blown out sky

[Primitive]

when i'm taking pictures of things (people) etc and the backdrop has quite a bit of sky
it always seeems to come out "blown" like..
it doesnt appear like a sky

how to fix this?

[scotteisenphotography]

expose for the sky, and use fill flash to illuminate your subject.

[Hermeto]

Or a reflector..
Or bracket the shot and make a HDR.
The key word is BALANCE.

[J Rabin]

A post a week on this subject. As noted in post above, daylight fill-flash is your friend. Learn to use it daily.
Excess contrast has always been a bane of photographing high contrast scenes since the beginning of photography. I made this .pdf file with tips gleaned over the years for my own use. May some of it will help you:
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showpost.php?p=4398080&postcount=4

My on-the-go photojournalist way of shooting digital daylight sky portraits - in midday sun - is the same as slide film always was. Your goal is to REDUCE the contrast range in the scene.
1. Get subject so camera is pointing toward northern sky (when in northern hemisphere);
2. Get hot-shoe flash off the camera with with Off-Shoe Cord 2, etc. held in left hand, so light can be directed & directional;
3. Use -EC under exposing sky by about -2/3 to -1 2/3 f/stop "to taste";
4. Finally, hit FEL on a subject mid-tone & pop the fill-flash.
Takes about 20 seconds. Works every time. Under exposure combined with flash makes for nice color saturation.

I don't keep many shots on my site, but that's how these were typically shot:
http://aesop.rutgers.edu/~rabin/Insects_Critters/IPM/slides/IPM_Fruit_Tietjen_2.htm (http://aesop.rutgers.edu/%7Erabin/Insects_Critters/IPM/slides/IPM_Fruit_Tietjen_2.htm)
http://aesop.rutgers.edu/~rabin/Plants_or_Fungi/Blueberry_Shots/slides/Blueberry_Duke_05.htm (http://aesop.rutgers.edu/%7Erabin/Plants_or_Fungi/Blueberry_Shots/slides/Blueberry_Duke_05.htm)
http://aesop.rutgers.edu/~rabin/Farming_Practices/Organic_Wheat_07/slides/Grain_Organic_Res_Hrvst_01.htm (http://aesop.rutgers.edu/%7Erabin/Farming_Practices/Organic_Wheat_07/slides/Grain_Organic_Res_Hrvst_01.htm)
Note saturated under exposure of grass, foliage, and trees. No one cares, because subject is everything.

I excluded the sky shooting my buddy Rob here at an ox plowing contest, but principal is the same (-EC under expose background, hit FEL, pop fill flash held in hand).
http://aesop.rutgers.edu/~rabin/Personal/Howell_Farm_Ox_Plow/slides/HowellOxPlow_07.htm
This scene has tremendous contrast from oxen to skin and shirt. Note under exposed foliage that no one cares about.
It is no different than high contrast wedding photography, but thank gosh I don't do that stuff. Gah. Oxen are prettier anyway. Work better. Complain less. Cheaper to feed. Lower expectations on how the photos turn out.....

Here it was late afternoon, so I could use the south eastern sky for heirloom tomato tasting promo photo. Again, not people, but same principal. No reflectors, diffusion, or other good items used, which slows down photography-on-the-go. Which is all I get these days.
http://postit.rutgers.edu/uploads/HeirloominEvening%5F2.jpg

Have fun. Jack

[joeyserver]

Great tips! Thanks!