had good results, but if you're not too experienced with PP or don't have the time then a graduated ND filter will be a great help.
 
hi mate

No the iso wont make that much diffrenc really i think the term is "washed out" i think you need a filter on there to keep the sky dark and the rest light also a lot of images on here have some pp on them its not ofturn that the image you see on here is the same as the one on the camera,
im sure someone else will tell you if its a grad filter or a nd filter im not sure
good luck :thumbs:
 
I'll move this to the processing section as it is not about the image content.

Good advice above. We all struggle with the same problem and we all come up with the way that works best for us to get round it. I'd rather have a natural looking image and try to get the best balance in the exposure without using filters or double exposures and blending but it comes down to personal preference.
Shooting raw is more work but will help increase the dynamic range available.
 
Thanks to both of you for the replies.

cuthbert said:
1) expose somewhere in the middle and use your raw processing software to create two versions of the photo - one which correctly exposes the sky and the other which correctly exposes the foreground. if the differences between the two isn't too great you can have good results with a single raw file. i've done this many times. with better software like lightroom you can use the adjustment brush to change the exposure without messing around merging two images.
Click to expand...

When you say expose somewhere in the middle, do you mean put the focus point in the middle? (sorry I'm a noob) If so, won't that put the foreground out of focus?

cuthbert said:
2) simply take two images, one metered against the sky, the other the foreground and merge them in photoshop. i've done this too and as long as the camera is in the same or near enough the same position it's easy to do and gives you great results - in photoshop you can use the Align Layers tool to make sure everything is lined up correctly.
Click to expand...

I have Photoshop CS5 so I could do the merging, don't have a clue how to merge two photos yet but I can learn! Again, what do you mean by one 'metered' against the sky?
 
I don't have lightroom but is it easy to adjust the exposure of just the sky on a RAW image? Or would I have to layer mask the sky and make sure all the outlines are done carefully (taking up a lot of time?)

Steelo said:
I was getting this a lot, so decided to buy some ND grad filters. I went for the Hitech ones, and at £30 for a 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9, they're a bargain, cause no color cast, and work a treat.
Click to expand...

Sounds like good value! Got any pics to show what results they pull of?

debrito said:
hi mate

No the iso wont make that much diffrenc really i think the term is "washed out" i think you need a filter on there to keep the sky dark and the rest light also a lot of images on here have some pp on them its not ofturn that the image you see on here is the same as the one on the camera,
im sure someone else will tell you if its a grad filter or a nd filter im not sure
good luck :thumbs:
Click to expand...

Thanks for the comment:thumbs:
 
Will James said:
When you say expose somewhere in the middle, do you mean put the focus point in the middle? (sorry I'm a noob) If so, won't that put the foreground out of focus?
Click to expand...

Your picture is taken using matrix metering. The camera looks at the whole picture then decides how much exposure to give it.

If you use partial or spot metering instead of matrix then only the middle bit of the frame is considered for brightness.

Point the camera at the sky in spot metering and press the AE lock button, recompose your shot and you will have an exposure set for the sky - and the ground will be underexposed. So problem not solved but maybe better understood :)
 
RobertP said:
Your picture is taken using matrix metering. The camera looks at the whole picture then decides how much exposure to give it.

If you use partial or spot metering instead of matrix then only the middle bit of the frame is considered for brightness.

Point the camera at the sky in spot metering and press the AE lock button, recompose your shot and you will have an exposure set for the sky - and the ground will be underexposed. So problem not solved but maybe better understood :)
Click to expand...

Ahh I see :) Very clear explanation, thanks! All I need to know now is how to merge in photoshop and I'll be on my way :D
 
The exposure doesn't look too bad, your shooting in very flat lighting which doesn't help, the gery-ish skys tend to get blown out quite easily, these will pull back a lot with a bit of "tweeking" in photoshop.
Heres a very quick play.

5478751970_c3394414a6_b.jpg


5478152049_d602fbd4da_b.jpg


5478151775_7165ff9eaa_b.jpg
 
Hi Wayne,

Thank you for the feedback. What did you do in photoshop to improve them? Just some curve adjustments?

Will :D.
 
