Blow Out Skies
- Thread starter DropDead
- Start date
- Messages
- 5,881
- Name
- Richard
- Edit My Images
- Yes
Show us some examples?
If the sky is overcast then it will often be much brighter than the foreground - so exposing for the forground over exposes the sky.
Also if you are shooting into a portion of the sky with the sun in it - or the sun just out of frame - you will see over exposure. Where possible try to shoot with the sun over one shoulder to avoid blown out skies.
ANd if those circumstances are not possible, or not working, then start looking at getting a set of ND grad filters to darken the skies.
If the sky is overcast then it will often be much brighter than the foreground - so exposing for the forground over exposes the sky.
Also if you are shooting into a portion of the sky with the sun in it - or the sun just out of frame - you will see over exposure. Where possible try to shoot with the sun over one shoulder to avoid blown out skies.
ANd if those circumstances are not possible, or not working, then start looking at getting a set of ND grad filters to darken the skies.
dinners
In Memoriam
- Messages
- 15,745
- Name
- Phil
- Edit My Images
- Yes
Have you got any examples that you can show us Jake as there can be various reasons as to why you're getting blown skies.
In general:
The sky is more often than not much brighter than the foreground. If your foreground is correctly exposed your sky could well be overexposed.
Under exposing will help your sky but obviously your foreground will be dark. It's easier to recover dark areas than blown areas.
Another way is to take multiple shots - one for foreground and one for the sky and bring the two elements together afterwards.
The direction of the light in relation to the direction you're shooting also plays a big part.
In terms of filters - ND Grads (gradualetd neutral density filters) are worth considering if you like to shoot landscapes. These are darker at the top and graduate to clear at the bottom enabling the exposure in the sky to be held back whilst not affecting the foreground. They come as 'soft' grads or 'hard' grads. Soft have a more gentle transition between dark and clear and are used where the horizon is broken or undulating. Hard grads have a very sudden transition between dark and clear and are suited to very level horizons such as seascapes.
In general:
The sky is more often than not much brighter than the foreground. If your foreground is correctly exposed your sky could well be overexposed.
Under exposing will help your sky but obviously your foreground will be dark. It's easier to recover dark areas than blown areas.
Another way is to take multiple shots - one for foreground and one for the sky and bring the two elements together afterwards.
The direction of the light in relation to the direction you're shooting also plays a big part.
In terms of filters - ND Grads (gradualetd neutral density filters) are worth considering if you like to shoot landscapes. These are darker at the top and graduate to clear at the bottom enabling the exposure in the sky to be held back whilst not affecting the foreground. They come as 'soft' grads or 'hard' grads. Soft have a more gentle transition between dark and clear and are used where the horizon is broken or undulating. Hard grads have a very sudden transition between dark and clear and are suited to very level horizons such as seascapes.
Last edited:
You haven't said what you are shooting with but. Assuming a tripod or steady shot, most cameras will have a bracketing function (you may need to look in the manual). It usually takes three shots (or 5, 7 etc) at above and below the medium exposure. This should then give you three pictures, each with a different set of tones.
Then you can either merge all three using masks to show the sections you want through the pictures, or use a HDR package to merge and fiddle with the settings until you get what you want out of the picture.
Search on google and here for HDR for examples and programs to assist you.
Good luck
Then you can either merge all three using masks to show the sections you want through the pictures, or use a HDR package to merge and fiddle with the settings until you get what you want out of the picture.
Search on google and here for HDR for examples and programs to assist you.
Good luck