having trouble getting the sky to look blue.

[yup talon]

I've had my Rebel XT since march of this year and have always had a problem with getting the sky to look blue. It often looks washed out, or just plain white/grey. You'll notice in most of the examples ive provided the foreground is dark, so speeding up the shutter speed im would only make it even darker. What can i do to balance this? Thanks

more examples:
www.rdhphotos.com/Images/washed_out/IMG_1999.JPG (http://www.rdhphotos.com/Images/washed_out/IMG_1999.JPG)
www.rdhphotos.com/Images/washed_out/IMG_2725.JPG (http://www.rdhphotos.com/Images/washed_out/IMG_2725.JPG)
www.rdhphotos.com/Images/washed_out/IMG_3794.JPG (http://www.rdhphotos.com/Images/washed_out/IMG_3794.JPG)
www.rdhphotos.com/Images/washed_out/IMG_9498.JPG (http://www.rdhphotos.com/Images/washed_out/IMG_9498.JPG)

[jra]

You can shoot when the sun is low in the sky (therefore the sky isn't so bright), plus you must pay attention to the angle of the sun compared to the angle of your shot. You can also use some fill flash for your foreground subject while stopping down the exposure so the sky doesn't overexpose.

[crn3371]

The circular polarizer is your friend.

[twalker294]

In the portrait you posted you could have metered for the sky and used fill flash to expose the subject properly. A blue sky can be tough because of the dynamic range of digital...

[yup talon]

In the portrait you posted you could have metered for the sky and used fill flash to expose the subject properly. A blue sky can be tough because of the dynamic range of digital...

Would I then have to manually focus the subject? Im still quite new to metering technique and capabilities. How would I go about doing what you suggested?

I'll start carrying my cir. polarizer with me more often too. thanks thus far!

[ericgtr]

Would I then have to manually focus the subject? Im still quite new to metering technique and capabilities. How would I go about doing what you suggested?

I'll start carrying my cir. polarizer with me more often too. thanks thus far!
No need to manually focus while exposing on a different area, custom function 4-1 is your best friend. Have a look at this thread http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=46965

[2276]

I agree... circular polarizer is the way to get blue sky when shooting mid-day. -Joshua

[snakeeye]

You may want to try new picture style from canon...I used "Clear" picture style on my 30D and it does made the sky looks blue.

http://www.canon.co.jp/Imaging/picturestyle/file/index.html

[SimonG]

You may want to try new picture style from canon...I used "Clear" picture style on my 30D and it does made the sky looks blue. ...
That's not going to work in this case, since the OPs problem is caused by overexposure.

[floydm5]

You will have to use photoshop and create a filter to get it to look ok..

[yup talon]

You will have to use photoshop and create a filter to get it to look ok..

Why edit 500 pictures from a shoot, when you could just take them properly in the first place? I have been using photoshop to take care of these instances, but would rather jsut learn how to take the photo better initially.

[twalker294]

Why edit 500 pictures from a shoot, when you could just take them properly in the first place? I have been using photoshop to take care of these instances, but would rather jsut learn how to take the photo better initially.

Not trying to speak for him but I think that Floyd was trying to tell you how to fix the images you posted rather than how to avoid this situation in the future...

Todd

[RgB]

Use a ND Filter or you could fix a bit of it in Photoshop using levels just mask the bottom half:)

[Lightstream]

First photo - you actually do need a very blue sky... apart from the fill flash suggestion, which is a good one. Circular polarizer recommendation is good too.

Second photo - I would recommend a ND graduated filter, not just an ND filter. ND filters will evenly reduce the amount of light across the whole frame, and we are essentially back to square one (we would otherwise simply stop down (use a smaller aperture) to achieve the same thing). ND's are useful when you cannot stop down for any reason.

ND grads are filters where half the filter is darkened, let's say up to 3 stops, and the rest of the filter is clear. You want to reduce the amount of light from the sky, which is overexposed in the frame, and allow all the light back in from the pond.

Software approach that I use when caught without a circular polarizer or ND grad (I really SHOULD buy one..) - I shoot RAW, expose for the sky and crush out the shadows. Shoot as LOW an ISO as you can go (100 is best) to minimize digital noise. If I shot that pond, the sky would look dark blue, but the pond would look way WAY WAY too dark. You want this to happen - the pond may be underexposed by as much as -2 stops. Then you go home and use Rawshooter Essentials "Fill Light" tool to restore the pond to normalcy without affecting the sky.

Note: While I do leverage the power of RAW when needed (often and necessarily), and it provides the largest amount of image data to work with especially if you are going to push shadows two stops, you can do the shadow recovery in JPEG as well. I was experimenting with a JPEG image to see how far I could go, using the Highlight/Shadows recovery tool in Photoshop Elements 3.0, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much detail I could restore even in a JPEG image.

[yup talon]

Not trying to speak for him but I think that Floyd was trying to tell you how to fix the images you posted rather than how to avoid this situation in the future...



Todd



After re-reading, i agree. my bad.



Lightstream - thanks for the elaborate input. I really want to experiment with ND grad filters as I've never used them before. I have been using the shadow/highlight tool in photoshop, but it can only do so much before the image starts looking over-produced.

[Lightstream]

You're welcome :) yes, software is a bit of a compromise but probably the best compromise if we do not have the gear with us when needed, or for fixing stuff after the fact. I always enjoy having less post processing to do myself, so on-camera it is, whenever possible :D