Beginner Back again

[Carpy2001]

Sorry but it is me again lol, took these 2 pics today and would like to know how to stop the white areas (like on the neck) from being so bright?, I tried with the exposure compensation but that just made the whole image darker, I also tried changing the WB settings, but did not notice any difference. I know I am annoying with all these questions, but feel that if I dont ask i won't learn.

Thanks Andy.

 

[Plain Nev]

You're alright Carpy. We all started somewhere. What you are referring to are highlights. You should be able to tone them down, depending on what sort of software you might have.

 

[Adam-G]

Those are just clipped highlights by the look of it.

The best way to keep them is to expose for the highlights and bring up the darker areas in post. Shooting a Raw file will give you the best chance of doing that and your results may vary dependent on the dynamic range of your camera.

Exposure compensation was a good idea, so don't beat yourself up too much. You're on the right track. If the highlights aren't completely lost you can also target them and try to bring them down in post production as Plain Nev says above.

 

[Carpy2001]

Thanks Nev and Adam, I use Photoscape X, for editing as it is free lol, just found a couple of editing menu's I did not know where there and played about with them for a couple of minutes, think I understand this a bit more now, went from this,

to this after a couple of minutes playing

not great, but a bit better I think, the white neck feathers are a bit more visible and not so bright, I will keep trying lol.

 

[Adam-G]

I don't know a lot about that software but another tip is if it has the ability to select specific areas, just target the white patch of feathers only and reduce the highlights there. Saves you affecting the entire exposure then.

 

[Faldrax]

As a general rule it's better to have a slightly dark image and lighten it in post, than to have an over bright image and try and darken it in post.

If your camera has the option to display a histogram of the image you can check that as you shoot (even before you shoot in a live view mode, or if using mirrorless) and if the curve breaks the right hand edge, use some negative exposure compensation to reduce the brightness until it fits.

In post, you should then have the option to brighten only the shadows to get a more 'balanced' image.