Over exposed garden sky

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shanebrennan1968

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Shane
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Hi everyone, this is my first post.

What I'm trying to do is basically get a shot of the back garden without over exposing the sky and making the garden too dark. Here is a link to a photo - completely out of focus..oops. http://www.flickr.com/photos/84890580@N07/7775972170/

Has anyone got any ideas how to get this via the camera, or am I destined to have to get a reasonable shot then use photoshop to change it?

Thank you in advance for any advice you can give me
 
The problem is due to all cameras having a smaller dynamic range than the human eye. you could take say 3 photos with one normal and then one overexposed and another under exposed so you can see the sky. You can then load them into photoshop or dedicated HDR software to merge all the photos. Most cameras ave a feature called exposure bracketing to make this easier.
 
gblades said:
The problem is due to all cameras having a smaller dynamic range than the human eye. you could take say 3 photos with one normal and then one overexposed and another under exposed so you can see the sky. You can then load them into photoshop or dedicated HDR software to merge all the photos. Most cameras ave a feature called exposure bracketing to make this easier.
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WOW :thinking:

Whats happening is your exposing for the shed/fence, try point your camera to the sky half press then re compose your photo and fully press, that will do 2 thinks focus to infinity, and you will achieve a good sky, but the foreground would be darker

I see you use a Nikon D3100 shot AE, @ f/10.0, Exposure 0.8 sec, 55 mm, thats way to slow for hand held hence the camera shake,
 
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Just Dave said:
WOW :thinking:

Whats happening is your exposing for the shed/fence, try point your camera to the sky half press then re compose your photo and fully press, that will do 2 thinks focus to infinity, and you will achieve a good sky, but the foreground would be darker

I see you use a Nikon D3100 shot AE, @ f/10.0, Exposure 0.8 sec, 55 mm, thats way to slow for hand held hence the camera shake,
Click to expand...

Thanks Dave, yes I did as you said at the same time and yes you're right Very dark shed and garden. It isn't an important photo, just thought it would be good to practice in the garden around 7 with dimming light cause of the houses and trees, but still have a bright(ish) sky. Learning from my mistakes :)
 
As well as what else has been said, try taking the picture at a time when the sun is behind you. It looks like the sun is somewhere in front of you in this shot which means that the foreground is dark in relation to the bright sky. Another time of day might see the foreground well lit. Of course, if there is a great big house behind you blocking the sunlight, then forget what I've just said.

A grad filter won't necessarily be ideal for this as you might find the graduated line is covering a lot more than just the sky, i.e the shed roof and the tree and they'll be dark on your final image. Good light is normally your best starting point...
 
Pick different weather conditions or a different time of day when the fence is well lit and the sky isn't so bright in that direction.

Here is a photo from today, which was actually shot as a focus test on the distant TV aerial, but you will see that the foreground is nicely exposed and the sky, while featureless, is safely short of clipping on the histogram.

20120813_212451_000_LR.jpg
 
gad-westy said:
As well as what else has been said, try taking the picture at a time when the sun is behind you. It looks like the sun is somewhere in front of you in this shot which means that the foreground is dark in relation to the bright sky. Another time of day might see the foreground well lit. Of course, if there is a great big house behind you blocking the sunlight, then forget what I've just said.

A grad filter won't necessarily be ideal for this as you might find the graduated line is covering a lot more than just the sky, i.e the shed roof and the tree and they'll be dark on your final image. Good light is normally your best starting point...
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Hi Gad-westy

I am standing with my back to the house and the sun is behind the house. If you look very, very closely the house under the tree has a little bit of sun on it (maybe). I'll try and get a better shot during the day, day around 3/4 when we do get a bit of sun in the garden, due to our neighbours trees, which thankfully they are slowly but surely removing.

Again thanks for all the advice I've had so far.
 
shanebrennan1968 said:
Thanks Dave, yes I did as you said at the same time and yes you're right Very dark shed and garden. It isn't an important photo, just thought it would be good to practice in the garden around 7 with dimming light cause of the houses and trees, but still have a bright(ish) sky. Learning from my mistakes :)
Click to expand...

Do you have a tripod and cable/remote release, that would combat the camera shake, try shoot manual F8, ISO 400, half press to expose for the fence, then compensate by rolling the wheel until your at -1 to 2 stop, press the release
 
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Just Dave said:
Do you have a tripod and cable/remote release, that would combat the camera shake, try shoot manual F8, ISO 400, half press to expose for the fence, then compensate by rolling the wheel until your at -1 to 2 stop, press the release
Click to expand...

Hi Dave

No Tripod yet or cable/remote. They were on my birthday list - but didn't get them :'( nevermind, there's always next year. I will give your suggestion ago. alone with tdodd - learning all the time :)
 
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