Will James said:
I don't have lightroom but is it easy to adjust the exposure of just the sky on a RAW image? Or would I have to layer mask the sky and make sure all the outlines are done carefully (taking up a lot of time?)
Click to expand...

There is a graduated filter function in Lightroom

Screenshot2011-02-26at112254.png


Just click this then click and drag on the relevant part of your image and use the slider tools to adjust.
 
Will James said:
Hi Wayne,

Thank you for the feedback. What did you do in photoshop to improve them? Just some curve adjustments?

Will :D.
Click to expand...

I opened them in camera raw and used the recovery slider to pull back the sky, a bit of fill light and upped the contrast and clarity a bit.
You could do much the same with shadow/highlight, contrast and a high radius low amount unsharp mask for the clarity.
 
NigelPaul said:
If you decide to use blending two exposures next time there's a great tutorial linked on here. http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=298278
Click to expand...

Thanks, looks good!

swanseamale47 said:
I opened them in camera raw and used the recovery slider to pull back the sky, a bit of fill light and upped the contrast and clarity a bit.
You could do much the same with shadow/highlight, contrast and a high radius low amount unsharp mask for the clarity.
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing that, I didn't know you could open JPEG as Camera RAW I always wondered if you could! I'll do some editing :D
 
I'm going to be taking photo's tomorrow of something for my 52 project....I won't have much time and I know the sky will be overexposed.....I don't have a tripod to taking two different exposures from the same place will be hard...what's the best way to expose in between the sky and the object ('somewhere in the middle') so I can do this instead? Would it be to use the exposure adjustment (Av) whilst looking at LiveView to underexpose the object slightly and the sky?

Will. :D
 
Will

If you have a moment, try experimenting with RAW if you are not already. The RAW file contains all the data that the chip captured, and has more information than the camera JPEG. The camera discards a lot of this data to generate the JPEG.

If you open the RAW image in Photoshop you can use the ACR module to process the RAW image.. The ACR module has a Grad filter function built in. You can use this to adjust for the overexposed sky. By shooting RAW this data is retained within the file and can be recovered using this technique. Only drawback with shooting RAW is that the file is much bigger than a JPEG. But then you don't get something for nothing.

If you want to see how it's done, look at a Lightroom develop module video. The processing engine in both Lightroom and ACR are the same. The interface is just different ( Better in Lightroom.... Sorry)

Update Found this Video for the Grad filter in Photoshop

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJoFhH6kss8
 
Last edited:
Chappers said:
Will

If you have a moment, try experimenting with RAW if you are not already. The RAW file contains all the data that the chip captured, and has more information than the camera JPEG. The camera discards a lot of this data to generate the JPEG.

If you open the RAW image in Photoshop you can use the ACR module to process the RAW image.. The ACR module has a Grad filter function built in. You can use this to adjust for the overexposed sky. By shooting RAW this data is retained within the file and can be recovered using this technique. Only drawback with shooting RAW is that the file is much bigger than a JPEG. But then you don't get something for nothing.

If you want to see how it's done, look at a Lightroom develop module video. The processing engine in both Lightroom and ACR are the same. The interface is just different ( Better in Lightroom.... Sorry)

Update Found this Video for the Grad filter in Photoshop

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJoFhH6kss8
Click to expand...

Hi John,

Yes I usually shoot in RAW + JPEG and have done some editing using ACR, but not much....I tried using the graduated filter on some of the photos above but I couldn't work it very well without it being too obvious in the photo.

So if I shoot in RAW tomorrow and the sky comes out white, I'll be able to use the graduated filter in ACR to bring the blue sky back? (looks like its going to be sunny here tomorrow).

Is it worth taking two exposures, even if they may be in slightly different positions, and merging them in CS5?

What do you think is best to do as I will have about 15 minutes and won't get the chance again! (Don't want to reveal what it is until I post for my project) :)

Will :D.
 
Will
If you don't have any second chances go with what you know.

However as you are shooting RAW it gives you the best chance of getting the result you want. Also in ACR look at dropping the blue luminance, that accentuates the sky, but be careful not to overdo it

Have fun

John
 
the light in these photo's is flat try taking some in the early morning or evening.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top