overexposed skies

[jimim]

I know this is kinda a back and forth debate on the internet with opinions on how to not overexpose skies, but I'm looking to u all here for some advice cause when in disney skies are such a big part of shooting the castle and other landscape to get the full picture at times.

i'm using a canon 7d btw.

i don't really want to use filters if i don't have to.

is my best tech going to be to spot meter the sky, lock, and then recompose and shoot?

if i dial down the exposure then at times the pic is darker and the sky really isn't much different.

when i use evaluative metering I always get blown out skies no matter how blue they are if I just focus on my subject and go.

i hope this isn't too broad of a subject. . . we leave in 14 days for our first summer down in wdw in 10 years. over the years we have stuck to fall, spring, winter times but this year with season passes figured we would just fly down and do a week to take advantage of the passes.

i know we are going to fry but we don't even really need to spend alot of time in the parks if we don't want to.

i kinda want ot use this trip as a playtime for my to shoot. i recently got the tokina ultrawide 2.8 so this will be something new for me too while down there.


thanks so much again,
jimi

 

[ukcatfan]

I have not really had any problems in that area. If you have had problems before, is it possibly due to the time of day? Mid day shots are tough with the intense sun in Florida.

 

[jimim]

I have not really had any problems in that area. If you have had problems before, is it possibly due to the time of day? Mid day shots are tough with the intense sun in Florida.

So u just pretty much point and shoot and ur skies are fine?

 

[disneyboy2003]

Typically, when I'm doing regular shooting with the sun behind my back, I don't get blown-out skies. In this situation when the sun is behind me, the sun brightens Cinderella's Castle, for example, and I usually get proper exposure for both the sky and the Castle.

However, if the sun is in front of me, and I'm taking a picture of the shadow side of Cinderella's Castle, then it's different. If I expose for the darker, shadowy Castle, then the skies are blown-out. If I expose for the brighter sky, then the Castle is too dark (underexposed).

Perhaps one way of addressing this is to do HDR (High Dynamic Range photography). Your Canon 7D actually has an exposure bracketing feature that allows you to take 3 successive photos, 1 right after the other. The 3 photos are at 0EV, -2EV, and +2EV (in English, 1 photo is at the "proper" exposure, 1 photo is 2-stops underexposed/darker, and 1 photo is 2-stops overexposed/brighter).

When you bring these 3 photos into your computer, you'd use an HDR program (Photoshop CS5 and Photomatix Pro are the 2 most popular, but there are dozens more out there). The HDR program will combine the best of these 3 photos into 1 composite photo with a properly exposed sky and a properly exposed castle.

Of course, all 3 photos should exactly line up with each other. To do this, you have to make sure that nothing moves when you take the 3 photos. You do this by either using a tripod, or you can use continuous burst mode so that all 3 photos are taken within a split second of each other.

Also, some people don't like the "HDR look", which appears to describe unrealistic, fantasy-like colors. You can actually control many of the HDR settings so that your HDR photo looks extremely realistic.

I actually use this technique quite a lot whenever the scene in front of me has super-bright bright areas and very dark shadow areas. So in the case of Cinderella's Castle being underexposed (darker) against a bright blue sky, I would consider doing HDR / exposure bracketing.

Hope that helps!

 

[TannerO]

It is an issue every photographer has to deal with. All consumer cameras cannot capture the same range of brightness/tones as the human eye in a single photo. When brightly lit, the sky is either too bright, or the foreground is either too dark, no matter what. As mentioned above, HDR is a way around this.

If you have your family in front of you, and want the sky in the background to look good, expose for the sky, and use your flash to brighten up your subject. You will be limited to 1/200 of a second shutter speed, unless you turn high-speed sync on you flash, but this GREATLY limits the power though, and doesn't work too well in intense sunlight. If your subject is STILL too dark, they need to move closer to the flash.

Also, shooting in RAW/CR2 format will give you SLIGHTLY more range to work with. Using a RAW editing program, you'll be able to pull in more cloud detail from the sky, or shadow details from the foreground.

 

[TannerO]

Also, just hope for some nice fluffly Florida clouds. By blocking the sun a little, it helps a lot with subject lighting, and the sky looks awesome.

The problem you are having is also a reason most photographers choose to shoot around sunrise and sunset, because the intensity of the sun in the sky and the light hitting the earth are within a range that can be captured by the camera, so no matter what you expose for, everything looks right.

 

[cpbjgc]

I know you say you don't want to use filters, but you should really reconsider that position and think about getting a circular polarizer. It will help to get blue skies in your shots.

I also agree with using a fill flash on backlit subjects, set the meter for the sky, then let the flash make the proper exposure on your subjects.

If you do decide to try HDR, I believe the 7d can bracket from -3EV to +3EV, giving a little more range to work with on AEB.

Have a great trip!

 

[ukcatfan]

So u just pretty much point and shoot and ur skies are fine?

No, what I am saying is that during the time of day when the sun is high in the sky, the intensity of the Florida sun is really bright and it does seem more difficult to get a bright blue sky. A CP filter will also not help too much at that time either. It is better to shoot when the sun is low in the sky. Like it was mentioned, it is more difficult to shoot when you are facing the sun, so your angle might need to be changed depending on if it is morning or evening. I almost never meter by spot anymore with my current camera (Pentax K-x). The metering has improved since my camera before it (Pentax K100d). I imagine that your meter should be pretty good since your camera costs like 3x what mine did.

