Capturing magical light

[Richard]

Lately I have been trying to capture that special light when the sun is low, perhaps 30 minutes before sundown. Here are three examples. In each case, what I saw was magical. Rich dark shadows and crystal clear highlights. What I took home was less than magical. :cry


I am hoping you can offer some pointers about how best to capture the wide dynamic range. I use a Canon A75 P&S, which means that some options are out (high ISO, for example) but to paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld, you go shooting with the camera you’ve got. :D All three of these shots were processed to adjust levels, curves, saturation and were sharpened with USM.

In the first shot, I used evaluative metering and set the ISO to 200, which is as high as you can go on the A75 without horrible noise. I like the contrast between the two sides of the street, but I managed to both blow the highlights and get the shadows too dark, which must earn me some sort of prize for incompetence.

http://rsinmadrid.smugmug.com/photos/35216330-M.jpg


EXIF here (http://rsinmadrid.smugmug.com/photos/newexif.mg?ImageID=35216330)


The second shot probably comes closest to capturing what I observed. I used center-weighted average metering. Yeah, I know, I went a bit over the top with the saturation, but I was trying to bring out more of the green in the trees. The darker parts still lack the color I saw.

http://rsinmadrid.smugmug.com/photos/35216542-M.jpg

EXIF here (http://rsinmadrid.smugmug.com/photos/newexif.mg?ImageID=35216542)

I used spot metering for the last shot, focused on the brighter part of the building. While the effect is interesting, the original scene was not nearly so dramatic. The trees are way too dark and the mid-tones are clipped. The scene was eye-catching but this just looks unreal.

http://rsinmadrid.smugmug.com/photos/35216695-M.jpg

EXIF here (http://rsinmadrid.smugmug.com/photos/newexif.mg?ImageID=35216695)

Any tips or comments will be appreciated.


Thanks,

[pathfinder]

I shot wedding photos last Saturday - bride in white satin, groom in black tux, in a tent and the background brightly sun lit golf greens - I feel your pain.:):


I think you did a comendable job, particularly in the third image. The exposure seems accurate for a sunlit scene at ISO 200. To really capture the range of light from deep shade to sunlit object is challenging for all digital cameras, but particularly so for those with smaller sensors. Shooting RAW can help a great deal because you can blend two seperate files - one RAW conversion for highlights and one for shadows. If your camera does not capture in RAW, then you must do two seperate expsoures on a tripod and blend in PS later.

For smaller subjects than landscapes, fill flash can help a great deal - that is what I used on almost all my shots. Hard to do for landscapes though. That is why a little cloud cover late in the afternoon can be very helpful - it acts as the worlds largest softbox.:clap

[ginger_55]

rsinmadrid,

have you tried bracketing and keeping track to see which effects you like best.

I love the bottom one. The others are good, too.

I would put the lens on a tripod, hahahahhaha, yeh, me, I would. So I would have the lens on a tripod and try different combinations every which way, being meticulous in my record keeping.

And no, I have never done such a thing, but since you are so interested, I would do that if I were you.

As to how I do it, I stay home at that time of day.

No, last year and winter I was out and about quite a bit. I handhold, or monopod at the most, so I would take a straight shot, I usually have the spot meter on, but I might do one each way. And I take a shot off of the sky, look at it, if way too dark, I move away from the sun part and take another reading off of the sky. Then I move on down. I don't care how many photos I have to take of a person, a landscape, bird, whatever, I hope to have enough memory.

In case the whole scene falls apart, the most important readings I get are one from the sky, not a dark area and not a superlight area, like not on the sunset itself, maybe one close to it, and another a bit further away. Then I go right down and take a reading off of something I consider kind of a neutral gray color (dates me right there), and I take that one. Then I take another.

As long as the scene is there, or I have the patience for it, I take the shots. I would go with the lowest ISO you can, or I would bracket those, too.

Because I am always taking multiple shots, bracketing and am not an organized person, I have never kept any notes, but if I were you, I would. Many really good photographers do. I guess it shows up on the exif, but I would still keep notes, kind of a shorthand for what you were thinking.

ginger

[John Mueller]

Like Ginger mentioned,you may want to exposure bracket and then blend them.:dunno
That 3 rd shot looks great to me.

[digismile]

A graduated neutral density filter can also be helpful. Finally bought one and was amazed at the difference.

You can get the kind that are square plastic/glass that fit into a holder on the front of your lens. You can then position the transition from clear to the start of the progressively grey portion. They are available in many variations, 1 Stop, 2 Stop, and up.

This type of filter is especially good for scenic shots where fill flash isn't possible. Essentially what it does, is the same thing you would do in post processing with bracketed shots.

Brad

[Richard]

My camera doesn't give me RAW files and there's also no way to attach a filter to it. So I guess my only option at this point is bracketing with a tripod. I am really pretty lazy about lugging it around. It also didn't help when my daughter commented that my little digicam looks like a free gift that came with the tripod. Oh, well.

In any event, I am planning on getting a 20D next month, which will broaden my options. In the meantime, I will try bracketing and blending. It sounds like blending different exposures is really the key here, so I might as well start learning the technique.

BTW, is there really any reason to bracket if you are using RAW? I know the 20D can automatically bracket exposure and WB, but I would think doing multiple conversions from the RAW file would give you about the same result. A more general question is: do parameters like sharpness or saturation have any effect on the RAW file at all? Or do they only affect the JPEG that comes out of the camera?:dunno

Thanks to all for your help. :clap