Exposure for Birds that have black and white plumage (Page 2): The solution is quite simple but requires a bit of effort on your part. I'll admit, I haven't read through the thread of...

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

The solution is quite simple but requires a bit of effort on your part. I'll admit, I haven't read through the thread of posts to this inquiry. I'll bet the usual HDR, Sunny 16, etc. list of solutions have been offered. The best method is to understand your camera and use ETTR/EBTR techniques. This requires a bit of controlled experimentation on the part of the photographer. The results are quite predictable and make scenes such as you describe manageable.
--Bob

prcb1949 wrote:

I am finding that birds Birds like the Magpie which have both black and white coloured plumage are very difficult to get a correct exposure balance, for instance if one underexposes for the white plumage, the black pards of the bird end up as a dark impenetrable mass and if one does it the other way around the white areas are blown out and lack detail. Birds that are either black or white seem to be easier to get close to to correct exposure. What is the the solution??

Miamark Loc: Florida

prcb1949 wrote:

I am finding that birds Birds like the Magpie which have both black and white coloured plumage are very difficult to get a correct exposure balance, for instance if one underexposes for the white plumage, the black pards of the bird end up as a dark impenetrable mass and if one does it the other way around the white areas are blown out and lack detail. Birds that are either black or white seem to be easier to get close to to correct exposure. What is the the solution??

Use a grey card.

CamB Loc: Juneau, Alaska

prcb1949 wrote:

I am finding that birds Birds like the Magpie which have both black and white coloured plumage are very difficult to get a correct exposure balance, for instance if one underexposes for the white plumage, the black pards of the bird end up as a dark impenetrable mass and if one does it the other way around the white areas are blown out and lack detail. Birds that are either black or white seem to be easier to get close to to correct exposure. What is the the solution??

Leading Photo tours in Southeast Alaska I am shooting Bald Eagles every day, usually against a green background of Spruce trees. Digital sees green as dark so the camera meter is always trying to lighten the picture. I don't even try to take a shot without first setting my EC to -1.5 at a minimum. I took this shot yesterday (massively cropped) at -1.5 and that was just barely enough to bring the highlights under control in LR. Don't worry about the darks and shadows. If you blow out the highlights you've got nothing. Expose for the highlights and do the best you can with the shadows in PP. Some files of white and black are just beyond what is possible for the perfect print. You have to shoot Raw for this kind of stuff.
...Cam

(Download)

JeffDavidson Loc: Originally Detroit Now Los Angeles

Expose for the white so it won't be blown out. In post, lighten the shadows and black.

Drbobcameraguy Loc: Eaton Ohio

prcb1949 wrote:

I am finding that birds Birds like the Magpie which have both black and white coloured plumage are very difficult to get a correct exposure balance, for instance if one underexposes for the white plumage, the black pards of the bird end up as a dark impenetrable mass and if one does it the other way around the white areas are blown out and lack detail. Birds that are either black or white seem to be easier to get close to to correct exposure. What is the the solution??

Also use spot metering. It will possibly blow the background but the bird will be correct. If you have time do a shot or three in spot metering and then switch to matrix metering if Nikon. Then you can use the background from the matrix metering shot and the bird from the spot metering shot.

Miamark Loc: Florida

Drbobcameraguy wrote:

Also use spot metering. It will possibly blow the background but the bird will be correct. If you have time do a shot or three in spot metering and then switch to matrix metering if Nikon. Then you can use the background from the matrix metering shot and the bird from the spot metering shot.

Other than a gray card focus on something that approaches neutral gray such as a tree to get the metering or the ground. You can use multi- metering, spot or center weighted but if you use a gray card spot is best. My advice is to get an idea of the exposure conditions before you shoot.

Drbobcameraguy Loc: Eaton Ohio

Miamark wrote:

Other than a gray card focus on something that approaches neutral gray such as a tree to get the metering or the ground. You can use multi- metering, spot or center weighted but if you use a gray card spot is best. My advice is to get an idea of the exposure conditions before you shoot.

He is having trouble getting details in a black bird. So matrix metering is making the bird to black. It's not a white balance issue. It's a metering issue I believe v

prcb1949 Loc: Ex Zimbabwe - Now UK

Once again thank you so much for your individual inputs lots of advice to be trying out!👍

MJPerini

It is a classic problem, weather a black & white bird, Bride & Groom, Black dog on the snow -on a sunny day these can be difficult.
You really should shoot raw for best dynamic range and dial in a little EC to help keep whites from blowing out.
If the whites are bot blown you can usually recover enough of the black to see some detail.
Most RAW converters have a black point adjustment as well.
If you do it enough, you will develop a sense of how much EC (even 1/3 stop can help.)
You can't usually pick your weather, but you may be able to pick the time so as to avoid maximum contrast