Blown out highlights when shooting water moving

[silverbirch]

I enjoy photos of moving water, little waterfalls, creeks etc but notice that the "white water" areas are overexposed. I mentioned this to a photographer colleague at work (we're nurses and I am very much amateur photography and he semi professional).

Anyway he said expose for the highlights, or something similar. At the time I thought that meant to focus on the highlights and the camera would expose for that and the white water wouldn't be so over exposed. I tried it but same results as previously.

Here's an example of what I mean - loss of definition in the water, although this was a sunny day.



If anyone understands what I'm trying to ask, could they please explain. Many thanks.

[kirbinster]

You almost have it, it does not mean focus on the highlight, it means meter on the highlight. Thus, rather than use matrix (evaluative on Canon I think) metering you should spot meter of the bright area. This will prevent the white from being over exposed, but may leave the other area dark - you need to try and then check the histogram. You then might have to add some exposure compensation to get a better exposure. The problem you may have is that your camera (all cameras) only have a certain dynamic range and it might not be possible to capture the full range of light that your eye can see. Thus, your choice as the photographer is to decide which part of the image is more important to accurately capture.

[silverbirch]

Thanks - I've read in the manual about different metering and it seemed a bit beyond me for now. Will go back and reread, and try it, seem to learn best that way. Thanks so much.

[wulf]

I presume your camera has a review mode with blinking highlights to show the overexposed sections of a shot (it is a common DSLR feature). What you can do if a shot shows lots of "blinkies" is turn down the exposure level (probably a twist of the dial in most modes) and try again. That should reduce the overexposed areas but you do run the risk of other sections being underexposed. How do you get round that?

Assuming you won't be satisfied with "find a different subject", there are two main approaches. One is to take a range of shots at different exposure levels and blend them afterwards using a photo manipulation program. This is High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography and there is plenty to read on that. The other approach is to find a different time to shoot. If the light is weaker (morning, evening or an overcast day) the range of light levels will be reduced to something your camera can probably handle. If you can't wait, then you need a Neutral Density (ND) filter, which is like sunglasses for your camera.

If neither of those appeal, you can simply make a virtue of the fact your image is lit up with pure white highlights.

Wulf

[johnske]

kirbinster is correct, you have to spot meter for the bright area. Preview your pic and you may even have to use exposure compensation of say -1ev as well to get rid of the blown areas.

Doing this means the bright area will then be exposed correctly but the darker areas will be underexposed. The solution then is to use photoshops shadow/highlight tool to bring out what is in the shadows. There is a limit to this though, as noise also becomes more visible as the shadows lighten.

Here is a very similar task i set myself a while back (to expose for and capture a water fountain at three different times) ... Into The Light

[silverbirch]

Thanks so much for all the information. I like water so will persist with it, and certainly try in differrent weather conditions and light. I think the sunshine has been pretty bright most days I've been to that particular area. I'll take the manual with me next time also for reference. Plenty to learn :-)

Thanks again.

[Krusty79]

Instead of HDR, I would take one exposure for the hightlights, one for the rest of the image and blend the two exposures using a layer mask. I do that on most of my images now and it looks a lot more natural than HDR. It's needed to overcome the old dynamic range problem.

[JFSanders]

Or you could use a graduated density filter that people generally use for sky shots and flip it upside down. This will lower the exposure for the water and leave the exposure for the water.

[dave_lines]

from what I have found,, water and bright sun don't mix, try shooting on an overcast day and meter on the bright parts of the water, ie where the water is splashing. I use a polarizing filter too when I am shooting water.

[cyber3d]

What ever you do for pics like this be sure you bracket your shots as well.