photos blown out using natural light in doors

redbourn

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Hi,

Shot this yesterday using natural light on a table near a window that has white sheer curtains.

Any tips on improving the lighting would be appreciated..

dijon chicken.JPG


Thanks,

Michael
 
Lose the celery. I hate celery


Oh, wait..... Never mind. Lighting help.......

Perhaps a reflector on the camera side of the plate to fill in the shadows. It can be something simple like a large piece of white craft paper from the dollar store.
 
;-)

Does the image look blown out to you?

I have a couple of reflectors but if the image is blown out am not sure that I want to add more light.

I don't like raw celery but it has a milder taste in sauces. Good in bolognese sauce and gives a slight crunch.

Michael
 
You can always stop the lens down, lower the ISO or use an ND filter.
 
1. Meter the highlights;

2. determine your desired dynamic range (somewhere around1.5 stops is usually good); and

3. add sufficient fill light to achieve this.

or....

Just add more diffusion to the window.
 
Yes, use a reflector to fill the shadows and reduce the exposure.

I just played with a white and gold reflector.

The white has very limited effect the gold has a much greater one.

I don't know why.
 
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.....BTW - I took a photo at every available f stop - when I got to f22 the camera started removing noise.

This doesn't make sense. Stopping down should require an increase in ISO and thus create more noise.
 
Yes, use a reflector to fill the shadows and reduce the exposure.

I just played with a white and gold reflector.

The white has very limited effect the gold has a much greater one.

I don't know why.

The gold will reflect more light than the white will. You will also get a gold color cast with the gold reflector (and the silver side will give a bit of a color cast too)
 

You don't have a light meter problem you have a lighting problem. A light meter would not fix or help this problem in any way. Variations in camera settings will not help this problem. Bottom line: you shot the plate backlit such that the primary subject is in shadow but you're trying to process the shot with the primary subject well-lit. All of the trouble you're having with this photo derives from the single root cause that the dominant light source is behind the subject.

You can have a backlight in the photo if you want, but you can't fail to light the chicken in the front. Look at the chicken on the plate and see that it's casting a shadow toward you. It's a photo of the chicken. The chicken fills the bottom half of the frame. The bottom half of the frame is in shadow.

Joe
 
Does the image look blown out to you?

I have a couple of reflectors but if the image is blown out am not sure that I want to add more light.
What does the histogram tell you? If the histogram indicates blown pixels, then yes.

No, do not add more light. There is enough light already on the tops, so if anything, there may be too much light. When you stop down, that is when you need to add light (such as a reflector or low power flash) on the near side to light the near side ONLY a bit more. Be careful how you position the reflector so as to not overexpose the tops again.
 

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