birght, sunny days (no pic, just question)

[chopper5654]

bright, sunny days give off so much contrast that they give me fits. i could use some tips to keep from blowing out the whites and losing the blacks.

are there adjustments that can be made on the camera, or is it mostly pp work? or is it just a lost cause for most pics where you would like some softer tones, like portraits and wildlife?

[chauncey]

Bright sunny days generally overwhelms your cameras dynamic range to the point that your histogram spikes on both sides.
Fixable only in PP.

[noodle_snacks]

Having the sun behind you will minimise shadows, but it tends to leave things looking a bit flat imo.

Fill flash is another route, and the best in my opinion. You'd need a proper flash for high speed sync and perhaps a better beamer type device (can be easily home made). The range won't be a huge issue with a 55-250. Fill flash can also help a great deal when dealing with things in shadow.

Fill flash examples (look at the shadow areas in both cases):
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fb/Petroica_boodang_Meehan_Range_1_crop.jpg/600px-Petroica_boodang_Meehan_Range_1_crop.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/39/Domestic_Goose.jpg/600px-Domestic_Goose.jpg

Another option is a circular polarising filter. I prefer the other methods since this one eats a lot of light (and hence shutter speed). The results are potentially very good, but I leave this one to landscapes.

Finally, Shoot RAW, the dynamic range is considerably greater than jpg. You can "recover" the highlights and to a lesser extent the shadows.

[airfrogusmc]

bright, sunny days give off so much contrast that they give me fits. i could use some tips to keep from blowing out the whites and losing the blacks.

are there adjustments that can be made on the camera, or is it mostly pp work? or is it just a lost cause for most pics where you would like some softer tones, like portraits and wildlife?

Photography is often a series of compromises. When you're setting up to shoot a scene take a spot meter reading and see where your highlights and shadows actually are then you often have to make a decision of whats import to your visual statement. If holding the highlight then expose to hold them. If they're not important and the shadow detail is expose for the shadow.

This is why a good deal of landscape photographers are still large format zone system photographers because you can actually control and manipulate the contrast.

For portraits and close ups of wildlife if showing a blue sky is not important which usually its not shoot on overcast days.

[chopper5654]

appreciate the comments/help.

i have been fill flashing more lately than ever before to get some light into the shadows. i need to expose for the highlights because they are still blown out most times. however, it still seems the most important factor on such days is the positioning in relation to the light source. and, when shooting kids and backyard animals, its nearly impossible to get the lighting right. and, its even harder to spot meter a running target...lol.

i'll keep trying. maybe i should run my own experiment with backlighting and side lighting? when i focus on one theme, it seems to teach me a lot. i will work up to shooting RAW, eventually, i'm sure. i just need to learn a bit more pp on the easier programs, then, go get gimp or something once i have a better clue as to what i am doing.

and, great examples, noodle.

[airfrogusmc]

Well the thing is if the light striking your subject isn't changing from extreme bright to shadow, if the subject is in sunlight and stays in the same sunlight, take a spot reading of the scene, set your camera based on that info and shoot away. Your meter will keep changing because its reading reflected light and things like different colors will reflect light differently when in reality the light is not changing.

[Tom Reichner]

I like noodle_snacks' method - the use of fill flash is quite effective, and doesn't leave the image looking like a flash photo.

[gasrocks]

Learn and use the "Sunny F/16 Rule." And the 3-4 different additional rules associated with it. Subjects in the sun are perhaps the easiest to get correct.

[chopper5654]

Learn and use the Sunny F/16 Rule. Subjects in the sun are perhaps the easiest to get correct.

care to share/link? i have never heard of this technique before.

[gasrocks]

Did you try a Google?