Issue with Blown Out Skies

[squirrels]

As for shooting at a different time...I can't choose my time of day all the time particularly when this location is 2 hours away...with my 6, 4 and 4 month old...things get crazy!

Whoa. You are busy, my friend. I haven't done this exact thing in GIMP, but I saw this tutorial for it. The program is free and can provide you with a mixture of emotions from elation to teeth grinding frustration. Kind of like kids, except for the free part. GIMP - Blending Exposures

ETA: What he said ^

 

[Light Guru]

So I have been have an reoccurring problem with blowing out the skies in pretty much all of my photos even though my meter reads a correct exposure.

Your camera is giving you a correct exposure for what it is metering. To better understand this. Put your camera on spot meter and point it at the sky and then write down your "correct exposure settings" now point your camera at the building and again wright down your "correct exposure settings". Notice they are not the same.

The reason the skys are blown out is because you metered off the building and.

There are a few ways to deal with this.

1 - Use a Split Neutral Density Filter
2 - Take two exposures one for the sky and one for the building or foreground and then blend them together in Photoshop using a layer mask.
3 - As has been mentioned you could do an HDR, it is important to note that this may lead to a unnatural looking image.

 

[creisinger]

You don't need to spend one cent. No money involved besides the electricity bill you pay for using your computer (if you have one...?).

I used Photoshop but I only opened both images, stacked them on top of each other (darker exposure on top of the lighter one) and started erasing the grass and the buildings.

Voila! Of course the result is quite basic but with GIMP you can do the exact same thing and a lot more...

 

[jake337]

What exactly is your problem? Take two exposures or more and merge them in post... :no smile:

Maybe like this?
View attachment 43281

Yes, exactly like that but I can't because I don't have software to do that. As I stated before I have in camera HDR but the results were...blah!

I have a CPL on my lens that took the original albeit that it is a cheap one. It helps a bit but I still get the same problem sometimes.

As for shooting at a different time...I can't choose my time of day all the time particularly when this location is 2 hours away...with my 6, 4 and 4 month old...things get crazy!

I appreciate everyone's feedback and it looks like HDR is my answer in post process and I will have to invest in some software to be able to do HDR PP rather than in camera. I will look into GIMP as Jake suggested until I can invest in something more powerful.

GIMP is powerful.

 

[Juga]

GIMP - The GNU Image Manipulation Program FREE SOFTWARE!

GIMP has been downloaded! I will play around with it. Thanks again everyone.

 

[creisinger]

 

[Juga]

So I have been playing with GIMP and honestly I hate it but I am going to keep playing with it because I am determined to not be defeated.

 

[cynicaster]

Bottom line, the photo you see in your head is not possible without software or filters, because the camera can't handle the range.

If you want the best results without post processing hocus-pocus, you need a graduated neutral density filter, to reduce the contrast between the sky and the subject so that it fits within your camera's dynamic range.

Not sure I understand the suggestion for CPL--that will darken the sky, sure, but it will also darken everything else. As such, I don't see how it solves the problem at hand.

 

[Dao]

For Free HDR tools, I use this one.


Luminance HDR

It is an opensource project.

 

[gmazz]

Photomatix has a free version(it watermarks the photos).

 

[Juga]

Bottom line, the photo you see in your head is not possible without software or filters, because the camera can't handle the range.

If you want the best results without post processing hocus-pocus, you need a graduated neutral density filter, to reduce the contrast between the sky and the subject so that it fits within your camera's dynamic range.

Not sure I understand the suggestion for CPL--that will darken the sky, sure, but it will also darken everything else. As such, I don't see how it solves the problem at hand.

I completely understand how the camera meters for light and all that. I haven't used a ND filter so that will most likely be my next step. Thanks!

For Free HDR tools, I use this one.


Luminance HDR

It is an opensource project.

Photomatix has a free version(it watermarks the photos).

Thanks for the sources.

 

[rambler]

Point your meter at the sky. Lock in the exposure, reframe the shot to include the barn and take the shot using the same exposure for the sky. The barn should then be lighter. Try spot and center metering. Spot metering sometimes have extreme settings either extra light or extra dark.

 

[jowensphoto]

Luminance HDR is pretty great. I've used it before.

Another method would be a composite. Sure, it's a "save it in post" kinda deal, but whatevs lol

You can do this in GIMP, for sure, but I used PS in this example (it has some haloing, but a little extra time would have made it better)

 

[kathyt]

GIMP - The GNU Image Manipulation Program FREE SOFTWARE!

GIMP has been downloaded! I will play around with it. Thanks again everyone.

How in the HECK are you taking on weddings w/o at least Lightroom? How are you processing the 800-900 images that you took on that day? I can't even imagine not having LR for my wedding workflow. I would be lost.

 

[o hey tyler]

How in the HECK are you taking on weddings w/o at least Lightroom? How are you processing the 800-900 images that you took on that day? I can't even imagine not having LR for my wedding workflow. I would be lost.

I would probably slash my wrists without Lightroom in a high volume processing environment.