Avoiding Overexposure

Tyler138

Tyler138

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Alex Tyler
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I have started shooting in Manual mode lately and all is going well but have noticed that in some spots in the odd photo it is overexposed.

How is the best way to avoid this, is shooting with the exposure down a third ok as i heard some people like shooting this way.?

Also i notice it a lot in the sky when shooting and focused on the subject the sky generally just goes white, any tips on how to avoid this.?

Thanks

Tyler
 
I had this with my 70-200 until I used a Circular-Polarizing (CPL) filter and the sky has a lot more detail now and does not "white out " anymore ,
Been playing with the apature and shutter speed as well to reduce the light to the sensor
 
janbokev said:
I had this with my 70-200 until I used a Circular-Polarizing (CPL) filter and the sky has a lot more detail now and does not "white out " anymore ,
Been playing with the apature and shutter speed as well to reduce the light to the sensor
Click to expand...

Will try the CPL, have one lying about i think. And i find that it washes out at a high shutter speed as i am shooting mountain biking so require a high shutter speed.

Thanks, didnt even think of using the CPL :bonk: will give it a try next time iam out
 
I have one lens that I always have to under expose by one third.. all the other lens i dont...
 
KIPAX said:
I have one lens that I always have to under expose by one third.. all the other lens i dont...
Click to expand...

That is what i was fiddling with today, will have to keep looking a think, i dont know if it was my len ( Canon 18-55mm) or the lighting where i may try use the CPL someone mentioned already.
 
It sounds more like a dynamic range problem than an exposure settings issue.

When the exposure is right for the mid tones, which are usually the most important, it is quite common for some highlights to be too bright for the sensor to handle. Skies are a common problem (hence the use of a polariser or graduated filter) or reflections will often blow to pure white also.

If you want the exposure to be as close to optimum as you can get, learn to read the histogram and enable blinkies (highlight over exposure warning, in the menu). Very often there is no perfect exposure setting, just a best compromise.
 
HoppyUK said:
It sounds more like a dynamic range problem than an exposure settings issue.

When the exposure is right for the mid tones, which are usually the most important, it is quite common for some highlights to be too bright for the sensor to handle. Skies are a common problem (hence the use of a polariser or graduated filter) or reflections will often blow to pure white also.

If you want the exposure to be as close to optimum as you can get, learn to read the histogram and enable blinkies (highlight over exposure warning, in the menu). Very often there is no perfect exposure setting, just a best compromise.
Click to expand...

Cheers, i have the blinkies things on and reading histograms in on my to do list of things to look up.

Thanks for the help

Tyler
 
Tyler138 said:
Cheers, i have the blinkies things on and reading histograms in on my to do list of things to look up.

Thanks for the help

Tyler
Click to expand...

Good link on histograms here http://www.sekonic.com/images/files/HistogramsLightmetersWorkTogether.pdf
I use the histogram as a general guide to see where the majority of tones lie, and then check the blinkies to see exactly what's happening right at the limit and make a decision on how far I can push it.

HDR is certainly a way around it. That is high dynamic range technique, which means taking two or more images at different exposure levels, which between them accommodate the full dynamic range, and then combining them in post processing. I like it personally, but it gets a bit contentious when people overdo it.

But without going near any of that, if you shoot Raw there is a little bit more exposure headroom than going straight to JPEG, and then use expose-to-the- right (of the histogram) technique to exploit it. I find the best way to do that is to set the contrast level in picture styles to min, which reduces the influence of the JPEGing process and helps you see better what is going on with the histogram/blinkies (which are both generated off the in-camera JPEG). You will usually find at least a stop of extra exposure headroom that way, often more.

ETTR technique article here http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/expose-right.shtml though there's tons of stuff on the web on this and HDR if you google.
 
I favour 'darker' images anyway and so consistently underexpose by between 1/3 and 2 stops according to the subject.
 
I like 'darker' images than the '0' EV produces on Nikon cameras...I find they overexpose highlights by at least 1/3 of a stop...

