White birds (Page 4): Please post an image of a white bird that you have used this method on.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

selmslie wrote:

If highlight weighted metering sounds too difficult, Sunny 16 will work (or LV 15, 1/3 stop darker) will work just as well with a white bird in direct sunlight.

Please post an image of a white bird that you have used this method on.

ricardo00

imagextrordinair wrote:

Some seem to respond as if the first shot is the only image that will be taken and it has to be perfect.

Experiment and use your camera's histogram. Also enable the highlight over exposure warning feature. You'll catch on quickly.

Also some of the procedures described would also only work on a bird sitting still. I much prefer shooting BIF and they can come from any direction, sometimes with sun on them (I prefer going when the sun is setting) and sometimes backlit. So am constantly changing my exposure settings on the "fly".

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

billnikon wrote:

Please post an image of a white bird that you have used this method on.

I’m away from my computer.

Go to my web site or my fineartamerica link below. There are several white birds, all exposed as I described.

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

ricardo00 wrote:

Also some of the procedures described would also only work on a bird sitting still. I much prefer shooting BIF and they can come from any direction, sometimes with sun on them (I prefer going when the sun is setting) and sometimes backlit. So am constantly changing my exposure settings on the "fly".

That’s not necessary with the method I described. On full manual with ISO 400 1/2000s f/8 the only thing you need to worry about is focus, framing and timing.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

selmslie wrote:

That’s not necessary with the method I described. On full manual with ISO 400 1/2000s f/8 the only thing you need to worry about is focus, framing and timing.

So, dark sky's, early morning, cloudy skies, bright sun, late on the afternoon, rain, your magic exposure is 1/2000 sec. f8 @ iso 400.

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

billnikon wrote:

So, dark sky's, early morning, cloudy skies, bright sun, late on the afternoon, rain, your magic exposure is 1/2000 sec. f8 @ iso 400.

What I described applies to white birds in direct sunlight. It works from just after sunrise to just before sunset, even when everything else is dark or in the shade. If the sun is shining directly on the white bird, LV 15 will work to protect your raw highlights.

For more information, see:
Light Value (LV) 15
Effect of Direct Sunlight on Photographic Exposure

In other situations, just use matrix/evaluative metering. The DR of the scene will be low and you won't need to worry about blown highlights.

For most cameras, just look for highlight warnings. If you see them, speed up your shutter until they go away.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

selmslie wrote:

What I described applies to white birds in direct ... (show quote)

The light just after sunrise and at sun down are about 5-7 stops from a noon exposure. How is one exposure settings valid for that spread.

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

billnikon wrote:

The light just after sunrise and at sun down are about 5-7 stops from a noon exposure. How is one exposure settings valid for that spread.

Not if the sun is shining directly on the white bird.

Once the sun is more than 15° above the horizon it's only one stop darker than noon. You would have learned that from the second link. Read it.

Rgandel Loc: South Orange, NJ

selmslie wrote:

If highlight weighted metering sounds too difficult, Sunny 16 will work (or LV 15, 1/3 stop darker) will work just as well with a white bird in direct sunlight.

Thanks, I'll try.

Nalu Loc: Southern Arizona

billnikon wrote:

On a white bird in bright sunlight zebras can be "sometimes" be miss leading. Manual exposures are best and going down a couple of stops underexposed usually gets the bright lite feathers good and shadows can be brought back in post.

I shoot nothing but manual. Camera metering systems can sometimes be faked out by highlights. Determining middle grey as you do by metering and then underexposing to compensate for bright subjects can work, but I find that by using zebras, once the zebra function is set up properly, gives me great results on controlling the over exposed pixels as confirmed by Raw Digger. Happy shooting!😁

Rgandel Loc: South Orange, NJ

Nalu wrote:

I shoot nothing but manual. Camera metering systems can sometimes be faked out by highlights. Determining middle grey as you do by metering and then underexposing to compensate for bright subjects can work, but I find that by using zebras, once the zebra function is set up properly, gives me great results on controlling the over exposed pixels as confirmed by Raw Digger. Happy shooting!😁

Thanks