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JWT
Posts: 788 Officer
White birds
JWT
Posts: 788 Officer
white birds seem to blow out & lose all the detail. the light this morning was really flat but they still washed out
any tips on how to minimize this?
any tips on how to minimize this?
Replies
Or use RAW
Never seem more learned than the people you are with. Wear your learning like a pocket watch and keep it hidden. Do not pull it out to count the hours, but give the time when you are asked. --- Lord Chesterfield
spot meter and use raw as suggested by others....
tim
The Real White Dog
if you can't catch a fish...catch a buzz....
#12976, joined 8-17-2002
Underexpose AND use RAW file format. White birds = no fun in the middle of the day. Period.
I usually shoot "A" when chasing birds, that would be "Av" for you Canon shooters with an EV = -0.3 to -1.0 just trying to hold the white hightlights.
DSC_5617crop by Flcrutch, on Flickr
thats a tough shot...
you had everything going against you...
dark shadow background and a very white object....
is the shot pretty much out of the camera or did you have to use a little pp to get what you got...
tim
The Real White Dog
if you can't catch a fish...catch a buzz....
#12976, joined 8-17-2002
Unadjusted (other than crop) of the original.
DSC_5617straightcrop by Flcrutch, on Flickr
Shoot raw if possible. During the editing process, hover the mouse over the white areas checking to see if any values of 255 255 255 occur. That would be clipping. I believe it's ok to clip a little as long as it's only a pixel here and there mixed in. 255 is the maximum value for the red, green and blue channels, so 255 255 255 is blown out white. In a perfect world, you'd want no values at 255. In Adobe Camera RAW, I'd use "exposure" slider to bring it all globally down. You could also use the highlights and/or the white slider. You might have to compensate by boosting the black or shadows sliders.
The one thing you don't want is a grey bird. That's exactly what you'll get if you try to spot meter a white bird or anything white. The same goes for snow or a bride's white dress. It's also why I don't shoot in one of the automatic modes like Auto, Program, A (Av) or S (Tv). You're asking the camera to choose grey unless you compensate. I put my camera in Manual mode and meter something green. Green grass is around 18% grey to your meter. I then underexpose slightly to allow that "nudge" room in processing to get white exposed correctly for my taste. It's really quite easy. Just learn exposure and don't get trapped into becoming addicted to auto modes regardless on which auto mode. They are really all the same.
You might also consider not centering the subject. You've got that Egret right in the middle of the screen. That can work if you move it up or down, but not so much right in the middle. That's a lot of dead space behind him. I'd crop it out. Up to you, though. :-)
Have fun and take care.
thanks/JW
i still use it for images that come out of the camera pretty clean and don't require much tinkering...
however, their hdr program really just doesn't work to well...
topaz labs has a stand alone that accepts all of their plugins and is pretty inexpensive when you buy the whole bundle...
CS 6 is at the end of the road...there will be no more releases of it...
instead, adobe is focusing on LR and 3rd party plugins like Topaz labs...
tim
The Real White Dog
if you can't catch a fish...catch a buzz....
#12976, joined 8-17-2002
I already fill up my cards and drives too fast shooting jpg, I could imagine dealing with raw. Maybe someday.
i can't imagine you not shooting raw, especially with an fx body....
too much info in raw not to take advantage with...
but that's just me...
Craig T. got me in the habit several years ago, so that's what i do...and man, it has saved a lot of images....
tim
The Real White Dog
if you can't catch a fish...catch a buzz....
#12976, joined 8-17-2002
:Agree
The viewfinder on my old pentax Optio W30 died so I finally replaced it with a Canon PowerShot SX40 HS. Doesn't take any better photos and isn't waterproof, but it looks much more like a big girl camera. Anyway...the following aren't posted for image quality, but for what crawled unseen into the images.
pretty surprising images and the egret doesn't seem to have any concern....
also glad that you have chosen to become one of the elite...a canon owner...;)
tim
The Real White Dog
if you can't catch a fish...catch a buzz....
#12976, joined 8-17-2002
Happens when you use canons. You miss stuff. :wink
Never seem more learned than the people you are with. Wear your learning like a pocket watch and keep it hidden. Do not pull it out to count the hours, but give the time when you are asked. --- Lord Chesterfield
:rolleyes
Ha-ha-ha
:wink
Should I say 'thank you'? It's takes a certain 'willing suspension of ego' on my part to post with you folks, (truly)! :grin
I'm just beginning to learn to use the camera. I like it so far. If that baby gator was just a little smaller, it might be worried about the egret. The original shot was taken a few months ago from a distance and the tail of the gator looked like a reed...didn't see it at all until this thread had me looking for a white bird image.
:puke
Now with that said. If I was a portrait photographer, I would change to Canon because I think it renders skin better.
i been waitin' fer the blow back...
i wasn't disappointed....
The Real White Dog
if you can't catch a fish...catch a buzz....
#12976, joined 8-17-2002
With that said, as a portrait photographer, I chose Nikon because of the superior skin tone rendering. ;-)
Craig....
Sweeeet.....
Larry...
i believe you nailed it....
tim
The Real White Dog
if you can't catch a fish...catch a buzz....
#12976, joined 8-17-2002