Did I expose these D2X pics correctly?

[Steve S]

Both of these were shot @ISO 800 with no NR used on them at all. This 1st one was, as you can see, severely backlit by the window, even though it was extremely overcast outside & beginning to snow. (I know, I should'a used my SB for this one, but I forgot to bring it) In an effort to strike some sort of balance between the exposure of the window and the main subject matter, I went with a -.66 Exp Comp. Should I have went with even more neg exp comp, considering that the main subject matter was already starting to underexpose?

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Focal Length 38 mm
Exposure Time 1/25 sec (handheld using the Ron R technique)
Aperture f/4
ISO Equivalent 800
Exposure Bias -2/3
White Balance Auto -3
Metering Mode center weighted


This is Newton, the BIG 'ol male clubhouse cat at the proshop.
Again, I used a -.66 Exp Comp in an effort to preserve the whites in his fur. Did I expose for this one correctly? Very low light in the clubhouse, since it's not even open yet.

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Focal Length 55 mm
Exposure Time 1/100 sec
Aperture f/2.8
ISO Equivalent 800
Exposure Bias -2/3
White Balance Auto -3
Metering Mode center weighted

 

[Iliah]

Hi Steve,

The cat - hard to say. See those reddish spots lacking detail on bright white? That can be result of overexposure, wrong white balance, or inappropriate raw conversion.

The shop photo - IMHO underexposed. How much more details would you loose if you exposure would be higher?

In any case, conversion plays an important role.

Very whimsical camera

 

[Steve S]

Sadly, I agree on both counts. I underexposed 'em both. Thanks Iliah.

 

[Flew]

Steve,

My take on the first one is that you were in a no-win situation without your flash. I don't see how you could go with less -EV. I mean, the window looks like it is *glowing*.... :? I think you did about as well as could be on that one, considering that you didn't have your flash.

Regards,

Frank

 

[Steve S]

Good thing these were just test shots, huh?

I was actually at this country club to meet the club pro and discuss a group shot I'll be doing of him and his coworkers. I WILL be bring my SB with me for that shoot! Thanks for your thoughts, Frank. He said if it he liked the results, he'd would consider retaining me as his official "Event Photograper". That might be fun!

 

[Iliah]

Dear Steve,

Let me ride my favorite horse a little...

Non-optimal image can be resulting not only from wrong exposure, but from wrong processing, wrong white balance (especially with D2x), and/or wrong tonal curve.

It's hard to say how much noise will you gain in boosting shadows on the shop shot, and how much highlights can you preserve in processing the lighter part of it.

It is also hard to say whether it is possible to compensate for false colours in the highlights near the cat's nose.

May I say that both of these photos are pretty close to what I think is good tonal distribution. I'm sure we need to gain more experience with this camera - especially in terms of exposure and white balance. Also, more NEF processing efforts are needed to et the best out of the shots.

New metering Nikon have in this camera seems to be tricked pretty easy with bright spots in the scene, as if hardware designers presumed more dynamic range from the sensor then Capture/in-camera processing is getting.

Looking at the histogram of RAW data from D2x, I see that in a lot of cases channels make a sharp spike at the left, with absolutely perpendicular right front. This sort of histogram rules highlight recovery out completely. What makes me wonder that this effect is not something consistent. Looking at the scene and setting the exposure, I can't predict the histogram with the certainty I'm accustomed to. So, more shooting, more bracketing, and more analysis.

 

[Flew]

Re: Good thing these were just test shots, huh?

He said if it he liked the results, he'd would consider retaining me as his official "Event Photograper". That might be fun!

No Kidding!! I wish that I could find a way to make a few $$ from this great hobby. I'm not looking for a career change, but my wonderful wife Janie would be real happy if I could find a way to help pay for some of this danged equipment....

Good luck on this one. Sounds like it could be a lot of fun.

Frank

 

[Steve S]

Intereseting you should mention WB here

These were shot Indoors with Auto -3 WB, and I made no efforts to change their WB. There was some window light with a little Incansescent mixed in. I really did have to bring up the midtones a bunch in NC too.

 

[greyflash]

On your first image about the only way to make it work is to expose for the window and then use your SB800 to correctly expose for the rest. The cat seems to be exposed properly to me.

 

[CraigH.]

On your first image about the only way to make it work is to expose for the window and then use your SB800 to correctly expose for the rest. The cat seems to be exposed properly to me.

Agreed, fill light is needed here.

 

[Larry Gleason]

Well, I wanted to play with the golf shop since that is the kind of real shooting work I have to do. Windows like that drive me crazy but sometimes it is possible to work them in using the light for effect and most of all watching your composition. Given that I was playing with a processed file, I spent all of 20 seconds playing with it.

Before

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After

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[greyflash]

Well done Larry.

 

[Larry Gleason]

Well done Larry.

