jgunning Wrote:
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> You have to get the highlights right and let
> the shadows fall where they may. In post
> processing the shadows can be opened up and the
> highlights can be recovered within limits.
I've noticed that a lot of photography enthusiasts don't understand or use the histogram that their digital cameras provide. Instead, they just look at the LCD, which can be a very deceiving presentation, especially when viewed outdoors in daylight. The histogram is a very important tool to ensure that you get the exposure right in the field and give yourself the best opportunity for great images when you post-process them back at home. This is especially true for folks who shoot JPEGs rather than raw. If you overexpose the highlights on a JPEG, there's just no fixing it in Photoshop. You're done. I encourage beginners to shoot raw and JPEG, even if they have no idea how to process raw. There will come a day when they will be glad they did.
To give you an idea of how much latitude you have to process raw, take a look at this image from the Chelatchie Prairie Railroad in Yacolt, WA:
Chelatchie Prairie
When I first looked at this scene, I thought it was hopeless. The river bed and bottom of the bridge are in deep shadow, while the treetops and sky are very brightly lit with mid-day sun. This scene is probably hopeless with JPEG, but shot in raw, and
exposed for the highlights with the histogram, the shadows recovered rather nicely in Lightroom. I thought this shot was going to be a throw-away, and instead, it ended up being one of my favorites from that trip. A magazine even published it!
Jim's advice above is spot-on. "Expose for the highlights and let the shadows fall where they may." I would add: Shoot raw, and don't discard dark images until you get them on the computer and play with them. You never quite know what you may have until then.
/Kevin Madore
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/25/2015 08:31AM by KevinM.