 

[ukcatfan]

I also shoot RAW, so if something is a little under exposed in the shot, I can easily fix it in post process.

 

[dpic]

The best way to deal with it is a 4x6 neutral density filter. Place the darker part where the sky is the brightest. I just hold mine in front of the lens. Works extremely well. As far as not wanting to use filters, take multiple exposures and make magic in post-processing.

 

[wildeflowers]

At certain times of the day, without an extremely powerful strobe light, getting a blue sky will be really difficult. Your best bet is to try to shoot earlier in the morning, before 9-10 or later in the evening, after 5-6 depending on the season. I would still use fill flash during these times.

Do you use an external flash? I use a 580 EX. You can usually fill enough during the day to get a nice sky. Well, not the whole castle of course, but if you're shooting people in front of the castle, for example. Use the sunny 16 rule, shoot manually and fill with the flash. Even if you're shooting in RAW, you are much better nailing the exposure or overexposing just slightly, than underexposing. An underexposed image will have much worse digital noise when adjusted up. It's not a pretty look. Unless you bracket, and shoot multiple exposures, getting the whole castle with the sun behind it and a blue sky both at the right exposure at midday is just not going to happen.

I personally don't use filters too much either. I find them to be a pain. As a pro photographer, I am mostly looking for the best exposure on faces, and even if I want blue skies, faces are more important to me. Filters don't really help that situation, but fill flash does.

 

[bob100]

I know this is kinda a back and forth debate on the internet with opinions on how to not overexpose skies, but I'm looking to u all here for some advice cause when in disney skies are such a big part of shooting the castle and other landscape to get the full picture at times.

i'm using a canon 7d btw.

i don't really want to use filters if i don't have to.

is my best tech going to be to spot meter the sky, lock, and then recompose and shoot?

if i dial down the exposure then at times the pic is darker and the sky really isn't much different.

when i use evaluative metering I always get blown out skies no matter how blue they are if I just focus on my subject and go.

i hope this isn't too broad of a subject. . . we leave in 14 days for our first summer down in wdw in 10 years. over the years we have stuck to fall, spring, winter times but this year with season passes figured we would just fly down and do a week to take advantage of the passes.

i know we are going to fry but we don't even really need to spend alot of time in the parks if we don't want to.

i kinda want ot use this trip as a playtime for my to shoot. i recently got the tokina ultrawide 2.8 so this will be something new for me too while down there.

yes, meter off the sky and recompose. I use center weighted metering and shoot in RAW so if the foreground is a underexposed I can easily go back and adjust

 

[YesDear]

If you use photoshop, I would be more concerned about the subject of the picture. You could have a beautiful sky and a really underexposed subject. Kind of like a beach picture. If you meter for the sand the subject is too dark.

You can replace the sky easily in photoshop.

 

[zackiedawg]

I do not have any issues with overblown skies in the mid-afternoon or high-noon unless the sky itself is ugly and overcast - as long as the sky itself is blue, that's what I get when I shoot. I don't use filters, or shoot RAW and process...because I live here in Florida, I am quite used to shooting in bright sun conditions and have dealt with it all my life - it's helped me figure out what settings work best for me.

First, I use center-weight metering - rarely ever spot, and never matrix/wide. With centerweight, most cameras will give you just the right emphasis on the subject to avoid them being badly underexposed, while still taking strong consideration for the background sky. Second, I dial in a little -EV and leave it there almost all the time. With -.3 to -.7 EV, I can tune down the skies just enough in centerweight metering to control the brightest spots and avoid overexposure without having to shoot in RAW or do a lot of post processing. Third, I watch my apertures, and try to keep them fairly small - I'm usually shooting in bright light at F8 to F16 or so, depending on the lens. And one other thing - most digital cameras nowadays come with some pretty nifty capabilities built in to help adjust shadows - D-lighting, DRO, etc - they come with many names. I use them - I find they can work magnificently well at bringing up the shadows just a hair, enough to perfectly compensate for a slight underexposure or bias towards the sky when metering, and deliver the balance of well exposed subject AND controlled sky. On my camera, it's called DRO, and it uses a special software developed by a company called Apical - some other cameras might use the same system, or will have their own version that might not be quite as effective, but still capable. If you have it, it's worth getting to know.

Basic other advice, like keeping sun to your back when possible, avoiding too much light intrusion from the side, using a lens hood to avoid flare and deepen contrast, using trees or other shade to stand under when shooting if possible, I'll throw in just to enforce them as good practice.

And to a small degree, your lens choice matters too. I have a few lenses that produce a nice blue sky, or an OK blue sky, but can then slap on a different lens, same time of day, same basic settings, end end up with a killer blue sky. The lens itself, be it the focal length, the glass used, the coatings applied, etc all can be a factor in how blue your blue is. My Tamron 10-24mm UWA is especially capable with delivering laser-blue intense skies, even in the worst high sun of noon.

I shoot a VAST majority of my scenic and landscape shots at Disney, and almost everywhere else, between 11am and 4pm - by all accounts the singularly worst time of day to photograph. It's mostly my vacation schedule - I can't be bothered to wake early and am not a rope-dropper, so I'm usually hitting the parks somewhere around noon. After 4 hours of walking around in the heat, I'm usually ready to take a break, change for dinner, etc. So my shooting lands squarely during the nasty, high, shadowless, noonish harsh sun. With the right basic techniques and settings and a little care, blue skies at noon should be no problem without filters or post processing.