Do I just suck?? or is it the lens :)

[shilophoto]

Do I just suck?? :):oops:
Do I just suck or do I get blown out high lights because I’m using the "kit" lens???? ( I think I used that one in that shoot, but I’m not sure, I do have a nifty fifty but could not get far enough back on the tree)

I always have trouble not getting hot spots in direct sunlight so I usually only shoot in the shade but I did not have this luxury for this particular pose. I have attached (non pp picks) the hot spot pick as #1 (I’m sure you can tell) and for comparison a quick shot of my sun with the sun beating down in the afternoon with nothing blown out.??? For #2 I used my new Canon 75-300 USM ?? What did I do differently? Any help would be great !!
Thanks


#1:oops:
http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd169/shilophoto_2007/IMG_2152.jpg"
http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd169/shilophoto_2007/IMG_2152.jpg

#2;)
http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd169/shilophoto_2007/IMG_2911.jpg

[shilophoto]

You can be honest.. I wont cry !! (much :) lol)

[cdifoto]

Blown highlights aren't due to the lens. Or you sucking. It's a common occurrence when the dynamic range (blacks to whites) of the scene exceeds that of the sensor.

[shilophoto]

Is there anything I can do??

[S.Horton]

What's your question? (Or, what's your goal for the post?)

Whether the pose(s) are good, composition, selection of subject, lighting/time of day?

Technical sharpness/contrast of the photos?

Post-processing for 'pop'? Post-processing for the 'hot' background on #1?

Whether the lens is bad? Not bad?

[cdifoto]

Is there anything I can do??

Reduce the dynamic range of the scene. Sometimes you can do it, sometimes you can't and just have to expose for your priorities...ie shadows...as you've done here.

-You can shoot RAW and bring down some of the highlights. In some cases the highlights won't even be blown in the RAW since there's more data there than in a JPEG of the same image.

-Lower the contrast settings in-camera if you insist on shooting JPEG. That'll help some but won't solve every problem.

-Use flash. Fill in your shadows with external lighting that you control, while exposing for the highlights.

[Glenn NK]

Reduce the dynamic range of the scene. Sometimes you can do it, sometimes you can't and just have to expose for your priorities...ie shadows...as you've done here.

-You can shoot RAW and bring down some of the highlights. In some cases the highlights won't even be blown in the RAW since there's more data there than in a JPEG of the same image.

-Lower the contrast settings in-camera if you insist on shooting JPEG. That'll help some but won't solve every problem.

-Use flash. Fill in your shadows with external lighting that you control, while exposing for the highlights.


Good advice, and I'm going to repeat something in different words; more can be recovered from a RAW file than can be recovered from a JPEG file.

More blacks and more blown highlites. When it comes to this there is no contest. JPEG files win for size and simplicity - that' all.

[shilophoto]

What's your question? (Or, what's your goal for the post?)

Whether the pose(s) are good, composition, selection of subject, lighting/time of day?

Technical sharpness/contrast of the photos?

Post-processing for 'pop'? Post-processing for the 'hot' background on #1?

Whether the lens is bad? Not bad?




I need help with lighting/time of day I guess? I thought maybe I could have been using the wrong settings or lens for a picture in sunlight. I know how to fix the mistakes using pp,,,,, I just don’t know how to prevent them. (other than putting subjects in full shade)

[shilophoto]

Reduce the dynamic range of the scene. Sometimes you can do it, sometimes you can't and just have to expose for your priorities...ie shadows...as you've done here.

-You can shoot RAW and bring down some of the highlights. In some cases the highlights won't even be blown in the RAW since there's more data there than in a JPEG of the same image.

-Lower the contrast settings in-camera if you insist on shooting JPEG. That'll help some but won't solve every problem.

-Use flash. Fill in your shadows with external lighting that you control, while exposing for the highlights.



Wonderful advice, thank you ! That’s exactly the information I was looking for.

[shilophoto]

What's your question? (Or, what's your goal for the post?)

Whether the pose(s) are good, composition, selection of subject, lighting/time of day?

Technical sharpness/contrast of the photos?

Post-processing for 'pop'? Post-processing for the 'hot' background on #1?

Whether the lens is bad? Not bad?

Actually I would like to know more about Post-processing for the 'hot' background on #1? Now that you bring it up :),, I have tried unsuccessfully to fix it.

[lostdoggy]

Before blaming equipment one must look into self and find the problem. Photography is a learning process and it may take a life time to learn all that is to learn. So learn to walk before trying to run!!!

Try shooting stationary objects in a control enviroment and learn how light works.

[Vitruvius]

Hehe I had similar problems initially. I was taking pictures at a family reunion and we were in a heavily shaded area with shafts of light coming through the trees. Man I had so many terrible images with exposure problems all over the place. Wasn't until near the end of our stay I was able to figure out what I needed to do to fix it.

This is where fill flash can come in handy also the time of day can make a difference early morning and late afternoon you tend to get more even lighting.

[shilophoto]

Here is another in need of "hot" background fix. Steps on how to fix this in pp would be great.

#3
http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd169/shilophoto_2007/IMG_2227.jpg

[crackaonrice]

You can be honest.. I wont cry !! (much :) lol)


Meter for the hot-spots and blown areas that you mentioned here and fill in the rest with flash. Not much else you can do :-x

[shilophoto]

Before blaming equipment one must look into self and find the problem. Photography is a learning process and it may take a life time to learn all that is to learn. So learn to walk before trying to run!!!

Try shooting stationary objects in a control enviroment and learn how light works.

I definitely agree but it’s like a drug. I can’t get enough information fast enough. Thank goodness I do digital or I would be living on the streets. (with my cam of course :)

[kevie]

Some blown highlights are unavoidable but can be fixed if you have major areas of blown highlights that its not as fixable. I would point your camera at the culprit see what it meters at then point it at your subject figure out what that is and try and find a happy middle where you dont lose too much info at either end. whats your PP'er of choice?

[Bill Boehme]

It is somewhat difficult to do very much repair to a JPG file, but with Photoshop CS3 and ACR 4.2, I worked a bit on the image to reduce the level of blown highlights. See my editing below.

Blown highlights are not necessarily a reason to send a picture to the recycle bin -- depending, of course, where they occur. Your #3 picture, for example, looks quite nice and I personally am not bothered by the highlights because they look "natural". ACR was able to recover some of the blown highlights.

Note: the image may not look quite sharp enough, but in this case it is due to editing a JPG and then recompressing it.

[lostdoggy]

The blown highlight in the 3rd pic don't bother me as much as the focus. She is not in focus but the tree is very sharp. Try using select focus points to focus on the subject's eyes.

[SIMPLEPHOTOLT]

Don't know if this is better:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1325/1410580554_5e9af3da8b_o.jpg