STRONGLY back-lit exposure

[JimTx]

Was in a state park for about 5 hrs. today ... had good shots but the birds were overhead and strongly backlit. I don't think I got a really good exposure on any of those shots. Can use some advice on getting the exposure right. Exposures on lower birds not back-lit .... no problem.

[davebreal]

there isn't a whole lot you can do to get a stunning picture in lighting like that.

first of all, you will probably need to use flash, to bring out detail on the front of the bird. secondly, i would consider a full Manual exposure... get a decent reading by spot-metering a bird and lock it in manually.

other than that... wait for good lighting.

[Hawkman]

Agree, not much you can do. I just don;t shoot backlit shots anymore but rather spend my time finding good lighting conditions. Having good light can make or break a shot.

- Gene

[Methodical]

Agree, not much you can do. I just don;t shoot backlit shots anymore but rather spend my time finding good lighting conditions. Having good light can make or break a shot.

- Gene

Yep. I've learned my lesson; waste of time.

[SYS]

While you might not get stunning pictures in a situation you're describing, you can still get some decent results. I had a situation like you're describing one day while hiking up the Rocky Mountain National Park a couple years ago when I noticed a steller's jay perched up on a tree with a very strong backlit. Knowing that I didn't have a spot meter, I quickly metered off the tree trunk below and then fired off some shots. Sure, these aren't anything to blow up and hang on my wall, but these are still good enough to keep some fond memories of that time....

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1371/553603746_aebb59fc3f.jpg


http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1368/553603580_f6589072a2.jpg

[alohabob]

Might want to meter off the sky and up exposure a stop or 2.

[canonloader]

Depends on how backlit. I just use Exposure Compensation if it not too bad.