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blown out highlights in windows - what am I doing wrong?

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jenswrens

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I'm trying to shoot some interior photos, and no matter what settings I change (it seems - I'm sure I haven't tried every combination), the windows are always blown out. (pic 1 below) How can I avoid this? If I spot meter the window, and then shoot, the window shows up fine, but then the whole room is dark (picture 2)

And when I'm scrolling through each picture's properties on camera, there's a screen where the windows blink black at me and it says "highlights" at the bottom - duh, like I can't see them for myself already. But no magic genie pops out and tells me how to fix them, so I don't see the point of this little screen, really.

I'm a photo newbie, so I need a "keep it simple, stupid" answer if possible. Thanks.

Pic 1



Pic 2

 
Blown out highlights in windows? Switch to linux... simple!

Seriously though, you're doing nothing wrong. You're just limited by the dynamic range of the camera sensor. No camera on the market is capable of as high a dynamic range as the human eye so, as the photographer, you just have to choose what part of the photo you want properly exposed.

It is possible to take two (or more) photos at different exposures and merge them together to create a high dynamic range (HDR) photo if you really need both parts properly exposed - I'm sure someone below will tell you how to do it.

--
Jimi.K.
 
Use your flash. Set camera to manual exposure. Set the aperture to something around f8, meter the scene out the window adjusting the shutter to get the correct exposure, the shoot the room with the flash up. Manual mode will force the flash to use iTTL (not BL) and will fire the flash for a duration to expose the room properly (much shorter than your manual shutter setting which will get the window scene correct.
--
Never put off until tomorrow. . .
that which you can avoid doing altogether.
 
jenswrens said:
I'm a photo newbie, so I need a "keep it simple, stupid" answer if
possible. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Which camera are you using?

If your camera has D-lighting correction, you just might be able to get a good picture without using a flash, otherwise lower the window shades to lessen the light from outside or wait until it's a little darker outside.
The other solution is indeed using a flash as suggested by other posters.

Marco
 
I'm using the D40... I really wanted to get the sun streaming across the bed/floor (yes, like I see it with my eyes!) but then also be able to see what's out the window as well rather than having it be a white blob.

--

'If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough.' ~ Mario Andretti
 
jenswrens said:
I'm using the D40... I really wanted to get the sun streaming across
the bed/floor (yes, like I see it with my eyes!) but then also be
able to see what's out the window as well rather than having it be a
white blob.
Click to expand...
Did you try using the D-lighting feature described on page 90?

Marco
 
I don't think the D40 has D-lighting. The D60 does
ocrampix said:
jenswrens said:
I'm using the D40... I really wanted to get the sun streaming across
the bed/floor (yes, like I see it with my eyes!) but then also be
able to see what's out the window as well rather than having it be a
white blob.
Click to expand...
Did you try using the D-lighting feature described on page 90?

Marco
Click to expand...
--
Nikon D60 18-55vr & 55-200vr
Casio Z750
 
HDR is about the only solution that i would trust for these cases.

your eyes can see both, but then again your eyes have a MUCH larger ability to capture dynamic range aswell. to get both it's eiter meter the window and expose for that, add fill flash you light the room. or take multiple shots at different exposures and combine those on the computer.

i find it tricky to get these kind of shots to work..
--
Ronny
http://www.flickr.com/photos/airclown/
 
Whoa baby! Now THAT's what I'm talkin bout!!



Set f stop to 8, forced the flash on (TTL), allowed the shutter to auto set. Of course, the natural light isn't the same in this shot, but the sun is streaming in the next one and it still worked. Woo hoo! The flash washed the foreground out quite a lot so I had to step down the exposure a bit, but then... there was the magic! No post-processing required - this is straight out of the camera. (Yes, the D40 has D-lighting but it didn't change anything when I tried it before).

Now will someone explain to me what I just did and why it worked?



--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenswrens/

'If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough.' ~ Mario Andretti
 
It worked because you have balanced the lighting ratios. Your original photo needed more light, so you added more light. It's just that simple.

The flash is a good way to do this, but may not always be powerful enough to light a large room. That's when you can try HDR and get results like this.



A flash would have reflected in the windows. I'm just learning interiors myself, but it is a very challenging type of photography.
--
-------------------------------------------------
http://www.katscan.smugmug.com
 
I tried another solution and got an acceptable result. Opened your "dark" pic in Capture NX and applied D-lighting. Immediately all the detail in the underexposed areas came up. Then used a colour point to add a bit more brightness to the walls and bed, et voilà....Not quite as good as your latest out-of-camera shot, but not bad either.
--
Alex
 
Wow, Kathryne! That is stunning! What lens are you using?

So, what exactly is HDR? Is it something out of Photoshop? Photoshop gives me a brain-ache. I think I am too impatient for it.

---

'If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough.' ~ Mario Andretti
 
Your first image is slightly overexposed regarding bed cover. I think -1/3 or 2/3 EV would correct that in exposure. Other is almos correct for outdoors.

No miracle possible.

Intereior is more than 7 stops lower in light than exterior, likely, can't acommodate that in on pic, DR of camera won't cover that. Solution, atificial lighting or composition of two images.
--
Regards, Renato.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11435304@N04

 
I've not bothered reading the other comments, I'm sure there is sound advice from all.

But I like the second one as is, intrigue and mystique, I wouldn't want to change that at all.

--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/leechypics/

Make your own mind up - there are no rules in this game.
 
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