Honestly, this wasn't posed

faithe

TPF Noob!
Joined
Jul 9, 2004
Messages
23
Reaction score
0
These two often cuddle together, but once I notice they usually move away. Zoe (cat) will be the first to get comfy, Bear then snuggles in.

Big Mike gave me a tip on bringing out detail in dark fur, but how would you expose for a black cat and white dog? This was in auto mode (before I switched to manual).

wbearandzoe.jpg
 
but how would you expose for a black cat and white dog?
Two different rules for black and white subjects but you do the same thing in the end. The camera underexposes dark things to make grey so we compensate by overexposing a bit (I would have gone about a 1/2 to 2/3 stops)
The camera also underexposes very light colored things to make them darker (grey) so we compensate once again by overexposing a bit.

From there it's gonna be up to luck with the lighting.

Other than that it's a great pic as is, though I'm not sure the cat is diggin' have it's picture taken with it's present company. Got that "Hey, I'm hard to expose and you're just making this harder." look going on. But then again when does a cat look like it cares about anything but sleep or food? :)
 
malachite said:
The camera underexposes dark things to make grey so we compensate by overexposing a bit
Isn't that the opposite? Wouldn't the camera underexposing something dark make it darker and not grey?


Daniel
 
Sweet! Don't change anything! It is a great photo and I really enjoy it
 
Isn't that the opposite? Wouldn't the camera underexposing something dark make it darker and not grey?
That's what I get for staying up really late to clean out my crack pipe. See what thinking does. And I know this too. I'm gonna shut up now before I think of something else.
 
malachite said:
Isn't that the opposite? Wouldn't the camera underexposing something dark make it darker and not grey?
That's what I get for staying up really late to clean out my crack pipe. See what thinking does. And I know this too. I'm gonna shut up now before I think of something else.
Heh. I'm glad I asked. I was seriously wondering if I had it wrong. :)

This camera stuff is so confusing...


Daniel
 
Realy great Capture,

Normaly I do not realy like Animal photo's but this one I defenatly like..

Jean-Paul
 
Thanks everyone for the wonderful comments. Part of the reason I love this photo is because of their expressions and the fact that they're looking away from each other diagonally.


malachite said:
Got that "Hey, I'm hard to expose and you're just making this harder." look going on. But then again when does a cat look like it cares about anything but sleep or food? :)
LOL! As I read that I thought you were going to say something about not wanting to be near him as he's a dog. I laughed so loud when I read it!
 
Overall the shot is darn good but a little more exposure time may bring out a few details in the cat without blowing out the whites.
 
DanielK said:
malachite said:
The camera underexposes dark things to make grey so we compensate by overexposing a bit
Isn't that the opposite? Wouldn't the camera underexposing something dark make it darker and not grey?


Daniel

Your camera wants to make every thing 18% gray or thinks that everything is 18% gray one of the 2 8) . Anyway don't trust your camera it is going to be wrong. Try getting a 18% gray card place it where your car and dog are(like that is going to happen) take a reading of that. Then I would bracket from your starting point and find your best shot, I would say it is going to be a fun one good luck.
 
nikon90s said:
Your camera wants to make every thing 18% gray or thinks that everything is 18% gray one of the 2
Pretty much the same thing. Yeah, meters consider the reading to be mid-tone, or 18%, no matter what it's pointed at.

I think malachite had it right. If the image has mostly black, the meter will consider it grey and expose to make it grey (overexpose). To make it black again (and not blow the highlights in things that are white) the shot needs to be underexposed. Visa-versa for a mostly white scene. This is the part I always have to sit down and think about, because it seems to be the opposite of what I would guess. If you have a lot of black, underexpose. If you have a lot of white, overexpose.

I try to think of the meter as being like an eye. Bright light will make the iris stop down a lot so that the light is tolerable. In order to make what we are seeng bright again, we have to open the iris back up.


I think you did a great job with the exposure here, faithe. To get more detail in the cat without ruining the expposure on the dog would take a change in lighting, I think.
 

Most reactions

Back
Top