Good filter for keeping skies from being over exposed?

I've noticed that I'm getting a lot of over exposure from the bight (non-cloudy) skies in my city shots lately. I've been trying to get some shots of the skyscrapers in downtown Chicago but it always seems no matter how hard I try I get blown out skies.

I assume I need a filter. If so, what filter do I need?

 

Try a graduated Neutral Density filter - easily obtainable and are designed to do exactly the job you describe.

 

Cokin Standard And Pro Holders

Cokin Graduated Filters

 

Thanks guys.

So, about HDR... does anyone know of a good application for doing HDR on a Mac?

I have regular tools already (CS3, Lightroom 2, Aperture 2)... I assume there's some specialized application(s) for HDR work.

 

If you will excuse advise from an old time film guy, you need to play with your exposure in a manual exposure mode. What is happening is that your in camera exposure meter is taking a reading from the general area and is averaging the reading. Most likely, it is too much for sky and too little for the building.
So here's what I would do-
1. See if you have a spot meter function on your camera.
2. If not- see if you can take discrete readings from the sky and the subject. Decide which will give you what you want; or.
3. If this is your field of endeavor, invest in a spot meter about $100.00;or,
4. Take a reading from an 18% gray card and use that as a starting point. The exposure where you are will be about what it is on your subject unless you are in a shadow;or,
5. Bracket your shots- One at the exposure suggested by the camera, 3 at shorter exposures separated by 1/2 to 1 stop and the same thing on the other side. Film is cheap so waste a little to get the shot you want.
6. Think about adjusting exposure/contrast with selective printing.
7. A polarizing filter does wonders for darkening the sky as it cuts the light scatter that causes glare. It does wonders for a cloud picture.
Good luch and good shooting
Judge Sharpe

 

Circular polarizers can be used for this purpose, though they can be a little finicky, especially when you can't change your angle to the sun. It will work in some situations though, and will also be handy for cutting glare on glass windows. It will also cost you some light (probably 2 stops), so plan accordingly.

It's not a cure-all, but in a shot that happens to line up the right way it could wotk wonders.

 

I have a Canon 40D and I do have spot metering. I was trying all metering modes with varying levels of success, but still getting blown out skies downtown. I think it was because shooting up at tall buildings while in their shadows towards a bright blue sky is probably more than a camera can compensate for. I make this assessment based upon me trying multiple different methods (in manual mode and P mode) and still getting either too dark of an exposure on the building or a blown out sky.

I'll give the HDR and bracketing a shot, and I will probably check out a filter if they are reasonably priced to see if that helps me get where I want to be.

 

Sweet, I just downloaded it and look forward to playing with it this weekend.

 

yeah... well, I will say that with lightroom2 it is rather simple to bring in sky that is normally blown out in similar situations to that. The only problem you'll run into is if you have to work around trees and the like, but with a rather large expanse of sky it's really not too difficult.

Personally, I would think that PP would be the easiest method compared to a graduated ND or anything of that like. Multiple exposures could work well also.

 

Lightroom's graduated filters can be used as a completely customizable neutral density filter- you control where it starts, ends, the angle it's on, and the exposure compensation. As long as you have enough room in your file to do some pushing/pulling with things (it's never been a problem for me shooting RAW), you can really dial it in exactly the way you want it. Just don't blow your skies out completely- if there's nothing left, there's nothing to pull back.