Playing With Exposure Compensation

[Speed]

These were taken on 12 November, when I took my old college buddy Rich and his kids over to Cape Lookout. Playing with backlighting and exposure compensation.

First image is metered value, second one is -1.0 EV to give a silhouette, and the third one is +1.0 EV to show detail. And yes, I knew before I pressed the shutter that the sky would be blown in number three.

[adina]

Did you know the sky is blown out in that last one?

[walterick]

Hey Speed I noticed the sky was blown out in that last one. Did you notice that?

LOL Adina

Nice shots man. Must be fun to have a 80-200 to play with...

[another view]

You know, you can take all three images into Photoshop for detail in the lighthouse and the sky... ;)

[Speed]

Did you know the sky is blown out in that last one?

Smart @$$!

:-D

You're a pretty smart @$$, but still a smart @$$!!

;-)

And I love you just the way you are!!!

:-)

[Speed]

Hey Speed I noticed the sky was blown out in that last one. Did you notice that?

LOL Adina

Nice shots man. Must be fun to have a 80-200 to play with...

"...in that last one."

You're got to be kidding!

"Did you notice that?"

No, I didn't. But now that you mention it, I think you're right!

;-)

Thanks for playing along my friend.

[Speed]

You know, you can take all three images into Photoshop for detail in the lighthouse and the sky... ;)

I've read that, and I gather it's all the rage at the digital workshops these days. Take two photo's: expose one for the highlights and the other for the shadows. Then combine them in Photoshop for a composite image with detail in both. Sounds like a great way to add several stops of detail to an image.

Unfortunately, my limited knowledge and abilities with Photoshop is nowhere near good enough to even attempt that. One of these days, I'd like to take one of those Photoshop workshops and learn how to do things like that, along with working with RAW images, and optimizing them, and the other good stuff they teach you.

Right now, I'm a large, fine, Jpeg, kind of guy, who does some basic stuff - cropping, resizing, cloning out dust, grayscale conversions, etc., - the really quick and easy stuff.

Thanks for the comments Steve. I do appreciate them my friend.

[another view]

Speed, here's how to do it. Have to admit I haven't done much of it myself, and I hear Photoshop CS2 has a way to automate this process using a few or several images taken at different exposures.

I went to Nikon's Digital 201 class about two years ago. It's worth the time to check it out, although it's a pretty expensive day at about $150. You won't learn a lot of step-by-step, but you'll see what the tools are, what they can do, and a little bit about how to do it.

[Speed]

Speed, here's how to do it. Have to admit I haven't done much of it myself, and I hear Photoshop CS2 has a way to automate this process using a few or several images taken at different exposures.

I went to Nikon's Digital 201 class about two years ago. It's worth the time to check it out, although it's a pretty expensive day at about $150. You won't learn a lot of step-by-step, but you'll see what the tools are, what they can do, and a little bit about how to do it.

That sounds like the sort of thing I need to attend. Actually, I probably ought to attend several classes, to learn the "here's what they do", to the "step by step how to".

I'll keep looking for when they are coming to a town in the eastern half of NC. For some strange reason, they never come to the coast...

Thanks for the info buddy!

[Steph_B]

There is also a nice e-book from John Shaw with tons of practical example about how to use PS. From simple stuff to more advanaced things such as blending and manual stitching. He also provides useful info concerning printing on Epson printers.

John Shaw is selling this book directly from his website (www.johnshawphoto.com). A worthy investment as far as I am concerned!

Disclaimer: I don't get any commission... and I don't do refunds if you don't like it!

Cheers,

Steph.

[Speed]

There is also a nice e-book from John Shaw with tons of practical example about how to use PS. From simple stuff to more advanaced things such as blending and manual stitching. He also provides useful info concerning printing on Epson printers.

John Shaw is selling this book directly from his website (www.johnshawphoto.com). A worthy investment as far as I am concerned!

Disclaimer: I don't get any commission... and I don't do refunds if you don't like it!

Cheers,

Steph.

Hey Steph,

Thanks for the info! I love John Shaw. He's my favorite photographer/writer. I love his style of writing, how he explains things. His photography isn't half bad either! ;-)

I knew he had traded in his trusty F5 for digital, but I didn't realize he had how-to articles on digital photography. I'll definitely check it out. Thank you so much for the heads up.

[shutterman]

been reading up on the subject.......

wouldn't this be a great place to use the histogram while viewing the image on the camera? i have read some folks like the histogram superimposed over the image and pay more attention to that then the image when in tough exposure situations.

not too much of an expert on it at all so please chime in!

thanks,
Wes

[Speed]

been reading up on the subject.......

wouldn't this be a great place to use the histogram while viewing the image on the camera? i have read some folks like the histogram superimposed over the image and pay more attention to that then the image when in tough exposure situations.

not too much of an expert on it at all so please chime in!

thanks,
Wes

Indeed. Unfortunately for me, I primarily shoot film. My version of a digital camera is a Coolpix 5700, which doesn't show you the histogram. I can pull it up with PS Elements, but it's too late then.

But that's OK, I'm sure there's a DSLR in my future. ;-)

[ken1953]

been reading up on the subject.......

wouldn't this be a great place to use the histogram while viewing the image on the camera? i have read some folks like the histogram superimposed over the image and pay more attention to that then the image when in tough exposure situations.

not too much of an expert on it at all so please chime in!

thanks,
Wes

This is something I've been reading about while I sit here waiting for my Nikon Coolpix 8400, which does have this feature. I'd be real interested in others "chiming in" about this feature and how to use it to better my photography!!!
Ken