Thanks, Gordon! As I have indicated before I do very little post processing so that is a weak area for me. I depend on getting the shots out of the camera. In this instance I used the technique that I recently described in the Technical Forum.

 

[andreasb]

Re: Good thing these were just test shots, huh?

I can almost relate: My wonderful wife Melanie told me when I wanted to buy the Sigma 800 that it was a good idea; better the photgraphy as a hobby then hanging around in bars

He said if it he liked the results, he'd would consider retaining me as his official "Event Photograper". That might be fun!

No Kidding!! I wish that I could find a way to make a few $$ from this great hobby. I'm not looking for a career change, but my wonderful wife Janie would be real happy if I could find a way to help pay for some of this danged equipment....

Good luck on this one. Sounds like it could be a lot of fun.

Frank

 

[Flew]

Re: Good thing these were just test shots, huh?

I can almost relate: My wonderful wife Melanie told me when I wanted to buy the Sigma 800 that it was a good idea; better the photography as a hobby then hanging around in bars

He said if it he liked the results, he'd would consider retaining me as his official "Event Photographer". That might be fun!

No Kidding!! I wish that I could find a way to make a few $$ from this great hobby. I'm not looking for a career change, but my wonderful wife Janie would be real happy if I could find a way to help pay for some of this danged equipment....

Good luck on this one. Sounds like it could be a lot of fun.

Frank

Andreas,

Let me paint the real world scenario.... 8)

I was in my office the other day (browsing the Café of course....;-)), when I heard this awful screaming coming from Janie's office. When I ran in there, she was squeezing the tar out of a poor defenseless penny....LOL :lol: :lol:

My life.... :wink:

Frank

PS - If she ever reads this forum, I'm a dead man.... :?

 

[realeyz]

My opinion on shots like this is no matter how much post processing and NEF manipulation you do there is only so much that can be done when both ends of the dynamic range have been breached or 'clipped' like this. You really have to do more work to control or work with the light at the time of the shot - go back to the location when its twilight out or use some studio flash as has been suggested to balance out the scene. You can also try multiple exposures on a tripod. I know these things arent always possible so then you just have to decide which is more important to you - shadow detail or highlight detail.

 

[Steve S]

Thanks Gordon, of course, you're right

On your first image about the only way to make it work is to expose for the window and then use your SB800 to correctly expose for the rest. The cat seems to be exposed properly to me.

I do have another test shot that didn't have any neg exp comp dialed in, and even though the window looks like the face of the sun the rest of the shot does look better. I think I'll go back and have another look at that one to see if I can made it look like Larry's redo. Oh Larrrryyyy?

 

[Steve S]

A golden opportunity just presented itself

He said if it he liked the results, he'd would consider retaining me as his official "Event Photograper". That might be fun!

No Kidding!! I wish that I could find a way to make a few $$ from this great hobby. I'm not looking for a career change, but my wonderful wife Janie would be real happy if I could find a way to help pay for some of this danged equipment....

Good luck on this one. Sounds like it could be a lot of fun.

Frank

Although the golf pro didn't get too specific, (since I was there as a guest of the new teaching pro to talk about his new brochure we're doing), he did say as a golf event photog, I would sometimes take shots of the participants beforehand, and of course, the winners at the end of the golf tournaments & outings held there. The good part is that I don't live far from the club, and it'd be a breeze to go there twice in a day's time. Assuming there's also going to be a few nice looking, well dressed ladies there too, 8) I'm all for it, man! As you know, people shots are my very favorite thing to do! :twisted: :shock:

 

[Steve S]

OK, Larry, spill it!

Well done Larry.

Thanks, Gordon! As I have indicated before I do very little post processing so that is a weak area for me. I depend on getting the shots out of the camera. In this instance I used the technique that I recently described in the Technical Forum.

That is an improvement, so kindly direct me to the thread you got this tweak from. I wanna try it on the other better exposed shot. Also, do you think I should correct the lens distortion? I did do a minor frame rotation, but also notice that the cabinets are skewed.

 

[Steve S]

Thak goodness this was just a fun shot

My opinion on shots like this is no matter how much post processing and NEF manipulation you do there is only so much that can be done when both ends of the dynamic range have been breached or 'clipped' like this. You really have to do more work to control or work with the light at the time of the shot - go back to the location when its twilight out or use some studio flash as has been suggested to balance out the scene. You can also try multiple exposures on a tripod. I know these things arent always possible so then you just have to decide which is more important to you - shadow detail or highlight detail.

No one asked me to take the shot, I just did it on my own while the teaching pro and the club pro were talking amongst themselves. Even though it was completely overcast that day, the sun was directly outside that window in question. A late day shot would put the sun in the 2 smaller west facing windows, instead of this south facing window, and would've been a Much preferable direction for this shot. That said, I do need to always remember to bring my SB800 in the future. Heck, I suppose I could even drag out one (or more) of my Alien Bees if I needed to light something perfectly evenly.