"Exposing to the right" is over exposed, what now?
in [Photoshop]
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From: Paul Furman on 4 Oct 2009 13:25 Al Dykes wrote: > In article <1gkhc5hsgi6fasjanur2a0ojc5v03thhrp(a)4ax.com>, > John A. <john(a)nowhere.invalid> wrote: >> On Sun, 4 Oct 2009 06:25:12 -0700 (PDT), Porte Rouge >> <porterougeman(a)gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> I set my exposure to slide the histogram to the right, without clipping >>> ( when I have time), to capture the most tonal levels . So, now when I >>> am editing the photos they are over exposed(not clipped). A sunrise is >>> a good example. The deep colors are washed out. The obvious fix(to me >>> anyway) in Lightroom or CS4 is to reduce the exposure. Now my question >>> is, by reducing exposure in post, am I just ending up in the same place >>> (histogram to the left) as if I had just ignored the histogram when I >>> was shooting and set the exposure to properly expose the image using >>> my light meter? I guess in short I am asking if Lightroom or CS4 loses >>> tonal values when you reduce exposure in editing. >> You overexpose short of clipping, the apply a likewise (if preferred) >> reverse adjustment in post. This is to maximize the signal-to-noise >> and tonal gradations in the exposure. >> >> The tonal aspect is analogous to setting a digital multimeter to the >> proper scale before taking a reading, in order to maximize the >> significant digits. > > > This blog article talks about making the best of exposing to the > right. > > http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/right-hista.shtml And the previous article linked from there explains how the significant digits benefit works: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/expose-right.shtml -- Paul Furman www.edgehill.net www.baynatives.com all google groups messages filtered due to spam
From: Doug McDonald on 4 Oct 2009 13:48 Porte Rouge wrote: > > Do you have more to say about which way you set exposure and when? > I am genuinely interested in how you decide to set exposure. At this > point I actually use both, "expose to the right" and light meter, for > the "fine art" shots. I can't see a difference, I was just curious in > a CD versus vinyl sort of way. > It is experience, about when it matters to get the highlights just exactly "right", which does as someone mentioned including correctly clipping the ultra bright things like specular reflections and lamps. I am mainly concerned with clouds in landscapes. Clipping those can lead to really bad results at times. When the going gets tough in such cases (landscapes) the Photoshop Highlight/shadow tool is the critical one. But it takes practice. Doug McDonald
From: Doug McDonald on 4 Oct 2009 13:52 Porte Rouge wrote: > Do you have more to say about which way you set exposure and when? One more thing about histograms in the camera: at least in Canons, they are made from the in-camera jpeg! This means that to make them useful, you have to set the camera to make jpegs using "faithful" mode, and contrast set to -3 or -4. Even so, it is only approximate. You also need to use the "flashing overload" indicator on the camera review screen. If you set contrast to 0 or more (remember, this is Canon) and trust the histogram, you will still lose dynamic range. Experience. Doug McDonald
From: Porte Rouge on 4 Oct 2009 19:49 On Oct 4, 1:52 pm, Doug McDonald <mcdon...(a)scs.uiuc.edu.remove.invalid> wrote: > Porte Rouge wrote: > > Do you have more to say about which way you set exposure and when? > > One more thing about histograms in the camera: at least in Canons, > they are made from the in-camera jpeg! Do you know if this is true of the Nikon D200? This means that to make them > useful, you have to set the camera to make jpegs using "faithful" > mode, I'm sorry, what is "faithful" mode? and contrast set to -3 or -4. Even so, it is only approximate. > You also need to use the "flashing overload" indicator on the > camera review screen. If you set contrast to 0 or more (remember, this is Canon) > and trust the histogram, you will still lose dynamic range. > > Experience. > > Doug McDonald I use the flashing overload indicator, too. It sounds like I need to do some test shots and see if clipped in the camera LCD is clipped in ACR or Lightroom.
From: Porte Rouge on 4 Oct 2009 20:25
On Oct 4, 1:10 pm, ady...(a)panix.com (Al Dykes) wrote: > In article <1gkhc5hsgi6fasjanur2a0ojc5v03th...(a)4ax.com>, > John A. <j...(a)nowhere.invalid> wrote: > > > > >On Sun, 4 Oct 2009 06:25:12 -0700 (PDT), Porte Rouge > ><porterouge...(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > >>I set my exposure to slide the histogram to the right, without clipping > >>( when I have time), to capture the most tonal levels . So, now when I > >>am editing the photos they are over exposed(not clipped). A sunrise is > >>a good example. The deep colors are washed out. The obvious fix(to me > >>anyway) in Lightroom or CS4 is to reduce the exposure. Now my question > >>is, by reducing exposure in post, am I just ending up in the same place > >>(histogram to the left) as if I had just ignored the histogram when I > >>was shooting and set the exposure to properly expose the image using > >>my light meter? I guess in short I am asking if Lightroom or CS4 loses > >>tonal values when you reduce exposure in editing. > > >You overexpose short of clipping, the apply a likewise (if preferred) > >reverse adjustment in post. This is to maximize the signal-to-noise > >and tonal gradations in the exposure. > > >The tonal aspect is analogous to setting a digital multimeter to the > >proper scale before taking a reading, in order to maximize the > >significant digits. > > This blog article talks about making the best of exposing to the > right. > > http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/right-hista.shtml > -- > Al Dykes > News is something someone wants to suppress, everything else is advertising. > - Lord Northcliffe, publisher of the Daily Mail Wow, good stuff. I had to run out and get my camera and check the settings. I don't understand what he says about the white balance. I have it set on auto and have ignored it when shooting RAW. Should I adjust it for each lighting condition when I shoot and this will give me a truer histogram? Porte |