C&C Please... with any new takes on the pic

This was one of the last shots I took with my old S3. We were in the shade and I couldn't get the exposure balanced without the foreground getting darker than I'd have liked.

This is my attempt at correcting. If you have any suggestions or ideas, please help!

- Click on the picture for larger version -

IMAGE LINK: http://farm4.static.fl​ickr.com …42289759_4bff49​6c21_b.jpg

IMAGE LINK: http://farm4.static.fl​ickr.com …42902038_eccb58​efbe_b.jpg

nice job! just tone down the white shirt a bit and its perfect. and maybe clone out that car on the road behind him lol.

regina_emmanuelle wrote in post #5859463
This was one of the last shots I took with my old S3. We were in the shade and I couldn't get the exposure balanced without the foreground getting darker than I'd have liked.

This is my attempt at correcting. If you have any suggestions or ideas, please help!

I regret not having a copy of the manual for the S3, but is there no way to compensate for the exposure? There should be a way to point at some other object, such as a gray card, press the shutter half way to lock the exposure, and then swing to your subject, frame and snap the picture.

Robert_Lay wrote in post #5862422
I regret not having a copy of the manual for the S3, but is there no way to compensate for the exposure? There should be a way to point at some other object, such as a gray card, press the shutter half way to lock the exposure, and then swing to your subject, frame and snap the picture.

I actually still have my manual, but the problem that my inexperienced brain had was that the shadow was so much in shadow to the bridge with some bright morning sun hitting it's light gray, metal sides.

I think the picture I got is pretty close to what I could get without losing too much detail on either end of the histogram. Of course, my new 40D, I'm learning, has a WB feature already set for this. And RAW should help more with this exposure problem.

Thanks!

I think it will turn out that when the original is underexposed, as in this case where it is JPG, not RAW, there is a handicap in raising the brightness in post processing. The result will be to increase the noise. That may or may not be a real concern. However, there are advantages in getting it right the first time.

Using the Advanced Camera User Guide for the S3-IS, page 70, we find that the AE Lock feature is included. Press the shutter release half way and then press the ISO Speed button to lock the exposure setting.

1) Do that on a portion of the picture that you want to be middle Gray (This is where you could use an 18% gray card).

2) Then swing to the subject, compose and complete the shutter release.

The exposure calculated from what the camera saw in step 1 will be used in step 2.