Photographing black in bright daylight.

JasonLambert · Mar 21, 2011

So we got a new puppy and I took her out today to get a few shots to post on Facebook. Well what I found is that it can be very difficult to get the exposure correct. An exposure taken from the black dog blows the surroundings but and exposure taken from the surroundings leaves all of the detail out of the dog.

Now I'm guessing this could be the same problem while shooting a black person. Is there a good cure for this situation? I was able to get what I was looking for by letting the background over expose a bit and underexpose the dog a bit and then just correcting it in post. But... Always looking to do as little post as possible.

Here is what I was able to get after post.

Princess Katie Isabella Lambert - French Poodle- 8 Weeks Old

JasonLambert · Mar 21, 2011

Oh, BTW, this is before we took her to get bathed and shaved. She's looking a little scruffy from playing with her 10 brothers and sister.

Texas Aggie · Mar 21, 2011

I was having this exact same problem photographing my Mom's dog last week. She's jet black and it was taking me several attempts to get the exposure right.

Eventually I just metered it off the dog, but then left it a little underexposed to where the grass around her wasn't all blown out. I don't know if this is correct, but it certainly turned out the best.