BW Barn - Sky and Roof questions

[Infinite Monkey]

I think this image suffers from a blown out corrugated metal roof and a foggy, white sky. Does anybody have suggestions about handling situations like this when shooting? How might I have exposed the picture differently to minimize those issues? Also, does anybody have suggestions as to how I could overcome the problems in post? I edit in Aperture but would be interested also in hearing what people using Photoshop might be able to do as I'm coming to accept that I'll need to learn PS to advance my hobby.

As always, thanks in advance for any time and thought you bring to this.

[EOBeav]

1. Try a different time of day, when the sun is gently illuminating whichever side you'd like to highlight.
2. Come back when there are clouds to give you a more interesting sky (which you'll need to include more of). See my signature for more information.
3. When you're converting to b/w, move your sliders to darken your sky and keep a good contrast.
4. A good polarizer will help you with #3
5. Composiitionally, think about how you want to frame the barn in your image. I'm not sure that the way you have it right now is your best option. Think artistically.
6. You should be able to get a good b/w conversion in Aperture. Just move the sliders back and forth until you get the kind of contrast you're looking for. Alternately, I use something called Silver Efex Pro 2 which helps create nice monochrome photographs. I use it as an add-on for Lightroom, but I don't know if they have it for Aperture or not.

hth

[Infinite Monkey]

Thanks EOBeav for the suggestions. Different day/time of day makes sense. (good signature line!)

A few people have mentioned Silver Efex Pro 2 and I've signed up for an online seminar about it next Wednesday. Yes, it does exist for Aperture, as does the whole Nik software suite.

Do you have any suggestions for how to handle exposures when there is a large element that throws the rest of the image out of balance as the roof does in this image? Maybe just not taking the shot is the only answer but I feel that there should be something that can be done with it.

I was using a polarizer but with a completely white sky, it probably didn't have much of a chance. I just realized that I forgot to include Exif data with the shot. Here it is:

Camera Nikon D80
Exposure 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture f/9.0
Focal Length 135 mm
ISO Speed 400

[flytyer57]

Another thing you could try is taking multiple exposures and merging them together. An exposure for the barn roof merged with an exposure for the rest of the barn. Of course to get top notch results, this would have to be done with the use of a tripod. Merging photos that were taken hand held usually result in things not lining up properly.

[EOBeav]

If you're shooting in RAW (and hopefully you are), Aperture should be able to help you coax some of the over- or under-exposed areas, as long as the details in them are not completely gone. SEP should help with this also. Beware, though, that moving up underexposed areas can often bring about some noise, especially in the blue channel (like your skies). And again, your best friend will be the gentler light at sunrise or sunset.

When you're using a polarizer in a scene like this, be sure and turn it until you get the contrast in the sky that you want. You might already know that, but I used mine for a week until I found out why it turned.

More than anything, though, give some serious thought to your composition. If this is a scene that you can return to, go through several different compositional scenarios in your mind to get one that makes sense to you artistically.

[Behind Blue Eyes]

You can also take 3 shots one at normal exposure, and one each over and under exposed. You can combine them in post processing as layers. You'd use the under exposed roof and sky to avoid the washout.

[Infinite Monkey]

EOBeav, luckily I have easy access to this scene. Getting that softer light will probably mean waiting for a different time of year, as mornings and evenings tend to be pretty overcast and foggy here during the summer. As to composition, I may not be able to do much. I've taken shots of this barn from those few angles that I can access from the road, as the place is entirely fenced off and this one was the best available. Maybe that means it's time to move on from this barn to another target. I appreciate your input on this. Thanks. And, oh yeah, I do know now to use the polarizer, even if this shot doesn't necessarily make that obvious!

[Infinite Monkey]

Flytyer and Blue Eyes, thanks for the suggestions. For now, at least, I'm trying to work at capturing my subject in single exposures. I'll leave the multiple exposure solutions for some time in the future.