Overexposed photos

like how the hat is featureless, but regarding her arms and body I agree that they are too blown out.

Indeed if I had taken the photo within the DR, I could have chosen afterwards what details to highlight and what to remove, now the above is what I'm stuck with.

If your luminosity exceeds 255 anywhere in your image middle highlights, highlights, whites, the sensor registers zip, nada, nothing. It only takes 4 1/3 stops of light to turn a black background pure white. Even if you've saved as a raw file (which you should be doing anyhow) there is nothing to recover once you go past pure white. One of my pet peeves is the lazy photographer who intentionally blows the highlights in a HK just to "make sure the whites are white". Yes you can do it, but doing so also blows away the wonderful microcontrast in the upper highlights. Learn to use a histogram to judge your exposure. Histograms for Beginners

A camera sensor only records reflected light in a given range. It doesn't manufacture light, that's the photographer's job, to supply or read it. If you have your lighting right, and your exposure correct, it only takes minor adjustments post to finish. Learning some basics now will allow you to produce exactly what you want later.
 
No need to shoot again and don't worry about what camera you used. It's the person behind the camera who is the one that takes the image. OK, so you blew this one out by accident, you won't be the only person on this forum who has made a mistake on their settings (I do it more often than I'd like to admit)! No worries or stress required. As my signature line below says "It's not brain surgery, it's photography; if you make a mistake nobody dies. Try again!" :)

Having said that, even though you don't have a raw file or even the original JPEG, I had a go with this to see what I could do. I didn't use any of my fancy software, just a free photo viewer/editor called Faststone Image Viewer. I played with the levels and then the lighting (highlights and shadows) sliders for about 5 minutes and cropped it using the rule of thirds so that her eyes were on the top horizontal 1/3 line and also so that the "dead space" is in front of her and she's facing into it. See what you think. I'm sure there are others here who could do better but this shows that even an old dinosaur like me can do something ...and that I think your image is worth the time. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your work, especially now you have a "proper camera" and have taken the time to join this forum. Having a beautiful wife who is willing to be your model is a HUGE advantage.View attachment 248329
BE WARNED! Photography can be seriously addictive! :lol:

Thank you very much! This looks a lot better :) I will see if I can find the original file, and try to process it a bit using your suggestions. I have mostly kept the photography to myself. Thus, I do not really know what is "good", or how to improve photos etc. That is why I joined this forum, to learn more :)

Indeed, I am very grateful for my wife. Without her I would never get any models :p


If your luminosity exceeds 255 anywhere in your image middle highlights, highlights, whites, the sensor registers zip, nada, nothing. It only takes 4 1/3 stops of light to turn a black background pure white. Even if you've saved as a raw file (which you should be doing anyhow) there is nothing to recover once you go past pure white. One of my pet peeves is the lazy photographer who intentionally blows the highlights in a HK just to "make sure the whites are white". Yes you can do it, but doing so also blows away the wonderful microcontrast in the upper highlights. Learn to use a histogram to judge your exposure. Histograms for Beginners
Thanks! I will definitely look up how to use the histograms.
 
One way to judge this sort of photo - and only the OP has seen the model, would be to ask "Does she look prettier in the photo than in real life?"
 
When talking about photography, people keep saying how important it is not to overexpose the photos, and how to rectify it when it happens. But I thought, why not take advantage of it instead. This is a photo of my wife (who has black hair), and even though it's heavily overexposed I like it. In particular how the main details are clearly visible (face, accessories, hair) with the rest whitened out, and also how the hat creates a sort of white shadow.

What do you guys think? How would you go about overexposing, and what to think about when taking the photos?View attachment 248240
Well done. I think this approach to exposure/photography has been used well before digital photography and was labelled "High Key". It achieves a particular mood and visual effect. It can also be obtained from a regular exposure through processing (darkroom or computer). The only issue when doing it through exposure is that all information is absent from the over-exposed part of the image and the future potential variations on the image are rather limited. Well-done anyway.
 
Photography is art and a way to express your style. If this is what you like, than there is absolutely nothing wrong with it.
People at a certain age might be grateful for such images, since it hides wrinkles and age related blemishes.
For my own taste it is too much, since I personally like to see the texture of the skin, the details in the hair....
 
One way to judge this sort of photo - and only the OP has seen the model, would be to ask "Does she look prettier in the photo than in real life?"
Well, here is another photo from the same day. You be the judge:

SAM_1376_resized.JPG
 
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Well done. I think this approach to exposure/photography has been used well before digital photography and was labelled "High Key". It achieves a particular mood and visual effect. It can also be obtained from a regular exposure through processing (darkroom or computer). The only issue when doing it through exposure is that all information is absent from the over-exposed part of the image and the future potential variations on the image are rather limited. Well-done anyway.
Thank you! Indeed, the details are lost and it is difficult to do much after taking the photo...
Photography is art and a way to express your style. If this is what you like, than there is absolutely nothing wrong with it.
People at a certain age might be grateful for such images, since it hides wrinkles and age related blemishes.
For my own taste it is too much, since I personally like to see the texture of the skin, the details in the hair....
Thanks! Indeed, I mostly care about whether I like the photos or not. But it is nice to share with others to hear their view, to open one's own views a bit :)

I managed to find the original image (attached), I will try to see if I can get something better out of it :eek:

SAM_1394.JPG
 
Hi welcome. I dont play by the rules either, I am known for my out of the box/Marmite style of photography. so if this is the effect that you wanted then why not.
 

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