how would you have metered this scene?

[tc333]

was out with the d7k and 16-85 yesterday. the sky kept going from a nice blue to a thin cloudy white. how would you have metered this scene as the sky is overwhelming the pic. all comments welcome



--
Tony

 

[bremzer]

Wait for much better light, and then meter the scene.
bremzer

 

[Tomas36]

I would agree...the time of the day us just highly unfavorable to the scene...metering can't make wonders...

However, you could approach closer and go wider to fill the scene with castle...Skies are totally unnecessary here...looking white like this...

Additionally, I personally never get to much emotionally involved in choosing the proper metering mode. I always go with matrix, and in case of need for adjustment, I go with exposure compensation button - the magic button that unmistakeably does the trick every time. In digital era, there's no need to save film...just shoot and review on the screen until you get it right...

 

[Sosua]

Underexpose, then pull the shadows back in post.

Or shoot a 3 bracket burst and get blending.

but ideally... shoot in better light
--

http://www.samwaldron.co.nz

 

[Jon Rty]

With the D7000, when shooting raw, always meter for the highlights. Meter just until or a tiny bit past the point where the white clips, and lift the shadows in post. When shooting JPGS, turn AD-L to extra high, and do the same.

 

[justin_time]

I think the camera meter did the best job in difficult circumstances. I'd agree it would be ideal to wait for better light - blue sky or heavily overcast / thunder clouds.

 

[tc333]

thanks guys....better light is not always an option unless you can hang around. as been said i think i could have composed it better to not have so much sky and should have metered for highlights. maybe i should look at using the bracketing feature more too! oh well i am better prepared for next time
--
Tony

 

[mrbr]

Hi,

Can you please post the picture with intact EXIF information so we can see the settings you used.

Eg : did you enable ADL ??





Greetings,
Marc
--
ps : some interesting tutorial websites :

http://www.ronbigelow.com/articles/articles.htm
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials.htm
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/
http://www.normankoren.com/sitemap.html



my photos (examples, see dpreview galleries):

 

[tc333]

unfortunatly i made the rookie mistake of importing the raw files into lightroom and then formatting the card so i cant see the proper exif as lr does not carry it over in conversion. i will check once the camera battery has charged if adl is on or not. i think it was on normal setting.

what do others use for adl settings? adjust with the scene or keep on auto etc?
--
Tony

 

[Fjrjacko]

I take photos like that all the time where the dynamic range is way more than the camera can handle .

I have a D60 and a D90 there is not much difference both will need to be adjusted the same .
Its not difficult , expose for the highlights and adjust shadow with PP
its just as easy with JPEG or RAW

I use manual the most , usually select the aperture I want and adjust the SS to suit
you can use any mode and adjust with exp-comp
Most of the time waiting for the right light is not a option

 

[rpps]

unfortunatly i made the rookie mistake of importing the raw files into lightroom and then formatting the card so i cant see the proper exif as lr does not carry it over in conversion. i will check once the camera battery has charged if adl is on or not. i think it was on normal setting.

what do others use for adl settings? adjust with the scene or keep on auto etc?
--
Tony

I leave mine set on Auto then use NX2 to develop the RAW files, I can then use ADL if I choose to inside NX2 but mostly I leave it unchanged. I use make sure I meter for the highlights like the sky then use shadow and highlights option to bring up the shadows.

I had a similar problems to you this week have a look here, I'm still learning. http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1006&thread=38335500

 

[Fjrjacko]

ADL set to extra high will help but you will still have to expose for the highlights
I mostly have set ADL set to auto

unfortunatly i made the rookie mistake of importing the raw files into lightroom and then formatting the card so i cant see the proper exif as lr does not carry it over in conversion. i will check once the camera battery has charged if adl is on or not. i think it was on normal setting.

what do others use for adl settings? adjust with the scene or keep on auto etc?
--
Tony

 

[Fjrjacko]

If you stuff up , fill the sky in later

 

[tc333]

i wish i had the know how on how to do that to the sky. thanks for the example

If you stuff up , fill the sky in later

--
Tony

 

[kormendi_adam]

I would have used EV bracketing and meter for the sky.

Given that the D7000 has very low noise in the shadows, I would have brought up the shadows in post processing.
Thus, hopefully, I would have preserved the blue sky.

 

[Jon Rty]

Ah yes, the famous turquoise sky of england.

If you stuff up , fill the sky in later

 

[rpps]

I used CS5 and a Topaz graduated filter plugin to adjust your photo

 

[Midnighter]

For a scene like that better metering could not save it.... the dynamic range is just too high. Post processing would help a lot but as for taking the picture itself the only thing that springs to mind (short of not taking the shot or coming back later) is a graduated neutral density filter.

 

[rondhamalam]

was out with the d7k and 16-85 yesterday. the sky kept going from a nice blue to a thin cloudy white. how would you have metered this scene as the sky is overwhelming the pic. all comments welcome

Send me the RAW, maybe I can help

Source:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1021&message=38291559

Here two examples.

I exposed properly on the girl and the canoes, well.... look nice, but I lost the details of the sky.





So I exposed properly to the sky. Very nice blue sky with the clouds hovering. But .... the girl and the canoes are dark





So what to do? Usually the HDR shooters do bracketing of multiple exposures.

But, hang on................. why multiple files if you can get it from one file... !!!

Using a good dynamic range capable camera, with only "one shot", one exposure on the sky, or on the MIDDLE (not too bright and not too dark).

For this example I exposed to the sky. Then I lift the shadows (dark) area and post process WITHOUT multiple bracketing.

I still have a lot of details in the shadows area that I can lift up. Good details are details that are not clipped (no shadows clipped nor highlights clipped), and no banding at low iso.

The process actually involves pushing up shadows and pulling down highlights, that called Tone-Mapping, but this time it is from only "one" RAW file.





'
'
Another example, I exposed "properly" to the boats. The sky was blown away





So I exposed "properly" to the sky. But everything else was dark.





The same as previous example I can expose to the sky and lift the dark.
But the best way is to expose in the MIDDLE, not too bright and not too dark.
This can be an Average metering or Evaluative - Matrix metering.

Then I push shadows up and pull highlights down.





About "Dynamic range" etc, DxOmark explain them here:

http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/Learn-more/DxOMark-scores/Sensor-scores/Use-Case-Scores

Basically a good dynamic range capable camera can capture all details on a high dynamic range scene, without clipping on highlights or shadows, with low shadow noise, and no banding.

In the world there are unlimited number of conditions where the dynamic range is so high.

DxOmark said Dynamic Range is important for Landscape. But in fact for JOURNALISTIC and street photography where there are a lot of various "unpredictable" conditions, the Dynamic Range often becomes very important. (as well as High Iso and decent AF).

 

[Fjrjacko]

You can do the same with a JPEG