Portrait of a Friend and Sunset

[cgipson1]

Friend shot... underexposed several stops...

Just wonder, how did you reach this conclusion ? And how many is several in this case ?

White shirt... it is gray in the photo. That is one of the easiest ways to check exposure on a photo... if there is a "known" white object in the image, is the white "WHITE"?

YOURS ..........................................................................MINE (I left the white between the images as a comparison guide for the white!)



There is also a cyan cast to it.. that I did not remove (very common in shade). All I did was adjust the brightness!

If you don't calibrate your monitor, it is sometimes difficult to get accurate colors and exposures..... calibration is highly recommended!

Also... flash would have helped immensely here! You could have properly exposed the background (or even underexposed it for more dramatic color).. and still exposed the subject properly!

 

[greybeard42 15]

The sky in #1 is quite interesting, the idea of cloning out the power lines helps in my opinion. #2 I find shots of people with sunglasses very uninteresting as Iam a big "eye guy". I would love to see her without the shades. As others have said, the background is #2 is distracting.

 

[timor]

Friend shot... underexposed several stops...

Just wonder, how did you reach this conclusion ? And how many is several in this case ?

Also... flash would have helped immensely here! You could have properly exposed the background (or even underexposed it for more dramatic color).. and still exposed the subject properly!

I think you might be right about that flash, as your explanation is educational (for me), but the adjustment you did to the picture in order to get the shirt snow white, I don't know, if that improvement. Assuming, that known white is always snow white in any light conditions might be not accurate.

 

[cgipson1]

Just wonder, how did you reach this conclusion ? And how many is several in this case ?

Also... flash would have helped immensely here! You could have properly exposed the background (or even underexposed it for more dramatic color).. and still exposed the subject properly!

I think you might be right about that flash, as your explanation is educational (for me), but the adjustment you did to the picture in order to get the shirt snow white, I don't know, if that improvement. Assuming, that known white is always snow white in any light conditions might be not accurate.

White is always white, not gray! With experience, one can learn to judge exposure based on that, and other factors. The only time White is not White, is when it is underexposed! Otherwise it was not white to start with....

 

[timor]

White may have a cast on it, especially if in the shadows.

 

[cgipson1]

White may have a cast on it, especially if in the shadows.

REALLY? did you even bother to read my post above??? LOL!

There is also a cyan cast to it.. that I did not remove (very common in shade). All I did was adjust the brightness!

 

[timor]

White may have a cast on it, especially if in the shadows.

REALLY? did you even bother to read my post above??? LOL!

You are fast to draw, man. I read your post, you just continue your asumptions about white. Now I think you did not read my previous previous post about white reflecting surrounding light. She is sitting under the tree which foliage may cause dominance of green-blue in the spectrum reaching her shirt. You will see white, cause your brain is telling you it's white, but sensor is not that smart and is recording what's really bouncing from her shirt. So maybe in that casewhite balance shoud be corrected better instead of extending exposure 8 times or more. (You never told me how many was that several stops of your judgment.)

 

[2WheelPhoto]

for the sunset pics, place a light in front of your subject.

these pics may not be the best, but may serve as an example of not underexposing so much. outtakes from a wedding I shot over the weekend

 

[timor]

That's what Charlie said, with bright background flash is way to go, now your whites are white and still have detail. Thanks.

 

[cgipson1]

White may have a cast on it, especially if in the shadows.

REALLY? did you even bother to read my post above??? LOL!

You are fast to draw, man. I read your post, you just continue your asumptions about white. Now I think you did not read my previous previous post about white reflecting surrounding light. She is sitting under the tree which foliage may cause dominance of green-blue in the spectrum reaching her shirt. You will see white, cause your brain is telling you it's white, but sensor is not that smart and is recording what's really bouncing from her shirt. So maybe in that casewhite balance shoud be corrected better instead of extending exposure 8 times or more. (You never told me how many was that several stops of your judgment.)

Just correcting color cast on a underexposed photo wont do it! Then all you will have is Gray with no color cast! To get white, you have to expose properly or raise the exposure in post. I did not correct the color balance or remove the cyan cast above, as I wanted to only make a point about the exposure. It is 2 to 4 stops underexposed, depending on where you want to take it.

 

[PureEvil]

Love the Sunset, Just wish the powerlines didnt always get in the way of photos like this.