If look at my flickr page for examples of what I do and you'll see...
 
scottthehat said:
thanks for thats, like the work. also do you key in a - ev all the time then on the menu.
Click to expand...

No, because every scene is different. The quality and direction of the light plays such a huge part in how a scene looks that dialling-in a default amount would be pointless...

I judge the exposure according to the scene and what emphasis I want for each part of that scene.

Usually it's 'people' so I'll optimise the exposure for the skin-tones and worry about the remainder of the scene in post...
 
Thanks everyone. :)

HoppyUK said:
Good link on histograms here http://www.sekonic.com/images/files/HistogramsLightmetersWorkTogether.pdf
I use the histogram as a general guide to see where the majority of tones lie, and then check the blinkies to see exactly what's happening right at the limit and make a decision on how far I can push it.

HDR is certainly a way around it. That is high dynamic range technique, which means taking two or more images at different exposure levels, which between them accommodate the full dynamic range, and then combining them in post processing. I like it personally, but it gets a bit contentious when people overdo it.

But without going near any of that, if you shoot Raw there is a little bit more exposure headroom than going straight to JPEG, and then use expose-to-the- right (of the histogram) technique to exploit it. I find the best way to do that is to set the contrast level in picture styles to min, which reduces the influence of the JPEGing process and helps you see better what is going on with the histogram/blinkies (which are both generated off the in-camera JPEG). You will usually find at least a stop of extra exposure headroom that way, often more.

ETTR technique article here http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/expose-right.shtml though there's tons of stuff on the web on this and HDR if you google.
Click to expand...

Will check those links, thanks
 
I'm surprised nobody's mentioned Graduated Neutral Density Filters, imo the simplest way to avoid burning out the sky.

Or, if you are using a tripod and the scene is relatively still, you can take three images of exposure -2,0 and +2 EV and then merge the three images into one using photoshop layers or specialist software such as photomatix.
 
HoppyUK said:
It sounds more like a dynamic range problem than an exposure settings issue.

When the exposure is right for the mid tones, which are usually the most important, it is quite common for some highlights to be too bright for the sensor to handle. Skies are a common problem (hence the use of a polariser or graduated filter) or reflections will often blow to pure white also.

If you want the exposure to be as close to optimum as you can get, learn to read the histogram and enable blinkies (highlight over exposure warning, in the menu). Very often there is no perfect exposure setting, just a best compromise.
Click to expand...


Whiters said:
I'm surprised nobody's mentioned Graduated Neutral Density Filters, imo the simplest way to avoid burning out the sky.

Or, if you are using a tripod and the scene is relatively still, you can take three images of exposure -2,0 and +2 EV and then merge the three images into one using photoshop layers or specialist software such as photomatix.
Click to expand...

Hold onto that suprise.... :thumbs:

Mr Hopkins covered that option ^^^^^ :D
 
LOL Cheers Phil :D
 
Of course you could always bracket your exposures. (AEB on the canon)

I often do if I am worried about getting the shot so will set it between 1/3rd - 1 stop either side, continuous shooting mode and fire a 3 frame burst for each shot.
 
Tyler138 said:
I have started shooting in Manual mode lately and all is going well but have noticed that in some spots in the odd photo it is overexposed.
Click to expand...
Spot meter and expose for the highlights normally helps, when on the streets and I want the sky in the shot I normally close up my aperture, low ISO and a fast shutter speed, it's all dependent on what I'm after though.
 
Arkady said:
I favour 'darker' images anyway and so consistently underexpose by between 1/3 and 2 stops according to the subject.
Click to expand...

Same here. Was taught by my photography doyen to expose for the highlights, develop for the shadows.

Tyler138, I just under expose and tweak in Lightroom to bring out shadow detail using the fill slider and playing with curves. Works well for me, although once you start putting too much fill (basically you're lightening the mid-tones) you can bring out noise in shadows so it's to be done with a careful hand.

The blinkies thing on the LCD is invaluable though for general shooting - that's my barometer so to speak.
 
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