How do I stop blowouts

[Kbarredo]

I use 2cfl lamps for my shots instead of flash. How do I stop blowouts and shines. Its on babies so no makeup. I know how to get rid of them in photoshop. how do I prevent it from happening.will soft boxes work. I know I should get strobes but its not in the budget

 

[Dao]

Diffuse the light will help. (Studio Lighting - DIY Cheap Soft Light Panel Frame Designed for Flash (or hotlight) | DIYPhotography.net)


Flash with soft boxes is better for sure, especially for babies because you can shoot with a higher shutter speed (may need to watch out for the flash sync speed) to freeze the motion.

 

[timlair]

Wear a better diaper? lol

I think its pretty easy to eliminate skin shine in PP.

 

[Big Mike]

Blown highlights are an exposure issue. If you are blowing out your highlights, then your exposure is too high (too much)....so reduce your exposure (shutter speed, aperture & ISO). With lighter skin tones, this is less of an issue, not because there is less direct reflection, but because there is more diffuse reflection, so the highlights don't stand out as much. With darker skin tones, there is less diffuse reflection, so the shiny highlights stand out more. One way to deal with this, is to fill more of the 'family of angles' by using a very soft light source (large and close to the subject).

Shininess is a property of direct reflection, which we all have in our skin, to one degree or another. It's the direct reflection of the light source...so if you can move your lights (or position your subject) so that the angle of the light doesn't match the angle of the camera (bouncing off the subject) then you may be able to eliminate the shiny reflection. This has to do with understanding the family of angles. Of course, with a round subject, it will be hard or impossible to get rid of it completely. And of course, the size, shape and position of the highlight will be a result of your light source. So if you can make your light source very soft (large and close to the subject) then the highlight will be more spread out...and if you set your exposure so that it's not blown out, it probably won't look too bad.

And of course, you can try to get rid of pesky highlights in Photoshop. The healing brush and the clone stamp are usually a good place to start.

 

[Derrel]

I stop blowouts by regular seasonal (winter/spring/summer/fall) inspection of my tires, and proper tire inflation, verified every 90 days, or more frequently.

Oh...blowouts from fluoro lights....do you have white, ripstop nylon diffusers fitted to the light fronts? Those are becoming pretty popular these days. Just yesterday, I saw a round 16 inch accessory that had about an 8-inch honeycomb grin in the center, and the outer 4 to 5 inches of the remaining area of the face of the light cicrle was white, ripstop nylon!!!!

 

[Kbarredo]

Blown highlights are an exposure issue. If you are blowing out your highlights, then your exposure is too high (too much)....so reduce your exposure (shutter speed, aperture & ISO). With lighter skin tones, this is less of an issue, not because there is less direct reflection, but because there is more diffuse reflection, so the highlights don't stand out as much. With darker skin tones, there is less diffuse reflection, so the shiny highlights stand out more. One way to deal with this, is to fill more of the 'family of angles' by using a very soft light source (large and close to the subject).

Shininess is a property of direct reflection, which we all have in our skin, to one degree or another. It's the direct reflection of the light source...so if you can move your lights (or position your subject) so that the angle of the light doesn't match the angle of the camera (bouncing off the subject) then you may be able to eliminate the shiny reflection. This has to do with understanding the family of angles. Of course, with a round subject, it will be hard or impossible to get rid of it completely. And of course, the size, shape and position of the highlight will be a result of your light source. So if you can make your light source very soft (large and close to the subject) then the highlight will be more spread out...and if you set your exposure so that it's not blown out, it probably won't look too bad.

And of course, you can try to get rid of pesky highlights in Photoshop. The healing brush and the clone stamp are usually a good place to start.

I've tried to get rid of shiny skin through exposure correction but my image is always under expose.

 

[SunnyHours]

I've tried to get rid of shiny skin through exposure correction but my image is always under expose.

Why not post an example?

 

[Kbarredo]

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...-gallery/241023-my-first-baby-photoshoot.html

I've tried to get rid of shiny skin through exposure correction but my image is always under expose.

Why not post an example?

the first pic. His cheek will have a blowout if I properly expose it so I had to undersexpose it. I just fixed it with a clone stamp which I haven't posted but I just want to know how to prevent it. I want to do as little post process a possible

 

[The_Traveler]

but I just want to know how to prevent it. I want to do as little post process a possible

Reduce the dynamic range by diffusing the light.
And if that doesn't work, you will have to fix in PPing with a curves adjustment
There is no magic answer; sometimes you just get it perfect in the camera.