Proper exposure/blown out highlights

[Ptography]

I recently shot a wedding and for alot of the shots, I shot in aperture mode just for ease of access and to save time. (Total rookie move). I really need to learn to shoot in manual mode because one thing I notice is that I shoot alot of shots with blown highlights in aperature mode. Almost as if I'm over-exposed by maybe 1 or 2 stops. This is a common occurance almost any time there is sun lighting my subject whether it be from behind or from the side or even back-lit. Can I maybe get a few tips from some of you, maybe some common settings or rules of thumb? I have difficulty finding books on lighting techniques and proper exposure methods. Maybe someone can recommend a good read? Take a look at some of these photos and maybe just provide some feedback about what can be done to achieve proper exposure.

Typically, I fix my blown out highlights in Lightroom but what you get is essentially a flat photo so then you have to add some cross tones or black and white settings just to save the photo. I'm not certain how many will think my cross toning looks appropriate either.

I would like to be able to shoot where I don't have to constantly adjust every photo a different way each time whe they're all shot in the same light. I'd like to have a common setting where the exposure in all my shots are the same so that when I am editing, I'm not spending 15 minutes on Each photo rather than having the same setting for every photo making my editing time much shorter.

(In these examples, you may be able to see what I'm talking about. The 3rd image looks the best even after the post processing but when it was first shot, man was it blown out).
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[Destin]

if you're in aperture priority mode, and blowing out your main subjects, then you have a few options. You can recognize it (turn on the highlight warning on your LCD), and apply some exposure compensation to correct it, while leaving your metering mode in matrix.

Another option is to switch to spot or center weighted metering, and see how it looks, and then apply exposure comp to fine tune it (this will give more consistent results, and the camera is only metering for the subject ,and not the background)

You could also just switch to manual and find a happy exposure yourself, which is what I think most people would do in a situation like this, where light isn't changing.


Now, for shots like this (formal wedding shots) I almost always use some form of fill flash, to get rid of the dark eye sockets, which are a huge problem in your photos.

 

[Big Mike]

First, check to see if you have inadvertently set your EC (exposure compensation). That would be something that would cause your photos to come out overexposed.

Next, you need to realize that the camera's light meter is set to give you exposure settings as if the (metered) subject was middle grey. So if your scene actually is middle grey, then the exposure settings that the camera recommends, should be perfectly accurate. If you use the Matrix or Evaluative metering mode and the average brightness is close to middle grey, then the settings from the camera should be OK.

BUT....the problem is that when your (metered) subject is not middle grey, the recommended settings will not give you accurate exposure. For example, if you meter off of a white dress, the camera will recommend settings that give you under exposure. If you meter off of a black suit, the camera will cause over exposure.

The key is to know this, and to compensate the exposure accordingly....or set your exposure by metering off of a known surface...like a grey card.
How to use a Grey Card ~ Mike Hodson Photography

 

[KmH]

I would like to be able to shoot where I don't have to constantly adjust every photo a different way each time whe they're all shot in the same light. I'd like to have a common setting where the exposure in all my shots are the same so that when I am editing, I'm not spending 15 minutes on Each photo rather than having the same setting for every photo making my editing time much shorter.

What metering mode do you use?

The camera has a light meter that is displayed in the viewfinder. The light meter indicates under and over exposure before the shutter is released.

The rear LCD can display a histogram, which also indicates under and over exposure in the actual image, regardless the metering mode used.

 

[Ptography]

I use a Nikon d7000. When I shoot, I typically use spot metering and usually I am trying to meter the face. Maybe this is all wrong. If I use a grey card and I spot meter and I press the exposure lock button, will that be locked in for all the rest of the shots I take afterwards unless I change it?

With the D7000 you can select any one of the 39 focus points and spot meter off of any of them as far as I know. On my camera, I have no "live view" I can only view the histogram and the resulting image after the shot is taken.

When shooting, one normally has to select the photo adjustment mode, (I can't think of the name at the moment), so you can choose from Vivid, Landscape, Portrait, etc. These settings let you adjust what you want to add to your photo whether it be more saturation or sharpness, contrast, etc. I use basic setting for this. I might increase my saturation ever so slightly and sharpness a point or two but that's it.

I see what you mean regarding Fill Flash, that might be something that I will hunker down and buy in the near future. I had a flash that day that I borrowed from a fellow photog but I'm not well adjusted at using it properly just yet and therefor didn't use it much. Do people use flashes outside even when the sun is out? I thought that was a big no-no...

 

[Vtec44]

I typically expose for the brightest object, then flash fill the darker subject. I always use flash outside especially when the sun is bright.

 

[OrionsByte]

I use a Nikon d7000. When I shoot, I typically use spot metering and usually I am trying to meter the face. Maybe this is all wrong. If I use a grey card and I spot meter and I press the exposure lock button, will that be locked in for all the rest of the shots I take afterwards unless I change it?

No, it only locks it until you let go of the button. Shooting in manual would accomplish what you're after though - center the light meter on the grey card by changing the settings manually, and those settings won't change until you change them.

Spot metering on the face isn't generally going to be your best option, but I'll let someone with a little more experience with spot metering take over from there because I don't want to feed you misinformation. I generally only use spot metering when I'm trying to pin down the brightest and/or darkest parts of an image.

With the D7000 you can select any one of the 39 focus points and spot meter off of any of them as far as I know. On my camera, I have no "live view" I can only view the histogram and the resulting image after the shot is taken.

D7000 does have live view - not a live histogram if that's what you meant though. This isn't film, so there's no such thing as a wasted shot - take some test shots of the scene before you even bring in the subjects to get a sense of what the lighting is and what settings you want to use, review them and the associated histogram, and adjust accordingly. During the shoot, always peek down at your screen every few shots to make sure you're still on target.

When shooting, one normally has to select the photo adjustment mode, (I can't think of the name at the moment), so you can choose from Vivid, Landscape, Portrait, etc. These settings let you adjust what you want to add to your photo whether it be more saturation or sharpness, contrast, etc. I use basic setting for this. I might increase my saturation ever so slightly and sharpness a point or two but that's it.

Those settings only affect the image if you're recording in JPEG mode instead of RAW. Just FYI.

I see what you mean regarding Fill Flash, that might be something that I will hunker down and buy in the near future. I had a flash that day that I borrowed from a fellow photog but I'm not well adjusted at using it properly just yet and therefor didn't use it much. Do people use flashes outside even when the sun is out? I thought that was a big no-no...

Lots of people use flash when the sun is out. Using a flash allows you to take two exposures at once - one for the background or environment using ambient light, and one for the subjects using the flash. Even if all you're doing is using an on-camera flash as a fill flash in harsh sunlight, you'll see a huge difference.