Anyone know how to do this?? I was attempting to get the gazebo with the blue sky and the sun all in the same shot. I know this is a tall order. I didn't have the flash with me which...

Loudbri Loc: Philadelphia

I was attempting to get the gazebo with the blue sky and the sun all in the same shot. I know this is a tall order. I didn't have the flash with me which would be my next attempt. Are there filters or lenses that can help with this. My best guess is to expose for the sky then use flash to fill the foreground????

Frame 1 shtr=2000 ap = 5.6 iso 100
Frame 2 shtr= 1000 ap = 9 iso 100

martinfisherphoto Loc: Lake Placid Florida

ND filter would help. The one I use the top half is 4 stops darker. I usually center the line on horizon, meter off of the sky so both sky and foreground is real close to same exposure. A scene like this you could just raise the center line up just below top of gazebo. But you can also use your flash for fill light. May need high sync depending on the amount of ambient light.

Racmanaz Loc: Sunny Tucson!

I would use a polarizer filter and the meter the grass then hold the exposure lock, then recompose. That or you could use a graduated filter :)

Loudbri Loc: Philadelphia

thanks I just looked up the ND filt for an explanation I'm getting one as soon as possible...
This is why I love this site

Dinah Loc: Brisbane, Australia

I know this is not answering your question but do you have any kind of post processing program? I hope you don't mind but I tried a bit of photoshoping on your photo. I'm sure others could do better. Dinah

Loudbri Loc: Philadelphia

thanks Dinah, I only have the small programs that came with the camera d5m2.. So post processing is my weakness. I send my stuff for clients to a pro retoucher...I still have the old school mentality where I want to get the pic to be right on film. Which is not to be arrogant, but because I honestly don't know how to fix it afterward.
Thank you for your effort

lost_found

Loudbri wrote:

thanks Dinah, I only have the small programs that came with the camera d5m2.. So post processing is my weakness. I send my stuff for clients to a pro retoucher...I still have the old school mentality where I want to get the pic to be right on film. Which is not to be arrogant, but because I honestly don't know how to fix it afterward.
Thank you for your effort

learn, getting it as "close" to right and then touchng up saves a ton of time and a lot less stressful.

Loudbri Loc: Philadelphia

yes I am learning but I still hold onto the notion of

"I have this wildly sophisticated little machine in my hand, I should be able to do this"

lost_found

Loudbri wrote:

yes I am learning but I still hold onto the notion of

"I have this wildly sophisticated little machine in my hand, I should be able to do this"

and you can do it, but you can do it alot faster if you hold the other little wildly sophisticated machine "the Laptop". then you can take grat pictures of the fish your son just caught as you relax. I got much better with digial because I shoot 25 shots for every one I took with film because I was always to cheap to shoot and see what develops, plus now I can see the results and shoot again and again and again and then use that other little machine. have fun and don't stress it. I figure if they can photoshop cindy crawford after all their setup and calculations so can I.

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

Classic high dynamic range image suited for an HDR. For tips and techniques, go to the HDR forums. A lot of people associate HDR with garish, over processed images. It doesn't have to be so.

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

Try 1/500 @ f/8. You'll blow out the sky, but you'll have a third shot to construct an HDR image.

Loudbri Loc: Philadelphia

I love the candor here. I can see myself doing HDR stuff in the future. right now I concentrate on getting the bratty toddlers to look into the lens.

unclebe1 Loc: NYC & Wellington, FL

Bryan Peterson at Adorama recently showed how to do a similar shot using flash. He metered the sky (in his case it was a stormy sky) at 1/250 sec. Let's say it gave him an f stop of 16. Then he set his flash for f 16 and its readout showed him that the flash was effective from 12 to 20 ft at that f stop. He moved his 'object' (in his case it was flowers) into that range and then shot the scene with the flash at 1/250 f16. Relatively straightforward. You might even want to underexpose the sky a bit for a little more drama.

BTW - if you are getting an ND filiter, make sure you get a split ND filter. :-) If you use LR, there is a split ND filter you can apply in post processing. If you want to repost your original photo and check store original so that we can download it, I'll take a shot at using the LR split ND feature and let you see what it looks like.

Here's a quick and dirty using LR and copying the posted shot.

PhotoMan1929 Loc: Virginia, USA

Another attempt at some correction. But, seriously, if you can visit this place frequently, why not wait for better lighting conditions? Photography is all about light.

Shadow enhancement with curves adjustment

Bmac Loc: Long Island, NY

Loudbri wrote:

I was attempting to get the gazebo with the blue sky and the sun all in the same shot. I know this is a tall order. I didn't have the flash with me which would be my next attempt. Are there filters or lenses that can help with this. My best guess is to expose for the sky then use flash to fill the foreground????

Frame 1 shtr=2000 ap = 5.6 iso 100
Frame 2 shtr= 1000 ap = 9 iso 100

Enough folks have given advice on how to achieve what you wish, so instead of chiming in, I have a question. That gazebo looks familiar to me but I can't seem to place it. Any chance it was at the Ringling Museum in Sarasota FL? Or, Old Westbury Gardens in my neck of the woods? 8-)