Help needed to for overblown sky

[mabmy]

Hi everyone, i need some help from all the landscape shooters who shoots during the day. The problem i have is that i always get over blown skies after setting the correct exposure for the foreground subject but in return, i always get overblown skies. If i were to get the exposure right for the sky then the foreground will be underexposed. I have tried using a GND filter but it doesn't really help that much. Since i have a GND filter, which i believe give 2 stops of light loss, is there any other GND filter that i can use that will at least gives me an 8 to 10 stops of light or should i just stack 3 GND filters and will roughly get about 6 stops? Please help me out on this. Thank you.

 

[Diavonex]

What are you shooting that requires a 8 to 10 stops ND filter; the sky and foreground cannot have such drastic exposure difference.

 

[aprilmoon92]

i believe i saw higher density GND in the accessories BNS section that day. beware stacking too many, esp if you wanna get 8-10stops (!!!) because you will degrade your image quality quickly.

alternatively, if the contrast in the scene is so high, you can get a tripod and shoot HDR images. If you dont know what that is, searching yahoo will give you a quick tutorial. basically take images with EV -1,0,+1 (or more eg. -.5, +.5) and combine it using a programme like photoshop. it will give you a higher dynamic range (i.e. you can get the right exposure for many different brightness levels)

hope this helps

 

[ianhyk]

have you tried doing it the digital way instead of filters?

You could blend two exposures together in photoshop. i.e. one exposure for the sky, and another for the foreground, then merge the 2 layers together. that's the method i use

 

[spencer84]

If you are hardworking, the HDR method is the most optimum.

If not, for myself, I will try to take the highest exposure without the sky being overblown (view the picture on histogram mode n see if there is blinking highlighted areas. If there is, stop down until the whole picture has no blinking portion). Then i try to bring out the shadows using camera raw (which means u must take the picture in RAW mode). Of course true blue enthusiasts will say the details recovered are only minimal (not to say there is substantial noise also). Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[NormanTan]

Try the New Faber ND filter, which acts like a CPL, which can be turned. As u turn, the filter get darker and darker.. from 2-8stops.. will be in stock at cathay abt 2 wks from now..Very useful! Maybe thats what u need!

 

[cks2k2]

Try the New Faber ND filter, which acts like a CPL, which can be turned. As u turn, the filter get darker and darker.. from 2-8stops.. will be in stock at cathay abt 2 wks from now..Very useful! Maybe thats what u need!

Variable ND has been around for a while (Singh-Ray), and how can ND help in his case?

 

[whattokingu]

Of course, those suggested before are the best solution.

But to salvage your photo, you can try using digital ND filter in photoshop.

you can google for them
http://www.ronbigelow.com/articles/neutral-density/neutral-density.htm

This is not the best solution, but more like for salvaging 'spoilt' photos.

 

[mabmy]

Well i have tried using a cpl with a gnd filter too but somehow the sky always seems a bit too bright. I was at the zoo the other day and there was this spot that looks pretty good to be framed. So i set the exposure for the foreground and once taken, the sky just is almost losing all the details or at some point totally white. I have also tried the digital nd method but doesn't really work well. I guess merging two layers of different exposure or hdr might work best. Just wondering if there is any single filter that can help to get it right.

 

[cheguthamrin]

Cant blame the sky thats for sure. And there's no one tool that fits / solves all problem.
MY own solution; move to a better spot, or not take the shot at all. There's always another day. But then there'll be so much clouds... or rains... its not a perfect weather always, so blame global warming? Hehe... maybe can share one example?

 

[night86mare]

Try the New Faber ND filter, which acts like a CPL, which can be turned. As u turn, the filter get darker and darker.. from 2-8stops.. will be in stock at cathay abt 2 wks from now..Very useful! Maybe thats what u need!

try the new flash from canon, which can be turned on and off!

as you turn it on, the scene will get brigther and brighter, will be in stock at many outlets 2 weeks from now! very useful!

MAYBE that's what you need


could you please read the ts' post instead of gushing like a gearhead

he does not need a vari nd filter.

 

[night86mare]

Hi everyone, i need some help from all the landscape shooters who shoots during the day. The problem i have is that i always get over blown skies after setting the correct exposure for the foreground subject but in return, i always get overblown skies. If i were to get the exposure right for the sky then the foreground will be underexposed. I have tried using a GND filter but it doesn't really help that much. Since i have a GND filter, which i believe give 2 stops of light loss, is there any other GND filter that i can use that will at least gives me an 8 to 10 stops of light or should i just stack 3 GND filters and will roughly get about 6 stops? Please help me out on this. Thank you.

even at sunset, where DR is widest, i have never heard of requiring 8-10 stops difference between foreground and background

what are you shooting?

 

[kklee]

Hi everyone, i need some help from all the landscape shooters who shoots during the day. The problem i have is that i always get over blown skies after setting the correct exposure for the foreground subject but in return, i always get overblown skies. If i were to get the exposure right for the sky then the foreground will be underexposed. I have tried using a GND filter but it doesn't really help that much. Since i have a GND filter, which i believe give 2 stops of light loss, is there any other GND filter that i can use that will at least gives me an 8 to 10 stops of light or should i just stack 3 GND filters and will roughly get about 6 stops? Please help me out on this. Thank you.

I think you need fill-in flash. :think:

 

[cheguthamrin]

even at sunset, where DR is widest, i have never heard of requiring 8-10 stops difference between foreground and background

what are you shooting?

That had me thinking too.
Neh... i shdnt be thinking.

 

[agentxq49]

NPNT! heh

 

[NormanTan]

Variable ND has been around for a while (Singh-Ray), and how can ND help in his case?

HoHoHo~ Ps.My Bad.. See wrongly..HAHA! :bsmilie: But effect rather similar..HHA!:bsmilie::bsmilie:

 

[eosandy]

Layer exposures in Photoshop.
One exposure correct for sky. One exposure for the rest. More if required.
I have found this works quite well.

Investigate exposure further here.

 

[CamInit]

How about trying shake black card technique pioneered by the Taiwanese?

 

[mabmy]

Well apparently, this is the scene that i wish to capture that day. The one i'm posting now is one of my test shots, in order to try my best to see how can i even out the exposure of the foreground and the sky. The filter used is not a gnd for this particular shot but an ND8 instead, placed at the horizon. I really like the details shown in this shot but unfortunately this is not my idea of a nice picture. Please guide me. Thank you.

No editing is done. Shoot in RAW and save as jpeg.

 

[night86mare]

your water is blown

and brighter than your sky

tell me, how is that a pleasing effect?