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Over exposure of sky problems
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Apr 21, 2012 13:25:10   #
achammar Loc: Idaho
 
I am having trouble with taking pictures in shaded areas and getting the sky in the background to not be way overly exposed. The sky almost always comes out white. Of course I can fix this, but sometimes there are a lot of them and it takes a lot of time to fix them all and it would be nice to just have it right in camera.
Here are 2 examples of my grandson"s Bday party...no posed shots, just random shots.
I shot in manual and RAW. I tried all different combinations of settings and the problem is always there. I did use fill flash, but just the built in flash because I was quite close to the subjects. The first one says the flash did not fire though, so maybe the camera settings were just set for too much exposure overall.
The second one which is much darker either due to my camera settings, or post editing..I don't remember anymore..there was too many...and the flash did fire, but the background is darker but the sky is still white.
I'm thinking maybe if I would have used my SB600 at full power directly on the subjects, and set the shutter speed high and the F stop smaller, I might have got a blue sky, but the background would probably be dark. Does that sound true? Can I overcome this, or is this something that is always going to be a battle?
Thanks!
Albert

F/4.5, 1/160 sec, ISO-400 Flash didn't fire
F/4.5, 1/160 sec, ISO-400 Flash didn't fire...

F/13, 1/200 sec, ISO-200 Flash fired
F/13, 1/200 sec, ISO-200 Flash fired...

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Apr 21, 2012 13:53:38   #
GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City
 
Tough situation but remember, you're recording memories, not making art, I love the first one as it is.
Using your more powerful shoe-mount flash unit will go a long way to helping the scene though. You'll have to experiment with settings to find the right one, but I think you're on the right track.

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Apr 21, 2012 14:13:27   #
RaydancePhoto
 
I agree a tough situation. I use a PL-CIR by Hoya that can go a long way tword helping keep the sky blue in situations like this. Also, a CPL can help a bit. Very hard to fix in post, there ways to do it, but never turns out as good as it could have been if exposed properly. I downloaded the 1st pic and played with it a bit, did not get what I think is satisfactory results.

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Apr 21, 2012 17:10:48   #
Frank T Loc: New York, NY
 
If you're serious about wanting to avoid the blown out sky you can do it. You'll need to jack your shutter speed up to 1/250 and then step down your f/stop to expose the sky properly. This will put your subjects in the dark so you'll then need to add flash to properly expose the people. Lot's of trouble and worth it for a serious portrait but for a kids party, I'd shoot it just like you did and perhaps try to tweak it a bit in lightroom.

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Apr 21, 2012 17:20:48   #
birdpix Loc: South East Pennsylvania
 
For snapshots like this of family get togethers you have done as well as is reasonably possible to do. A flash will not fill the whole yard with light so you could end up with properly exposed sky and foreground and the background will be dark....not much better than you already have. The best hope is to do it in Post Processing. Perhaps some can be done in a batch with something like Lightroom. Probably not worth the effort.

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Apr 21, 2012 17:44:36   #
achammar Loc: Idaho
 
Ok, thanks all!...for the compliments too. I guess at least I know it's not because I'm doing something wrong and this really is a tough situation...that makes me feel better. I can fix it with PS very nicely, but it's a lot of work. As most of you have said, I'm not too worried about it in this situation because it was a kids family party, so it's no big deal. But the over exposed sky just bugged me and it's not the first time I've tried to figure out how to fix this. Thanks for the compliments and comments about the quality being fine for what it was..that makes me feel better too.
One thing I can't do though is speed up my shutter speed to faster than 1/200 if I'm using a flash...that's the highest speed my camera will go up too with a flash turned on...

Thanks again!
Albert

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Apr 21, 2012 19:10:33   #
RMM Loc: Suburban New York
 
If you're shooting RAW, you may be able to adjust the brightest areas independently of the rest of the shots. That might restore some color. If you use Photoshop, you might try using luminosity masks to adjust the brightest areas.

In the second shot, you can reduce the problem by cropping the top of the picture. Doesn't work in the first for obvious reasons.

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Apr 22, 2012 01:28:44   #
BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA
 
Consider a gradient ND filter.

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Apr 22, 2012 01:56:05   #
SteveR Loc: Michigan
 
I think that you actually have to shoot at a faster speed to get blue skies...at least 1/325th. You may have to go to a higher ISO.

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Apr 22, 2012 03:13:55   #
FredCDobbs Loc: Los Angeles area.
 
Might be awkward to make work depending on background but a graded ND filter from Tiffen would underexpose those skyies by the factor of which filter you choose. One through ten stops and help match the foreground. I think a two stop filter is a good start place.
The Tiffen models are available graded, meaning shaded and fading from say two full stops to clear.
Trouble is, while that works great with landscapes with defined horizons, might be awkward in the party setting. BUT it would provide good foreground detail and a properly exposed sky.
One thing I used for years in wedding photography is turning people's backs to the light source and using a light fill flash on their faces makes for very pleasing photos with the subjects hair haloed and light falling from behind on their shoulders.

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Apr 22, 2012 04:47:09   #
rpavich Loc: West Virginia
 
The problem is that the dynamic range is just to great for the camera to capture...period.

The choices are:

1.) Do what you did; expose for the subjects and let the sky blow out.

2.) Expose for the sky and have a dark foreground

3.) Do #2 but use fill flash (you did that nicely)

4.) Post process the sky. (pretty darned fast and easy in LR.


I think that you did a good job; this is a tough situation and I think you made the right choices.

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Apr 22, 2012 06:01:43   #
barryb Loc: Kansas
 
You can also use a graduated filter in LR, starting with a darker blue at the top, and it gets lighter over the subjects so the blue doesn't distort the color on the subject. I recently learned how to fix this in a mentoring session, by shooting in manual, metering the sky, using fill flash (with a light bender to soften the flash, and upping the shutter to a higher speed. I've really liked the results.

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Apr 22, 2012 06:54:33   #
Bias eyes
 
Mabey a neutral density graduated filter is an option if you want to invest a little coin

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Apr 22, 2012 07:00:41   #
Gary Truchelut Loc: Coldspring, TX
 
This usually works well. I you have a Canon camera you can use ETTL and adjust the shutter speed for a good ambient light exposure and use f stop to control the flash exposure. There is a good video on Adorama TV showing how to do this.
barryb wrote:
You can also use a graduated filter in LR, starting with a darker blue at the top, and it gets lighter over the subjects so the blue doesn't distort the color on the subject. I recently learned how to fix this in a mentoring session, by shooting in manual, metering the sky, using fill flash (with a light bender to soften the flash, and upping the shutter to a higher speed. I've really liked the results.

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Apr 22, 2012 08:26:30   #
rayford2 Loc: New Bethlehem, PA
 
Would this be a good example for HDR?

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