CS2 andExposure

[cvjarrod]

I'm pretty new to the DSLR and pretty much have no clue using CS2. I've shot a decent amount of film, but am just now getting more serious with digital.

Due to an injury, this was the first day I brought the new D200 outside. Took some shots of a buddy's car to break in the new camera. This shot was with the 15 at two stops down, hand held by a guy with a ruptured achilles tendon:

I took this shot specifically to see how this newfangled digital editing can handle uneven exposure across a picture. I've fiddled with the settings in CS2 and my pictures just seem to get worse the more I try! I'm using ACR 3.6.

Here's the raw file which you may edit all you want:

ftp://www.freshie.net/d200/vw/_DSC0134.NEF
Is there a way to fix the terribly uneven exposure in this picture?

BTW, it was an awesome experience shooting with this camera for the first time. I brought my laptop out and it accelerated my learning curve considerably getting instant feedback on what I was shooting. I love how the 17-55 2.8 DX and 15 3.5 performed with this body. My good to bad (see above) picture ratio is completely unacceptable right now, but that should get better with time.

 

[Big Mike]

The exposure of that shot looks OK to me, the highlights aren't blown and the shadow has detail. It could maybe use some 'pop'...more contrast (levels, curves) and a touch more saturation.

Remember that digital still doesn't have the latitude of negative film...is more like slide film. I always check the histogram, rather than judge a shot by the LCD screen image.

One technique is to expose to the right...meaning that you want your histogram to be as much to the right as possible...without clipping the highlights. Check THIS out.

There are also plenty of good articles in the 'Understanding' section of that web site. Great reading for when you are trying to figure out your digital workflow.

 

[cvjarrod]

Big Mike,

It makes more sense now. I've read so much about how to use this camera my head is about to explode! I apparently need to read the stuff about the histograms again.

Here's the histogram for that shot:

[/img]http://www.freshie.net/d200/vw/histogram.JPG

What does that histogram say about the lighting/color?

What adjustments to the camera would you make to get the histogram properly aligned?

Sorry about my ignorance on the subject.

 

[Flash Harry]

If your histo rises to the left the shot is dark, rise to the right, its bright, an even histo is correctly exposed,(pretty level throughout) then again it all depends on what is in the frame too. The trouble with this shot is the contrasting lighting, harsh sun n shadow, but you have detail in both so your histo's fine for this shot, you can as mike says give it a bit more pop using levels/curves/brightness/saturation in PS

 

[Puscas]

Yes! More pics of beetles, thank you. (I used to own one myself).
A little something about this photo: if it's about the car, you should be aware of the reflections. There's a dog's reflection in the car. And once you see the dog, you don't see anything else. (but if this was just a test shot for exposures, don't mind my comments)




pascal

 

[The_Traveler]

I posted a simple explanation about histograms on this thread - http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=66899

Hope it is of some interest.

 

[Big Mike]

What adjustments to the camera would you make to get the histogram properly aligned?

You would adjust your exposure...to change how the histogram looks. So it could be shutter speed, aperture, ISO (but not in auto mode) or just exposure compensation.

On this shot, it's a little to the left...which is dark. That's not really a problem because a lot of this shot is a dark blue car or a shadow...so it's only natural that the histogram is to the left. You could have increased your exposure a bit...or tweak it in photoshop, to get the histogram a little more even or to the right...just watch out that you don't blow the highlights.